BUS351 Org.

Behavior Reading Report #1 Michael Rongo

The Overlap of our Work-Lives and Home-Lives & How our Communication
Mediums Have Changed
Over the last 40 years, our workplace emotions have evolved into a realm,
focused around technology. Everywhere we go, we are subject to a technological
medium by which our emotions can be displayed . This evolution of how our emotions
has drastically changed the shape of how we act interpersonally, in our respected
workplaces, given that, according to author Anne Kreamer in her article Taking Your
Feelings to Work (NY Times, 2011, paragraph 4), emotions are a force that underlies
all of our behavior. Prior to the internet, it was a belief that, according to Kreamer (NY
Times, 2011), work-life was completely separate to home-life . Therefore, it is important
to note that the method by which we analyze the overlap of these separate entities,
these separate worlds we call work-life and home-life . Because we are connected to
both of these worlds one-hundred percent of the time, it is much easier to overlap
emotions coming from these different lifestyles we live . The internet has brought this
overlap for us, an overlap that is almost impossible to avoid, unless you are a
dimensional expert in relationship management (McShane et al ., 2009). How can we
pinpoint these overlaps that occur between our personal and work-lives and analyze
their effects on the workplace, as an individual?
Lets take email for our first point. Email, a huge topic in organizational
communication, is the quickest and most effective form for an organizational pyramid to
communicate. Constantly being thrown at our Outlook inboxes at astronomical rates,
emails cause us to go against the social norm of reading and understanding directions .

BUS351 Org. Behavior Reading Report #1 Michael Rongo

According to Kreamer, How can others understand the emotion behind what were
trying to say in an e-mail if no one takes the time to read beyond the subject line and the
first sentence? (Kreamer, 2011, paragraph 9). Kreamer pinpoints this topic; our peers
and/or managers disregard the entire total of the email, and instead, pull away bits and
pieces. As Kreamer notes in her NY Times article, this is creating a much more
transparent slate (Kreamer, 2011).
Apart from email, the emerging explosion of social media has, even more so than
email, created a transparent slate for our emotions to be analyzed between our work
and home-lives. Think of an unhappy employee who expresses their opinion via their
social media accounts such as Facebook and Twitter. Any co-worker who sees their
negative opinions about their job might compare these statements to how this employee
really behaves in the workplace. This unhappy employee is now even more prone to
overlap their emotions derived from their home-life, into the emotions derived from their
work-life. If there is any distinction between these two, how might this on-looking
employee feel? Betrayed, ignorant to other peoples emotions, confused . As Steven
McShane notes, this emotional dissonance and unclear job satisfaction that is
displayed can create a blurry perspective for those who work with this unhappy worker .
These two mediums of communication have re-shaped our organizational
communication, but it is at the individual level that we must pick apart . In an
environment where people are prone to only read the first few lines of an email, how
can we assess others emotions like we used to? The thing is, is that we cant . Per

BUS351 Org. Behavior Reading Report #1 Michael Rongo

Steven McShane et al., emotional intelligence is the set of abilities to perceive and
express emotion, assimilate emotion in thought, understand and reason with emotion,
and regulate emotion in oneself and others (McShane et al ., 2009, pg. 105). Now more
than ever before, companies are requiring their candidates to be equipped with strong
relationship-management skills, displaying a strong feel of emotional intelligence.
Per my experience in an internship position with SECURA Insurance Mutual
Company, this couldnt be any more true. Being able to not only control your emotions,
but analyze and motivate others emotions, is one of the most important things to learn .
Those who are my age or those who are studying in college, must realize that this is a
cornerstone to success in the long-run. An individual who can motivate employees, as
well as perform at a high level within their own job, will be considered for top
management positions in their company. Therefore, I believe that, eventually, we will
begin to see our own UW system implement required courses into their respected
colleges of business, courses to teach, train, and maintain emotional intelligence.
Technology has ultimately changed the way we interact . Between social media
and the convenience of email, those individuals working within their organizations need
to be emotionally equipped to carry and manage their own emotions . However, more
importantly, reading and analyzing the emotions of their peers and managers will be
much harder for these individuals than ever before because of the drastic changes in
organizational communication.

BUS351 Org. Behavior Reading Report #1 Michael Rongo

Works Cited
Kreamer, Anne. (2011, June 11). Taking Your Feelings to Work. New York Times.
Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/jobs/12pre.html?_r=0
McShane, Steven et al. (2011). Organizational Behavior: emerging knowledge and
practice for the real world (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies.