Of Acorns and Oaks

Litigation Value: No liability (or sales leads) “per se.” However, the seeds of workplace discord have been planted, leaving open the possibility that they will take root and blossom into future legal problems.

Sales personnel are lording it over their non-sales counterparts; protégés are maligning their once-valued mentors; and even the simple act of borrowing a writing instrument devolves into a wrestling match. Where has all the love gone in Scranton, home of TV’s most well-known office? Perhaps it’s in the “lost and found,” which is itself lost (except perhaps to the bespectacled Creed), or maybe it’s holed up in some two-bedroom condo with Johnny Depp. Whatever the case, the latest episode of The Office suggests a topic worthy of discussion in this employment law post: workplace communication.

In this technological age, the ways in which employees communicate continue to multiply. That dynamic was evident in last night’s show, which included numerous examples of how information can be conveyed between co-workers –- for better or worse. (And that’s not even counting the off-site kiss shared between a pastel-clad Andy and a chivalrous Erin.)

All-Hands Meetings: Although a bit of an anachronism at many companies, sometimes there’s no substitute for a good old-fashioned face-to-face meeting. Of course, convening all employees with no defined agenda can end up being a waste of time. Michael learned this the hard way by calling everyone together before the much-anticipated sales leads had arrived from corporate.

Departmental Meetings: More common (and productive) are in-person meetings among personnel with similar interests and objectives. For example, during their secretive confab, Sabre’s conniving sales staff discussed the least they could do to make things OK with their non-sales colleagues. An “integrity move”? Hardly. But they did come away from their meeting with a defined action plan.

One-on-One Meetings: Workplace information tends to be expressed most freely -– if not most accurately -– when only two coworkers are involved. Witness Darryl’s kitchen conversation with Michael, during which he accused the entire sales department of a vast, sandwich-squishing conspiracy. And then Dwight (he of the messianic complex and wide-set eyes) had a painfully frank tête-à-tête with Michael, whom he derided as “a horse with no legs.”

Telephone Calls: Virtually all offices (if not homes) in America are still equipped with land lines. Michael’s conference call with Dave demonstrated the potential disconnect between the exact words conveyed by speaker phone and the body language of a participant. More genuine was an envious Jim’s phone conversation with Pam, who described for him her day filled with “vomit and diapers” on the home front.

E-mail: One of the most ubiquitous forms of workplace communication continues to be electronic mail. Some lament that it has displaced more personal interactions, even among officemates within earshot of one another. Consider Phyllis’ snide retort to Angela, before the tables turned: “Honey, if I don’t have time to answer e-mail, I definitely don’t have time to walk over to your desk.”

Mobile Devices: Increasingly, job-related communications occur outside the office. While physically away from their desks, many employees remain electronically tethered to business matters through cell phones, BlackBerries, iPhones and the like. For example, as he stood in Michael’s office awaiting a signature, Jim worked on “a big potential sale” by texting. And as Dwight departed for a “very important sales call,” he exhorted Michael to contact him on one of his “six numbers.”

Yet, when all is said and done, the substance of workplace communications is no less important than the form they take. Arguably, much of the internecine conflict on display last night could have been nipped in the bud through a better exchange of information. Corporate could have let the non-sales employees know that they were also valued -– whether or not Phyllis was right that “a lot of their work can be done from India.” Michael could have shared the sales leads with the right personnel, rather than using them in a scavenger hunt that left him with little more than wet pants and a giant purple beanbag chair. And Dwight (the “acorn”) could have expressed his professional frustration to Michael (the “oak”), instead of letting it fester over the years.

To keep the metaphor going, it’s the rare organization in which all the trees are the same height. However, to help avoid unrest -– including legal problems -– in the company forest, management can shine light on the fact no one group (call them maples) should be left in the shade of another (call them oaks). Otherwise, and to borrow from one of this blogger’s favorite Canadian bands, the trees could all end up being kept equal, by hatchet, axe and saw -– or maybe beavers.
[hulu:http://www.hulu.com/embed/pAG66K_5BxaC5k17WWDcJw]

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  Matt Rita