Comm Strat Exam 2 Study Guide

how can you make your listeners more comfortable when taking a position they may disagree with?

kk

why is it useful to find common ground with others? how do we validate the views and feelings of others?

lessens the perceived distance between you and the other person, may even lead to bonding; helps you analyze the issues in a way that will likely lead to mutually acceptable solutions

what is an agenda and when should an agenda be sent to a meeting's participants?

list of items to be discussed at a meeting; should be distributed ahead of time (at least a day in advance)

In what ways can you avoid digital distractions?

turning off your music or disregarding your ringing cell phone

what are some examples of low-tech presentation aids?

use relevant objects, add flavors, textures, and odors, utilize handouts, incorporate people

why is effective listening so advantageous?

(unclear)

In what ways can teams embrace diversity?

1. make sure everyone is heard 2. making it safe to let team members express novel ideas 3. giving team members decision-making authority 4. sharing credit 5. giving useful feedback 6. putting feedback into action

five components of emotional intelligence

1. self-awareness - knowing one's emotions, strengths, weaknesses, drives, values, and goals - and their impact on others 2. self-regulation - controlling or redirecting disruptive emotions and impulses 3. motivation - being driven to achieve for the sake of achievement 4. empathy - considering others' feelings, especially when making decisions 5. social skill - managing relationships to move people in desired directions

Identify and define each of the six stages of the HURIER model of effective listening.

Hearing: physically perceiving sound Understanding: comprehending the words we have heard Remembering: storing ideas in memory Interpreting: assigning meaning to what we have heard Evaluating: judging the speaker's believability and intentions Responding: indicating that we are listening

How are informational, critical, and empathic listening similar? How are they different?

Informational: listening to learn Critical: listening with a goal of evaluating or analyzing what is being heard Empathic: listening that involves trying to identify with the speaker by understanding and experiencing what he/she is thinking or feeling

In what other forms of listening do we engage?

Inspirational: listening to be inspired by what someone is saying Appreciative: listening for pure enjoyment

How are physical and psychological noise different?

Physical noise: consists of actual sound psychological noise: anything else we find distracting

Seven strategies for responding to what someone has said? which of these is the most active strategy, and which is the most passive?

Stonewalling, backchanneling, paraphrasing, empathizing, supporting, analyzing, advising (most active)

What does it mean to be skeptical?

a method of questioning whether a claim is well supporting by evidence

in what ways is using video advantageous in an online meeting?

allows members to better interpret one another's verbal and nonverbal cues, can lead to faster decision making, team members are less likely to multitask on camera

how can you avoid articulation problems?

avoid adding unnecessary sounds to words, omitting part of a word sound, reversing two sounds within a word, replacing one part of a word with an incorrect sound, combining two or more words into one

what are some common elements of a high-performing team's culture?

avoid going with the flow; frequently discuss the set of values, norms, and goals they share; open discussion helps them avoid misinterpreting each other's motivations and actions. Discusses shared values. Create a team charter

task roles

behaviors that help the group achieve its goal and accomplish its work initiator/contributor, information seeker, opinion seeker, information giver, opinion giver, elaborator

what does it mean to "separate what is and isn't said"? Why is that good advice for becoming a better informational listener?

beware of the tendency to "hear" words or statements that aren't actually said and inferring something else

what are some ways culture impacts speech norms?

can affect the way someone speaks (modest and quiet vs loud and persuasive) or the structure (linearly vs circular) or the delivery

why are exaggerating and taking either/or approaches counterproductive?

can inadvertently cause others to become defensive because you are in effect disputing their story or challenging their identity

why is it useful to commit to listening to people's stories?

can lead to shared interpretations of events, empathy, and new ways of viewing workplace relationships and business possibilities; creates buy-in to a solution; tend to be more committed to the ultimate decision of the group

what is a shared story? what makes it useful for managing difficult conversations?

combines everyone's experiences, perspectives, and goals into a shared approach to work

How are Blake and Mouton's five styles of conflict similar? How are they different?

competing style: represents a high concern for our own needs and desires and a low concern for the other party; goal is to win while other party loses avoiding: demonstrates low concern for both the self and the other party; ignoring conflict and hoping it will go away on its own conflict: reflects a high concern for the other party but a low concern for the self; goal is to sacrifice so the other party wins compromising: reflects a moderate concern for everyone's needs and desires; both parties in conflict give up something in order to gain something collaborating: represents a high concern for the needs of both sides in conflict; goal is to arrive at a win-win situation that maximizes both parties' gains

What are the confirmation bias and the vividness effect, and why are they important to avoid?

confirmation bias: tendency to pay attention only to information that supports our values and beliefs, while discounting or ignoring information that doesn't vividness effect: tendency of dramatic, shocking events to distort our perceptions of reality

How are coordination meetings and problem-solving meetings similar? How are they different?

coordination: meeting that primarily focuses on discussing tasks, roles, goals, and accountabilities problem solving: meeting that usually includes brainstorming about how to address and solve a particular work problem

what are some ways to reinforce the core values of your organization at the start of a meeting?

