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ROCK products • DECEMBER 2014 www.rockproducts.com 54 F rom the time of Aristotle to the early days of mass media, we composed ar‐ guments that were meant to produce in‐ stant results: Give me liberty or give me death; run don't walk to your nearest store. Then in the last 75 years, research in several fields began producing evi‐ dence that opinion formation is a process. In 1946 the rhetorical scholar Hebert Wichelns challenged his col‐ leagues to look beyond the single‐speech, single‐rhetor model of communication. In 1962 philosopher Jürgen Habermas redefined democracy as a social process where ideas are exchanged over a period of time not only through mass media and print, but face to face, and that they can be challenged and amended many times before consensus is reached. In 1969 psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler‐Ross pos‐ tulated that we go through a series of steps when dealing with death and dying. And in 1974 political scientist Elis‐ abeth Noelle‐Neumann introduced re‐ search that showed how the interaction of group members determines what be‐ comes the dominant opinion. The discoveries of process communica‐ tion in these fields aren't exceptions to the rule; they are the rule. All communi‐ cation is process. Even a simple fire alarm is part of a process that involves creating an awareness of the danger of fire, teaching procedures for alerting oth‐ ers, and developing safe habits to govern how we react to the alarm. The differ‐ ence between single‐speech, single‐ rhetor communication and process communication is the difference be‐ tween the fire alarm and the fire drill. Hiring Hiring is a good example of process com‐ munication. A job description is pre‐ pared to establish qualifications. An advertising message is written to reflect the job description and project the or‐ ganization in a positive light. Resumes are screened for qualifications. Candidates are interviewed. An offer is made. Salary is negotiated. The new em‐ ployee goes through orientation and training. This is followed by regular eval‐ uations and eventually even an exit in‐ terview, which leads to a rewording of the job description. Community relations is also best handled as a process. We encourage employees to become involved in community organiza‐ tions. We assist with local fundraising projects. We meet monthly with advisory boards. We send press releases to the local publications. We assemble and pro‐ mote a slate of employee speakers and make them available to schools and clubs. And when new developments are being considered, we talk to advisory boards, host meetings and negotiate with neigh‐ bors, and finally, apply for zoning vari‐ ances and permits with the support and confidence of the community. Non-Process Communication Compare these examples to non‐process communication. Somebody has a brother who needs a job. A phone call, a handshake, a W2 form, and you are done. The neighbors don't want you to expand the quarry, go to the city council and call them whiners standing in the way of progress and threaten to leave town. Things were simpler in the old days, but they weren't very effective. My wife and I bought an abandoned mansion in Joliet, Ill., in 1979. Over the last 35 years we founded the local his‐ torical society, sat on preservation boards, served on fundraising cam‐ paigns, and hosted tours. A few years ago we acquired 500 ft. of wrought iron fence from the old Cook County jail. It was 8 ft. tall, and we needed a zoning variance to install it. The night of the zoning commission meeting we were prepared to make ar‐ guments about the scale of the house and the historic significance of the fence. When our issue came up on the agenda, the head of the commission introduced us to the board and the spectators. Before we could speak, he spent 10 minutes telling everyone about all the work we did to re‐ vive an important structure that would otherwise have been torn down. When he was done we received enthusiastic ap‐ plause. Then he asked if we wanted to say anything. "No, I guess not," I said. "Thank you." He then called for a vote, and our variance passed unanimously. We were elated and a little dumbfounded when we left. On the way home, I realized we didn't get to make our argument be‐ cause it had already been made. We made it by giving tours, speaking at meetings, and appearing in the newspaper as the project dragged on for over 30 years. Public affairs, internal communication, politics, family relationships, all commu‐ nication is process. Professional commu‐ nication is not about crafting and delivering messages anymore; it is about facilitating and feeding the process. E Thomas J. Roach, Ph.D., has 30 years experience in communication as a jour- nalist, media coordinator, communica- tion director and consultant. He has taught at Purdue University Calumet since 1987, and is the author of "An In- terviewing Rhetoric." He can be reached at thomasjroach@gmail.com . Communication as Process By Thomas J. Roach One Of The Most Significant Discoveries Of The 20 th Century Is That Communication Isn't An Event; It Is A Process. COMMUNITY RELATIONS