Possibilities and Challenges of Communication in Six Finnish Industrial and Planning Organizations

Abstract

In this paper, I study work-related communication in six Finnish industrial and planning organizations. I analyzed the communication through a comparison of distant and face-to-face examples showing how distance negatively influences communication because the distant communicants don’t have same contextual information. Sharing of situational information can help mitigate the negative impact of distance. Face-to-face communication was seen as important in the case organizations, as it enables informal communication and builds trust and commitment. Nevertheless, face-to-face communication does not automatically produce documentation, and proper minute keeping and documentation were demonstrably important.