Apart from our private lives we spend most of our time at work. More than doing anything else, we communicate in both spheres. It has been said, humans cannot communicate. As we all communicate, we do so in a variety of ways when at work. Since most of our work is still divided into those who manage and those who are managed , communication at work has taken on specific functions. This has become more important as work regimes have moved towards post-industrialism. To understand these communicative regimes at work, communication needs to be positioned inside the historic development of work and management. From history to the present, this has led to forms of distorted communication carrying connotations of an Orwellian and Kafkaesque nightmare. However, communication also opens up possibilities for communicative action. This can be a remedy for communicativce distortions. However, communicative action can also be the foundation directed towards positive social changes.