Editorial: Emerging Technologies and Organizational Communication: Envisioning the Future of Work

Komal Khandelwal^1*Ashwani Kumar Upadhyay²

• ¹symbiosis Law School, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, India
• ²Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, India

The rise of personal communications technology, such as for messages, video calls, and meetings, has brought more transparency to communications within organizations and with clients. With the rise of AI, companies are increasingly using intelligent voice assistants (IVAs) for internal and external communications. IVAs are increasingly present in smartphones, smart speakers, and smartwatches. IVAs act as personal assistants and assist knowledge workers in sectors like Information Technology (IT), communications, and consulting in their personal communications and professional workflows (Yin & Wu, 2023). The study by Yin and Wu (2023) investigates and supports the role of IVAs in improving perceived supervisor support, psychological capital, and employee well-being among knowledge workers. IVAs assist employees with tasks like giving feedback to superiors, thus providing functional assistance and emotional support to employees where needed. Personalized IVAs can assist in internal communications, psychological counseling, and emotional support (Yin & Wu, 2023). Adopting IVAs in specific information communication technology (ICT) facilitates coordination and communication for more efficient decision-making and supports employee skill-building and knowledge-sharing. Further use of AR technologies can help remotely guide by directly overlaying 3D information onto the real world (Le Chénéchal et al., 2019).Newman & Gopalkrishnan (2023) explore the rapid evolution of AI, which facilitates the creation of digital humans who can deliver corporate announcements and engage users via interactive communication. However, the study results indicate a preference for traditional methods like email and live communication as they are more effective than digital humans. However, few participants preferred digital humans as communication can vary according to preferred learning styles. There is a need to strategically assess AI's role in making communication readily available, efficient, and consistent. However, it is important to consider user perceptions and assess the relevance of new technologies while replacing established communication practices or processes.Organizations had to quickly modify their communication strategies in response to the significant shift towards teleworking during the COVID-19 epidemic. Watanabe et al. ( 2024) discuss about how workers at a big Japanese construction company responded to this change by improvising informal communication. The study has identified four important informal communication strategies: face-to-face opportunity-seeking, implicit communication, casual tech, and structured informality (Watanabe et al., 2024). Without in-person interactions, the staff members take the initiative to keep relationships and information flowing. Informal communication is critical to employee performance, corporate operations, and well-being. Although ICT technologies are necessary for remote communication, relying too much on them might be harmful. In times of crisis, a hybrid strategy that blends online and in-person interactions is crucial, and the equilibrium must be re-established. Effective operations necessitate adequate communication resources, including ICT technologies.In the digital age, electronic negotiation is vital to organizational communication. Lipp and Mohnen (2024) discuss how communication media affects negotiation behaviors and results in electronic negotiations, particularly the individual-medium fit. It is counterintuitive that individual elements such as gender and personality seem to have little influence on enegotiations. Lipp and Mohnen (2024) discovered that, depending on the medium, various parameters did have varying effects when comparing chat and video conferencing systems. Electronic negotiations are very complex, and it has been discovered that elements other than personal characteristics significantly influence the results. Although there is still disagreement, the new research adds to the discussion of how various media affect negotiation procedures and results.Elena Parra Vargas et al. ( 2024) evaluate novel approaches to evaluating personal traits pertinent to work environments. The study looks into the viability of evaluating personality traits using machine learning (ML) and virtual reality (VR). The study found encouraging outcomes in distinguishing personality factors by examining eye-gaze patterns and behaviors during immersive virtual reality encounters. Machine learning models demonstrated a notable degree of accuracy When predicting characteristics like conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness, extraversion, and neuroticism. Interestingly, behavioral indicators did not as eyetracking measures did. The study raises the possibility of using behavioral metrics in virtual reality to create more ecologically sound personality tests. It's critical to comprehend how distinct personalities may interact with various organizational settings and communication technology (Elena Parra Vargas et al., 2024).In conclusion, emerging technologies are causing a significant shift in the organizational communication landscape. Organizations face both opportunities and challenges due to the integration of intelligent voice assistants, the investigation of digital humans, the nuances of electronic negotiation, the creative evaluation of personality through virtual reality, and the adaptive strategies for informal communication in remote work. Introducing new modalities, such as digital humans, necessitates careful consideration of user perception and effectiveness compared to existing approaches, even while technology like IVAs holds promise for improving communication, well-being, and perceived assistance. The shift to teleworking has highlighted the importance of informal communication and the requirement for flexible approaches backed by the right ICT tools.Furthermore, for digital contacts to be efficient, it is essential to comprehend the dynamics of electronic negotiations and the possible limitations of individual characteristics in affecting outcomes. Lastly, using VR and ML, novel methods for evaluating personal characteristics could provide fresh perspectives on how people engage with communication tools and in organizational contexts. Organizations that want to prosper in this exciting new period need to have a sophisticated grasp of how these technologies positively and negatively affect communication as they continue to develop. To successfully navigate the changing landscape of organizational communication and ethically and effectively harness the potential of innovation, it is imperative that these themes be explored further.