Functional and Relational Communication
Jorge, an entrepreneur, recently complained that the information is not circulating in his company.
- The delivery notes do not get where they should, the reports are lost, the information is distorted and rumors abound. That is why the invoices are late, or bad, we relaunch clients who have already paid and we forget who has not paid, we send the wrong orders and nobody seems to care about anything.
- It seems that your company is somewhat insane, if you allow me.
- Mad? No way! It is real chaos. They are all more confused than my mother-in-law on a soccer field.
- At least you keep a good mood. Have you taken any action?
- Of course. I go hunting for witches. I look for flying brooms everywhere.
- Wow! And what does this new sport consist of?
- If they get confused, I repeat them. I try to keep them focused on their work. Every time I see one talking to another, I get closer.
- Does it work?
- And so much. You realize that in a matter of seconds they have already finished what they had to comment. And if you are not at your normal workplace, I send it to your table right away. If they want to talk about personal things, they have the lunch time, the food, and the night if they want.
- But does it give you results?
- The truth is that at the moment, no.
The satisfaction of communicating
In Jorge's company, functional communication… doesn't work. There are distortions and retentions. Like some employers, Jorge thinks that if functional communication (professional information) is poor, it is because employees spend too much time on personal matters. They try to cut personal relationships within the workplace.
However, there is another type of communication in a company, and it is relational communication. It consists of establishing and maintaining satisfying and rewarding relationships with peers.
Relational communication is the support of the functional one. If people do not take satisfaction from seeing, meeting, talking to each other, then they adopt a negative communication style, based on suspicions, resentments, aggressiveness, which harm their entire relationship.
Because although it sounds strange, the human being prefers bad communication to not having any.
If you intend to cut personal relationships to focus everything on functional communication, the opposite of what is expected is achieved.
When staff feel a lack of communication, they take every opportunity to try to fill it, causing abuse. In turn, observing these abuses, the boss strengthens control and drowns out even more relational communications, and we enter the vicious circle.
Bulletin board
In Jorge's company, it is customary to inform people by written messages and notes on the board instead of being the managers who gather their collaborators for an informative talk. Oh, sure, the plank is so fast, and the talks get in the way of the apartment, Jorge thinks. But he is furious when he notices that the employees don't meet the marked guidelines.
Well, the notes and the bulletin board are a form of functional communication. While a talk from the boss reunited with his collaborators is relational.
Therefore, if Jorge wants the information to circulate well in his company, he must ensure that people communicate personally in a satisfactory way. The less it does, the more it will be lacking and the worse it will work.
