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| | From:  NancyBell59 (Original Message) | Sent: 11/24/2003 4:43 PM |
Hi, <o:p> </o:p> I’m working on a research project about how speech is regulated in the workplace - I’m wondering if anyone has ever worked at a job where they required you to say certain things? Did you have to follow an exact script, or were you allowed to improvise? If so, how much were you allowed to improvise? What kinds of things were you required to say? Did they give you specific words? Did they tell you *how* you should speak, for example, use an upbeat tone of voice? Can you remember the exact wording? Also, were there things that you were *not* allowed to say? Again, if so, what? What reasons did the company give for regulating your speech in this way? How did you feel about doing this? What kind of reactions did you get from the customers? I know that was a lot of questions �?feel free to respond to any or all of them - I’d love to hear any stories you have that deal with this issue. Thanks, and good luck out there!! |
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| | | From: Da Baer | Sent: 11/24/2003 5:44 PM |
Hi Nancy; Why don't you post this in the generaql section. I am sure it will get a lot more attention. db |
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Yes, teaching adults from an established curriculum is chock-full of this sort of thing. Even when you have to establish your own curriculum it has to be approved by the director/dean or whomever. |
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I can recall two specific instances at two different (large)companies when upper management regulated speech in the workplace. The first instance was when [name of company] implemented Total Quality (TQ). The plan mainly consisted of upper management running around talking about how great it was, and lower level employees being forced to work in teams to solve some problem that didn't really exist. No one was allowed to speak about TQ in anything other than glowing terms. Letters from upper management were passed down to the ranks indicating that continued employment with the company was contingent upon embracing the concept and spreading the word. I overheard one manager telling another manager that he would immediately fire anyone who challenged TQ or spoke of it disparagingly. The other instance was when [name of other company] spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a new accounting/finance/purchasing/payroll system called SAP (pronounced by saying each letter individually). No one knew what SAP stood for because it was derived from a series of German words. Management didn't know what it stood for either, or if they did know, they couldn't pronounce it. Nonetheless, someone at the top got concerned that some of us cubicle-dwellers would refer to the system as "sap." I don't recall anything formal coming out in writing, but I distinctly remember my boss instructing us that "starting immediately" we would all call our new system by its proper name: S-A-P. |
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As a NYC cab driver I was trained to talk gibberish in a thick Farsi accent, and flail my arms about to increase revenue. Being a small blond women, people did not fall for it. The company tried swedish, but I was unwilling to wear the bikini. So I was let go. |
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