Communication in non-verbal culture

Introduction:
The gestural communication is a type of non-verbal communication in which visible bodily
actions usually communicate with some particular messages, either in place of or in conjunction
with the speech. The gestural communication involves movements of face, hands and other parts
of the body. The gestures differ from the physical non-verbal communication which does not
communicate some particular messages but it also involves expressive displays, displays of joint
attention etc. Different types of gestures help the individuals to communicate in a different form
of feelings, thoughts etc, from the contempt and hostility to the affection and approval and it is
done through the body language or along with the words (Mehrabian, 2017). The main aim of the
paper is to analyze the use of non-verbal communication in workplace and how it helps in the
cross cultural communication in the organizations. The area is appropriate for the paper because
in most of the multinational organizations, people from different countries work and they often
find it difficult to communicate verbally due to the language gaps and they use non-verbal
communication as their preferred way of communication.

Application of gestural communication in workplace:

The use of non-verbal communication in cross cultural organization is found for years. During
the era of Roman Empire, Quintilian, the use of gestures is being introduced in non-verbal
communication and the use of gestural expressions is found till 1832. The communication
through gesture has been taken up within the queer theory and ethnic studies. Since then the use
of non-verbal communication through gestures, body language has come into practice. Apart
from that the use of non-verbal communication has been introduced in different areas such as
trade, media technologies etc (Rapoport, 2013). In the modern times, the use of non-verbal
communication can be found in everywhere, in any workplace.

Non-verbal communication plays a significant role in workplace and it is particularly important

when people communicate with their colleagues in workplace (Mehrabian, & Ferris, 2014). The
nonverbal communication helps to understand the speaker whether the listener is listening to the
speaker or not. The use of non-verbal communication is found in almost all workplaces but in
most of the ways it is found that among all of the non-verbal communication methods, most
widely used method is gesture. There are a number of elements present in nonverbal
communication which plays important role in workplace. Among them the first one is eyes and
facial expressions. The eyes and facial expressions of the listener are important things for the
speakers. If a listener rolls out his eyes or has a bored expression then the speaker can understand
that the listener is not actually listening to the speaker. In case of non-verbal communication in
workplace, the speakers and listeners can make eye contact at the time of conversations and it is
also important them to take care of the facial expressions which is a symbol of alertness and care.
Although, it is not any form of facial expression but the head movements like nodding is also
considered as a visual cue which help in the non-verbal communication in workplace (Nowicki,
& Duke, 2014). It also helps people know that the listener is listening and processing the
information.

Hand gesture is another important element of non-verbal communication in workplace. This

particular area of the non-verbal communication mainly depends on the person. It is also true that
not all of the people talk with their hands but if an individual can integrate the hand gestures into
the communication then it is a good way to deliver the point of communication in a better way.
In case of workplace communication, often the managers or the leaders of the organization use
hand gestures to communicate with their subordinates and the main reason behind it is that they
can deliver the point of communication through hand gesture. There are many people present in
different types of organizations who use hand gestures in communication in silence zones. Most
of the organizations having people from different cultures encourage the employees to
communicate with each other and it is possible with the help of the hand gestures as it is not
always possible for the employees from different cultures to understand the language of other
people (Kendon, Sebeok & Umiker-Sebeok, 2014). In such cases, the hand gestures play an
important role in non-verbal communication. The use of hand gestures in non-verbal
communication is also found in different aspects of workplace communication as well.

Gestures with the movements of head, arms, hands, legs can also be used to convey the particular
messages which have some linguistic translations. In some instances, an individual might wave
hands sometimes rather than saying ‘hello’ and this practice is very common in workplace and
sometimes, the individuals in workplace nod their head in agreement and it means yes or okay.
The gesture is very useful in the workplaces as they can convey the thoughts and feelings quickly
without any need to write or speak something. Apart from that the gestures can be easily
understood although the meanings of the gestures might have different meanings in different
cultures. Apart from that the gestures which are used by people have some specific meaning and
people use the different gestures which do not have the specific and generally understood
meaning (Briton & Hall, 2013). The gestures are often called as illustrators and they also add
meaning to the verbal messages. For example, when a person gives a presentation, a person can
use the hand gestures for emphasizing on a particular point. There are many people present in
organizations which use gestures while speaking to others and to accompany the words they
speak and the body movements might not also have any meaning which can be pinpointed and
they serve to accompany the words of a person.

The body movements of a person which convey the feelings as well as the emotions with the
help of facial expressions and the body positions as well which are termed as affect displays. The
body movements might indicate whether a person is receptive or open, angry, distracted or have
a number of emotions. There are different affect displays present which can be interpreted. For
instance, the individuals sitting in a slumped position are generally believed to be unhappy or
disinterested (Halberstadt, 2014). The people who sit upright are seemed to be happy and
interested and they are usually seen smiling. If these affect displays are interpreted appropriately,
they might not be related to the communication with another person and it might be misread. For
example, if a person is considered having a serious headache, he might squint or look down at
the time of a conversation and it indicates the speaker that listener disagrees the speaker. In many
organizations, the employees and managers use touch in non-verbal communication.

In organizational workplaces, people often cannot find the proper ways of verbal
communications and in some situations, they cannot use verbal communications to communicate
with others and it is mostly found in case of cross cultural communication. In media, the use of
non-verbal communication is used significantly too.

References:
Mehrabian, A. (2017). Nonverbal communication. Routledge.

Rapoport, A. (2013). The meaning of the built environment: A nonverbal communication

approach. University of Arizona Press.
Mehrabian, A., & Ferris, S. R. (2014). Inference of attitudes from nonverbal communication in
two channels. Journal of consulting psychology, 31(3), 248.

Nowicki, S., & Duke, M. P. (2014). Individual differences in the nonverbal communication of
affect: The Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy Scale. Journal of Nonverbal
behavior, 18(1), 9-35.

Kendon, A., Sebeok, T. A., & Umiker-Sebeok, J. (Eds.). (2014). Nonverbal communication,

interaction, and gesture: selections from Semiotica (Vol. 41). Walter de Gruyter.

Briton, N. J., & Hall, J. A. (2013). Beliefs about female and male nonverbal communication. Sex
Roles, 32(1-2), 79-90.

Halberstadt, A. G. (2014). Family socialization of emotional expression and nonverbal

communication styles and skills. Journal of personality and social psychology, 51(4), 827.