Abstract
- This chapter examines how phatic communication is used to build community in large multinational corporations (MNCs). Drawing on ethnomethodological research and interviews with employees at nCino, a globalsoftware company, the author shows how phatic communication helpswriters build networks through goodwill to support and manage complexwriting projects. As companies adopt more agile and distributed organizational models, employees must cultivate networks of relationships to worktogether effectively. This chapter explores how employees deploy interactivetechnologies like Slack, Jira, and whiteboards to build community for bothwork- and non-work-related purposes. The ability to build communitythrough phatic communication is an important soft skill for the 21st-century workplace. This research provides insights into how we might preparestudents to navigate the social complexities of modern work environments