MULTICOMMUNICATIONS

& the PERCEPTION of

INCIVILITY in the

WORKPLACE

by Donna Wightman

FILM 260

QUEENS

UNIVERSITY

May 2014

“We are together, but each of us is in our own

bubble, furiously connected to keyboards and

tiny touch screens.” – Sherry Turkle

SOCIAL MEDIA has become ubiquitous and

ambient...

which

means

in the

workplace -------------------------

People PEOPLE...

Text

Tweet

Facebook

Snapchat

and search for pictures of kittens...

“We live in a time of

multicommunicating where no one

person gets personal attention

for long.” - Leah Eichler

Maybe that’s why SNAPCHAT is

so popular...

SNAPCHAT implies...

“The underlying message is simple:

you’ve got 7 seconds –

PAY ATTENTION.”

Dana Boyd

This ECONOMY of ATTENTION makes some

people feel their MOST

PRODUCTIVE but...

All this multicommunicating can come across as

RUDE

This workplace incivility is considered by

some to be

LOW LEVEL DEVIANT BEHAVIOUR

...it can spin out of control

leads to

FEELINGS of

“PERCEPTIONS of INCIVILITY can UNDERMINE RELATIONSHIPS.”

-Professors Jane Webster, Queens School of Business and Ann- Frances Cameron, HEC Montreal

"The biggest problem we found (as a result of

multi-communicating) is this perception of

incivility.

Consistently asking a colleague to repeat things

raises suspicion levels

that you aren't paying attention,

which feels discourteous.

That impacts feelings of trust,

which can spiral

into poor working relationships.” – Jane Webster

IMPROVED E.F.F.I.C.I.E.N.C.Y.*

*everybody forgetting to facebook in company (iency)

BUT

NOT

AT

WORK

If the price we pay

is

our

reputation

aka HARD. TO. WORK. WITH.

We are looking to be successful

both personally and at work

PRODUCTIVITY thrives best in a

healthy

balanced

environment

SOLUTION

KNOW HOW THE PEOPLE YOU WORK

WITH PREFER TO COMMUNICATE

Credits:

images sourced from 1. FLICKR Creative Commons

2. Dreamtime (copyright free photos) 3. Power Point Clip Art

Articles used:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/opinion/sunday/the-flight-from-

conversation.html?pagewanted=all

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/leah-eichler/smartphone-etiquette_b_4075119.html

http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2014/03/21/snapchat-attention.html

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/career-advice/life-at-work/sorry-

to-be-rude-but-my-phone-needs-me/article14706158/

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/leah-eichler/smartphone-etiquette_b_4075119.html