A;

I think one of the most important nonverbal status indicators in business communication is body language. Your body language in the office reveals a lot about you to both your fellow employees and to executives in the organization. For instance, during a very dry business meeting, employees should always be aware of their body language. Typically gestures such as yawning, lack of eye contact, or slouching will indicate to the speaker that you are disinterested. In contrast, gestures such as nodding, eye contact, and good posture (sitting upright and towards the end of your seat) indicate attentiveness. Another important form of nonverbal communication is physical appearance. An example of this is well dressed executives usually project success and credibility. Similarly the appearance of your work place is extremely important; a disorganized office space may indicate a lack of reliability and organization. Some other nonverbal indicators that I find important in business communication tactile communication (such as a firm handshake) and vocal cues (which can strengthen or weaken your messages). In all these indicators play an important role in workplace communication.

B:

I think the most prevalent nonverbal status indicator in business communication is body language (facial expressions, body movements, gestures, and posture). Often times in the workplace, people show how they are feeling through their facial expressions, body movements, gestures, and posture. I think their body language shows how they feel pretty well because they do not always notice and hold back on those movements or posture and that is natural. Most people can tell if a certain employee has had a rough night and is busy working on a client engagement by seeing that their eyes are half-shut and they have an intense or serious face on because they are sleep deprived and extremely tired. This happens a lot at my company because during busy season, the regular workweek is 50 hours and we frequently have to put on close to 60 hours when we are really busy and swamped with client work. When an employee is not excited about the work or feel as if it is busy work, their posture would show it. They would have a slump posture in their seat and frequently go on coffee or bathroom breaks to get away from the work. When someone is not interested at what their coworker has to say they would still keep eye contact and use regulators, such as nodding their head, to keep the flow of the conversation going, but their mind is already wandering to somewhere else. Sometimes this type of body language is quite obvious.