Abstract
This article examines administrative communication through a dramatistic framework, arguing that organizational interaction simultaneously reflects instrumental information exchange and cultural performance. It contrasts the spontaneous, open qualities required for effective organizational intelligence with the distancing tendencies introduced by role performance, drawing on Martin Buber’s distinction between I You and I It encounters. The analysis details how administrative environments operate as theatrical settings shaped by staging, design, props, and scripts that influence perceptions of status and power. It explains how formalized encounters, habitual scripts, and dramatic fatigue can impede the informational goals of administrative exchanges. The discussion identifies common pitfalls, such as settings and scripts that inadvertently shift interactions away from instrumental purposes toward relational displays that undermine openness. The article concludes with strategies for managing dramatic elements to preserve more humanized communication, including adjusting physical space, reframing the script, encouraging role distance, and counteracting fatigue. A photograph on the final page depicts members of the Executive Committee engaged in discussion, reinforcing the article’s themes about administrative interaction.
Recommended Citation
Wood, Roy V.
(1985)
"Keeping Communication Human,"
Association for Communication Administration Bulletin: Vol. 52, Article 20.
Available at:
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/aca/vol52/iss1/20
