Positioning the Female Voice within Work and Family

Although social talk in the workplace is commonly dismissed by people at work as gaps between more serious and important ‘institutional’ discourse, scholars have identified many important functions served by social talk. In her analysis of talk in several large corporations, Tannen (1994a, pp. 64–65) finds that social talk provides ‘the grease that keeps the gears running in an office’. It establishes a friendly working environment, opens the lines of communication for working relations, and is part of the ‘friendly loop’ through which information circulates through the office. It has also been found to be a necessary element for institutional success at any level (Tracy and Naughton, 2000). In fact, even for individuals with intellectual disabilities, their ‘social and interpersonal skills’ are a more significant predictor of workplace success than their actual ability to perform work tasks (Holmes, 2003, p. 68). Social talk is also one of the means by which women’s and men’s identities within public and workplace contexts are expressed, realized, and negotiated.