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Listening to the family: a qualitative exploration of coworkers' listening and trust building processes

Catania, Giulia LU (2025) SKOM12 20251
Department of Strategic Communication
Abstract
Within organizational families, listening between coworkers plays an essential role in enabling organizational success and the effective enactment of family dynamics. It allows information to circulate, collaboration to take place, and trusting relationships to develop. Yet, coworkers’ listening processes, agency and experiences in an organizational family continue to be overlooked by organizational and communication
scholarship. This fails to account for how coworkers do not simply process information and managerial directives but enact their work family through their communication.

Placing coworkers at the center stage and adopting a socio-constructionist perspective,this thesis explores how listening between them takes place in an... (More)
Within organizational families, listening between coworkers plays an essential role in enabling organizational success and the effective enactment of family dynamics. It allows information to circulate, collaboration to take place, and trusting relationships to develop. Yet, coworkers’ listening processes, agency and experiences in an organizational family continue to be overlooked by organizational and communication
scholarship. This fails to account for how coworkers do not simply process information and managerial directives but enact their work family through their communication.

Placing coworkers at the center stage and adopting a socio-constructionist perspective,this thesis explores how listening between them takes place in an organizational family, and the role it plays in building trust among them. This is done by looking at coworkers’ own perceptions and experiences. The family metaphor and trust are employed as the chosen theoretical framework to interpret the insights emerging from ten semi-structured qualitative interviews conducted at an Italian dental clinic. The results
identify six ways coworkers perceive their role as listeners: 1) a dance with two leads, 2) a learning device, 3) a necessity, 4) a relationship building tool, 5) an innate quality,and 6) a conditional pursuit. They also introduce three factors that explain how listening contributes to the establishment of trust among coworkers: 1) consistency and actions, 2) psychological safety, and 3) benevolence. Moreover, the relationship between the family metaphor, listening, and trust is clarified, as well as that between the family metaphor and psychological safety. Overall, the study invites academics and practitioners to pay more attention to coworkers’ listening practices directed at their colleagues, and how these shape organizational realities and relationships. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Catania, Giulia LU
supervisor
organization
course
SKOM12 20251
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
strategic listening, trust, family metaphor, coworkership, face-to-face communication, symmetrical communication
language
English
id
9212904
date added to LUP
2026-03-18 14:11:01
date last changed
2026-03-18 14:11:01
@misc{9212904,
  abstract     = {{Within organizational families, listening between coworkers plays an essential role in enabling organizational success and the effective enactment of family dynamics. It allows information to circulate, collaboration to take place, and trusting relationships to develop. Yet, coworkers’ listening processes, agency and experiences in an organizational family continue to be overlooked by organizational and communication
scholarship. This fails to account for how coworkers do not simply process information and managerial directives but enact their work family through their communication.

Placing coworkers at the center stage and adopting a socio-constructionist perspective,this thesis explores how listening between them takes place in an organizational family, and the role it plays in building trust among them. This is done by looking at coworkers’ own perceptions and experiences. The family metaphor and trust are employed as the chosen theoretical framework to interpret the insights emerging from ten semi-structured qualitative interviews conducted at an Italian dental clinic. The results
identify six ways coworkers perceive their role as listeners: 1) a dance with two leads, 2) a learning device, 3) a necessity, 4) a relationship building tool, 5) an innate quality,and 6) a conditional pursuit. They also introduce three factors that explain how listening contributes to the establishment of trust among coworkers: 1) consistency and actions, 2) psychological safety, and 3) benevolence. Moreover, the relationship between the family metaphor, listening, and trust is clarified, as well as that between the family metaphor and psychological safety. Overall, the study invites academics and practitioners to pay more attention to coworkers’ listening practices directed at their colleagues, and how these shape organizational realities and relationships.}},
  author       = {{Catania, Giulia}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Listening to the family: a qualitative exploration of coworkers' listening and trust building processes}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}