create your own traditions that take only moments but reinforce the culture and core values of your organization; ex: have participants share news of each other's successes

Why do people engage in "glazing over"?

daydreaming; actually listening to the speaker but allowing your mind to drift. happens because people are capable to understanding more words per minute than they actually hear, so they daydream.

what are the strengths and limitations of democratic, autocratic, and laissez-fair styles of leadership?

democratic: leader engages as many people as possible in decision making; value everyone's input equally autocratic: leader views himself/herself as having both the authority and responsibility to take action on behalf of the group laissez-faire: leader rarely interacts with employees, gives them little feedback on job performance, and generally trusts others to make the right decisions; allow you to work autonomously

what factors should you consider when choosing attire and accessories to wear when giving a speech?

dress to match the formality of - or to be slightly more formal than - your listeners' appearance; the more your personal appearance reflects theirs, the more they will perceive you as similar to them, and that enhances your credibility.

why do you think emails are used more often than messaging and texts for important business messages?

easy and convenient; best suited for routine, task-oriented, fact-based, and nonsensitive messages

How is empathic listening different from sympathetic listening?

empathic: involves trying to identify with the speaker by understanding and experiencing what he/she is thinking and feeling. golad is to understand a situation from the speaker's perspective and to feel what he or she is feeling sympathetic: feeling sorry for another perspn

why is it important for facial expression to match your message?

face communicates more information than any other nonverbal channel. when your words are serious, your facial expression should be serious. doing so creates congruence between your facial expressions and your verbal message that makes your audience more inclined to believe what you're saying

individual roles

focus attention on the individual rather than the group; do not help the group; emphasize individual accomplishments and issues rather than those of the entire group aggressor, blocker, recognition seeker, self-confessor, joker, dominator, special-interest pleader, help seeker

social roles

focus on behavior that manages relationships and affects the group climate; help resolve conflict and enhance the flow of communication encourager, harmonizer, compromiser, gatekeeper, follower, emotion expresser, group observer, tension reliever

what are the four stages that high-performing teams go through? what characterizes each stage of development?

forming stage: team members focus on gaining acceptance and avoiding conflict storming: team members open up with their competing ideas about how the team should approach work norming: team arrives at a work plan, including the roles, goals, and accountabilities performing: teams operate efficiently toward accomplishing their goals

why do effective speakers moderate their gestures?

gestures express meaning; should look spontaneous, should be appropriate in number, should be appropriate for size in your proximity to the audience

what is the difference between global, patchwork, and incremental intellectual theft?

global: stealing an entire speech from another source and presenting it as if it were your own patchwork: when you copy words from multiple sources and put them together to compose your speech incremental: failing to give credit for small portions of your speech - such as a phrase or paragraph - that you did not write

as an aspect of credibility, how is experience different from expertise?

having experience with something may give a person credibility in that area, but it doesn't necessarily make the individual an expert. People can be experts on topics and area with which they have no direct experience

what is social chat, and why is it advantageous in an online meeting?

helps build the social foundation you need to accomplish your work objectives together; posing a lively or contentious questions at the start of the meeting is another way to engage attendees and encourage their participation

Why is it important to launch a virtual team with an in-person meeting?

helps team members build rapport, help members do the tricky work of forming and norming, generally force members to take enough time together to clearly articulate the team charter

what does it mean to have bias?

if a speaker has a special interest in making you believe some idea or claim, that bias tends to reduce his or her credibility

how does the distance from the audience impact how speakers should gesture?

if your listeners are relatively close to you, you should use gestures similar to those you would use in face-to-face conversations. if you are farther away from your listeners, using larger, more dramatic gestures is appropriate so that your audience can see them

What the signs of groupthink? How can groupthink be avoided?

illusion of invulnerability, collective rationalization, illusion of morality, excessive stereotyping, pressure for conformity, self-censorship, illusion of unanimity, mindguards. ways to avoid: be aware of the potential for groupthink, make sure the group has sufficient time to make decisions, encourage dissenting viewpoints, seek input from outside the team, give important decisions a second chance

what are the advantages and drawbacks of impromptu, extemporaneous, scripted, and memorized speeches?

impromptu: requires little preparation. often makes the speaker sound genuine; lack of opportunity to prepare can be stressful. thinking on the spot can be difficult extemporaneous: provides the speaker with notes while making the speech sound spontaneous; takes time to prepare. difficult to do well under strict time constraints or if perfect grammar is required. scripted: provides maximum control over the verbal content. ensures the speaker always knows what to say; takes much time to prepare. use of manuscript can be distracting for speaker and audience memorized: allows high control over verbal content. requires no notes, so speaker can use natural gestures and maintain eye contact; requires considerable effort to write and memorize. can sound insincere. speaker's memory can fail during delivery.

