ae. INNOVATION ABSTRACTS #255
aSICGS :
2G | Published by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development

 

 

 

 

COMMUNICATION SKILLS FOR THE FUTURE

Communication in the 1980's means something very different than it did in the 1950’s. Yet the methods
and materials that are used in teaching communication skills today continue to be rooted in the demands and
values of a fast-fading industrial era. For example, the communications demands of the industrial age were
largely vertical. Messages flowed up and down (mostly down) a relatively small and tight chain of command,
reaching the factory floor in the form of directives, quotas, etc. Industrial workers had little need for communi-
cation with each other on the job. Lateral communication was a function of management, and the higher up the
ladder one went, the more important it became.

The information society has a much greater demand for lateral communication. As more and more workers
move from production into services, particularly information services, the need for communication among them
increases enormously. This is not to suggest that vertical communication will disappear. But with more than
half of the American work force currently engaged in the production, processing, storage, retrieval and distribu-
tion of information, it is apparent that the flow of messages is no longer predominantly down a chain of com-
mand, but is increasingly lateral.

In addition to this lateral/vertical shift, there are numerous other changes in the communications processs.

® Industrial-age information tends to be task-specific. “How many widgets did we make in September?”
Information-age information tends to become organic, to take on a life of its own. “Where do the figures
tell us we should go from here?”

@ Industrial-age communications tend to be factual reports while information-age communications contain
and require more inferences and judgments.

@ Information-age communications are much faster paced. Not only has transmittal time been reduced, but
so has message length and time for development of the message. We want our information fast and brief.
® Information-age communications are more graphic and less verbal. We are relying more and more on

charts, graphs and pictures to say what we mean.

@ Information-age communications are more technologically directed. The capability of equipment (comput-
ers, word processors, videodiscs, etc.) influences the nature of the communications, sometimes limiting
message length or type, requiring specialized vocabulary or preferring visual messages to verbal.

® Information-age writing tends to be transcribed speech rather than composed prose. Not only are more
and more messages dictated, but even prose composed with pencil and paper has become more colloquial,
mirroring speech patterns rather than traditional writing conventions.

If these were the only changes facing us (and they represent the merest suggestion of the full range), they
would dictate an immediate reexamination of our definition of basic communication skills and a hard look at our
school curriculum. When we include the kinds of communication changes likely to result from widespread use
of two-way interactive TV, voice-actuated/voice-responding devices, more elaborate home
information/entertainment centers, expanding information utilities and networks, and the shift of work from
office to home (to mention just a few impending developments), our current definition of what constitutes basic
communications skills becomes almost terrifyingly limited.

It is not what our present school curriculum includes that is so disturbing, but what it omits. If one were
to try to deduce the communications practices of our society from what is taught in schools, one would have to
conclude that people spend most of their time writing expositions, reading textbooks, and speaking and listening
only on rare occasions. The existence of the electronic media, including television, could easily go undetected.

Given this state of affairs, what are some of the other comunication skills that are currently neglected?

Message compression. As the pace of communications continues to quicken and transmission time beomes
more expensive, it will become more imperative to make every word (and every symbol) count.

 

 

a
OP Program in Community College Education, The University of Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712