A Redefined Communication-Rule Approach to Organizational Culture during Work-From-Home

Abstract

Work-From-Home is the new accepted work culture norm and as much as it is the need of the hour and is recommended, it also changes the dynamics of conventional communication within an organization. The conundrum at the heart of this study was to understand how the communication patterns and meanings have changed within an organization and are there some communication strategies that can be redefined in order to meet the challenges of demands exerted by work from home culture. A qualitative approach was used by conducting in-depth interview with senior level managers from seven different organizations. The data was analysed using thematic network into global, organizing and basic themes. Some major themes that emerged under the global theme “Domains of communications experiencing change” were informal communication, lack of empathy, mistrust, delegation, team work and feedback. Under the global heading “methods to redefine communication-rule approach” the major themes that emerged were awareness, virtual social connect, recognising good work, training for better communication and emotional intelligence. This study is an effort to analyse the communication gap that organizations are experiencing due to restricted and virtual work culture and also attempts to give some strategies to overcome those communication barriers reinforcing a conducive organizational culture.