TOPIC 9: COMMUNICATING IN TEAMS AND ORGANIZATIONS

Section A: MCQ

Choose the most appropriate answer.

1.

Communication is the vehicle through which people:

a. Clarify their expectations and coordinate work

b. Coordinate between organisational objectives

c. Improve knowledge

d. None of the options listed here is correct

2.

The communication model suggests that communication effectiveness depends on:

a. The motivation to communicate

b. The decoding process

c. The situation

d. The ability of the sender and the receiver

3.

One of the effects of emotions on non-verbal communication is the phenomenon

called:

a. Emotional intelligence

b. Emotional contagion

c. Emotional display

d. Emotional involvement

4.

Channels with high media richness tend to involve more:

a. Direct social interactions

b. Face-to-face communication

c. Diverting attention

d. Self-representation

5.

In the communication process model, 'decoding the message' occurs immediately:

a. Before the sender forms the message

b. After the sender receives the message

c. After the sender forms feedback regarding the original message

d. After the sender transmits the message

6.

Which of these forms of communication is the poorest for communicating emotional

meaning and providing social support in the workplace?

a. Face-to-face small group sessions

b. Email

c. Corporate video programs

d. Telephone calls

7.

Emotional contagion has what effect in the communication process?

a. It has no effect on the communication process

b. It provides feedback to the sender that the receiver understands

and empathises with the message

c. It reduces the amount of communication among colleagues

d. It makes it more difficult for the receiver to receive emotional meaning

about the sender's experience

8.

Media richness refers to:

a. Total profits of newspapers, television networks and radio broadcasting companies within a society

b. The data-carrying capacity of a communication medium

c. The financial and emotional cost of transmitting a message from one person to another person within the same organisation

d. The extent to which a message is conveyed through information technology rather than human interaction

9.

Communication methods that are high in 'media richness' are most valuable:

a. Where the sender holds a higher position in the organisation than the receiver

b. During emergencies where the sender and receiver have little common experience

c. Where the sender and receiver have a lot of time to transmit and receive the message

d. In routine situations where the sender and receiver have common past experiences

10.

What do we mean by the phrase 'the medium is the message'?

a.

Effective communication occurs when people are neither too quiet nor too loud

b.

Effective listeners should look for non-verbal cues to decipher the sender's true meaning

c.

Effective communicators use several channels to transmit the intended meaning

d.

The communication channel selected transmits meaning beyond the message content

11.

Metaphors and other types of ambiguous language are useful when:

a.

The sender wants to communicate to people experiencing information overload

b.

The message is sent through the grapevine rather than formal communication channels

c.

The sender wants to minimise the risk that the receiver would misinterpret the message sent

d.

The issue or concept that the sender is trying to communicate is ill-defined or complex

12.

Buffering, summarising and omitting are ways to:

a.

Reduce information overload

b.

Avoid active listening

c.

Avoid the risk of flaming

d.

Improve communication between men and women

13.

In a business meeting where both men and women are present, women are more

ikely than men to:

a.

Misunderstand non-verbal cues sent by others in the meeting

b.

Assert their power by giving advice to others in the meeting

c.

Focus on exchanging information rather than using the conversation to build relationships

d.

None of the options listed here is correct

14.

Which of the following is NOT a feature of effective listening?

a.

Develop an opinion about the sender's message as soon as possible to guide you through the rest of the sender's message

b.

Show interest by maintaining eye contact and giving verbal acknowledgments

c.

Empathise with the sender's background and point of view when interpreting the sender's message

d.

Provide feedback by rephrasing the sender's main points at appropriate conversational breaks

15.

The most obvious cross-cultural communication challenge is:

a.

Silence

b.

Shaking hands

c.

Language

d.

Smiling

16.

To improve communication and make more efficient use of space, many companies

are:

a.

Moving executives into separate buildings

b.

Building taller office towers

c.

Tearing down walls and introducing open office designs

d.

Removing parking spaces so that employees must commute to work

17.

The organisational grapevine is useful because it:

a.

Is an effective way for management to inform employees about future organisational changes

b.

Provides detailed information that more formal communication channels tend to ignore

c.

Reduces information overload

d.

Fulfils employees' drive to bond

18.

Information technologies such as email and instant messaging have had what effect

on the corporate grapevine?

a.

These communication media have made it more difficult for the grapevine to operate without the assistance of management

b.

These communication media have dramatically changed the topics of interest communicated through the corporate grapevine

c.

Information technologies have expanded grapevine communication and networks around the company's global operations, not just around the next cubicle

d.

These communication media have done all of these

19.

Active listeners improve their evaluating activities by:

a.

Organising information

b.

Showing interest

c.

Clarifying the message

d.

Interrupting when they disagree with the speaker

20.

How do men and women generally differ in their communication styles in

organisational settings?

a.

Men are more likely than women to communicate to strengthen relationships

b.

Women are more likely than men to give advice quickly and frequently

c.

Women are usually more sensitive than men to the listener's non-verbal cues

d.

Men and women differ in all these ways

21.

Which of the following reduces information overload by increasing the person's

information-processing capacity?

a.

Using a filtering algorithm to screen out incoming email

b.

Speed-reading and scanning to read more pages per hour

c.

Reading summaries of long documents

d.

Using an assistant to screen out unwanted mail

22.

Which of the following is potentially 'noise' in the communication process?

a.

Perceptual differences between sender and receiver

b.

Receiving more information than the person can process

c.

Jargon that the receiver does not understand

d.

All of the options listed here are correct

23.

Compared with verbal communication, non-verbal communication:

a.

Has more formal rules to guide its correct use

b.

Is less susceptible to misinterpretation

c.

Is more consciously transmitted from sender to receiver

d.

Has none of these characteristics

24.

Which of the following communication media tends to be best for transmitting

emotions and persuading the receiver?

a.

Newsletter

b.

Email message

c.

Telephone conversation

d.

Face-to-face meeting

25.

Responding, the third component of listening, is feedback to the sender which:

a.

Promotes active listening

b.

Creates ideas

c.

Motivates and directs the speaker's communication

d.

Clarifies the message

Section B: Essays

Question 1

Should companies try to eliminate grapevine communication? Explain your answer.

Grapevine communication has both benefits and limitations. It can be a relied upon source of information for employees where they are unable to get information through formal channels. It is the main conduit through which organisational stories and other symbols of the organisation's culture are communicated. Grapevine communication can lead to distortion and therefore elevate employee anxiety or it can help to alleviate anxiety and encourage staff bonding. Rather than eliminating the grapevine, companies shoul