4.

21

Professional – public relationships

 Supervisors & subordinates

 Professionals & clients
 Employees & general public

Professional comm. A.K.A.

“IMPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP”

Impersonal suggests not really involved

Public relationships are impersonal. Most of our relationships are public.

Recall Social Exchange Theory

Would say that the cost of too much involvement would be too high
We are relational misers

In a typical day over 90% of our encounters are likely to use public
communication

Public communication is superficial, goal-oriented, does NOT use disclosure

Disclosure = revealing private information that is NOT obvious

Impersonal Com. = Don’t get too close

= Don’t show your hand

Examples of Public Comm.

Talking to:
 Casual acquaintances
 Neighbors
 Co-workers
 Supervisors
 Service personnel
 Strangers
 Customers at work

Some interesting facts

 People spend nearly 1/3 of their lives at work
 Computer, writing & speaking skills are in demand
 Knowing how to deal with unhappy clients is also valued
5 ways people “manage” such interactions

1. They act out their assigned role – whatever they are supposed to be
E.g. customer service reps. Need to be nice to people otherwise fail at their
job
2. Use scripted behavior as the situation permits.
Script: a verbal “formula”
You’ve been taught what to say to an angry customer
3. A third way people manage public interactions is to sue respect & deference
in their dealing with others
Two final ways that people try to manage public com
4. Attempt to achieve practical goals
5. Encourage involvement form others

Deference (politeness)
Involves 2 kinds of rituals:
Avoidance rituals and Presentational rituals

Avoidance rituals are ways to maintain psychological distance from the other
person.
E.g.
 Use titles
 Don’t pry or give advice
 Don’t disclose

Presentational rituals are ways to show inclusion

E.g.
 Showing a friendly smile
 Greetings
 Small compliments
 Invitations to join

One advantage of public communication is that it allows for playacting

Playacting = trying on new roles when you are in the company of strangers. If you
fail it doesn’t count

Who wants to have a good supervisor/boss?

Effective supervisor
 Enjoy talking to subordinates
 Listen & respond to employees’ suggestions
 Ask rather than tell
 Sensitive to needs & feelings
 Pass on information
Effective supervisors match their com behaviors to the norms in organizations
AND to the employees

Subordinates provide
 Feedback to supervisors
 Problems encountered on job
 Tasks needing to be done
 Progress of the current work
 Ask questions about policies

Supervisors are said to have “initiation rights” = create an open comm.

environment

Upward distortion: subordinates HOLD BACK bad news from supervisors

because they fear blame
Examples of upward distortion
 Challenger disaster
 Columbia disaster
 Watergate scandal & Richard Nixon
 Martha Stewart gets insider stock information

Features of “therapeutic” or helpful communication

 Warmth
 Genuineness
 Uses accurate empathy

E.g.
 An attorney and her/his client
 A doctor and a patient
 A minister and a person with a moral dilemma