In what ways can using presentation aids enhance your speech?

improve attention, learning, and recall

what are the most important tasks for a facilitator to accomplish?

individual who acts from a neutral position to get each person to participate in the conversation and ensure each agenda item is properly discussed; should acknowledge each person's comments, check for understanding, paraphrase and summarize, not judge, ask for elaboration, and get everyone engaged.

what are some reasons people tend to avoid eye contact when speaking?

inexperienced presenters often start at the floor or ceiling while speaking; subconscious is saying "if i can't see my listeners, they can't see me."

in what ways can you become a better empathic listener? how does using continuer statements instead of terminator statements help you in that effort?

listen nonjudgmentally, acknowledge feelings, communicate support nonverbally. continuer statements: phrases that identify the emotions a person is experiencing and allow him or her to communicate them further. terminator statements: phrases that fail to acknowledge a speaker's emotions, shutting down his or her opportunity to express them.

Which actions can teams take to foster trust when communicating virtually?

love up to the characteristics you most desire in your virtual teammates; willingly share information, be proactively engaged, and collaborate

describe strategies for making people the focus of your presentations.

make people the subject of your sentences, introduce colleagues and refer to them by name during your presentation, use names of audience members as appropriate

How can teams focus first and foremost on performance? what are the obstacles to focusing on team performance?

make sure your team has a sense of urgency and direction to achieve excellence; frequently talk about work priorities. obstacles include replacing work talk with social statements

Why is it useful to avoid multitasking in an online meeting?

may distract people from the larger meeting, can lead to cliquish subgroups

what are the primary challenges of online meetings, according to research?

may lack the visual cues that help develop rapport, participants can easily detach from the meeting and focus on other things going on in their own offices, technology failure

At what time of the day are most employees at their peak performance level? Which day of the week is generally considered most productive?

morning (10:00-12:00); tuesday

How are introversion and extraversion relevant for effective team performance?

need to know people's styles and preferences to effectively run a team. Extroverts tend to be attracted to leadership roles and excel in that role. introverts and extroverts can bring out the best in each other

explain the neutrality effect and negativity effect in digital communications. what do they imply for the way you write digital messages?

neutrality effect: causes people to perceive messages with an intended positive emotion as neutral negativity effect: recipients are more likely to perceive messages as negative that are meant to be neutral

What are the barriers to listening effectively in teams?

noise, boredom, information overload, rebuttal tendency

which barriers to effective listening are the most common for you?

noise, pseudolistening, glazing over

norms vs. rules

norms: standards that determine what behavior is appropriate and inappropriate in a group; develop team coordination and cooperation formal rules: more explicit prescriptions that spell out how group members should interact

describe strategies for effectively fielding questions during or after your presentation.

pause before answering, be honest, show appreciation, be concise, reframe the question to match your agenda, mingle and follow up

In what ways can you practice listening?

pay attention to the specific listening goals that are most useful to you in a given situation

in what ways are the people-oriented, action-oriented, content-oriented, and time-oriented listening styles different?

people-oriented: consists of finding common interests with others and discerning their emotions and interests action-oriented: looks for organization and precision content-oriented: hones in on intellectual challenges time-oriented: emphasizes efficiency

What is the different between perspective taking and empathic concern

perspective taking: the ability to understand a situation from another's point of view emphatic concern: the ability to identify how someone else is feeling and experience those feelings yourself

how are possibility, probability, and certainty different?

possible: slightest chance probably: has to have greater than a 50% chance of being true certain: only if its likelihood of being true is 100% and nothing less

How does the rebuttal tendency interfere with effective listening?

propensity to debate a speaker's point and formulate a reply while that person is still speaking. focusing more on your reply than what they're actually saying

Why should a team develop a charter?

provides direction for the way the team functions to meet its objectives. includes mission statements, values, goals, team member roles, tasks, ground rules, communications and meeting protocols, decision-making rules, and conflict resolution and feedback mechanisms.

Compare and contrast pseudolistening and selective attention and explain how each is a barrier to effective listening

pseudolisting: pretending to pay attention to someone but not really listening; behaviors make it seem as though you're paying attention, even though your mind is elsewhere selective attention: listening only to what we want to hear and ignoring the rest

four color codes and a description

red: power blue: intimacy white: peace yellow: fun

explain the following components of constructively responding to uncivil digital messages: reinterpretation, relaxation, and defusing.

reinterpretation: adjusting your initial perceptions by making more objective, more fact-based, and less personal judgments and evaluations relaxation: involves releasing and overcoming anger and frustration so that you can make a more rational and less emotional response defuse: focus on task-related facts and issues in your reply

when choosing presentation aids, what considerations should you take into account?

remember the goal, consider the context, strive for simplicity, practice with your presentation aids, have a backup plan

what strategies can you use to show respect for the time of others?

select message recipients carefully, provide timelines and options, be careful about using the priority flag, let others know when you will take longer than anticipated to respond to take action, avoid contributing to confusing and repetitive email chains

how can online meeting software facilitate a productive interaction in an online meeting?

share the minutes in real time so participants can comment on and correct information during the meeting

what strategies can you use to ensure ease of reading in your emails and other digital communication?

short, descriptive subject line, keep your message brief yet complete, clearly identify expected actions, provide a descriptive signature block, use attachments wiselt

why is it useful to take minutes or notes at a meeting? what details should they include?

should include date and time, team members present, decisions, key discussion points, open issues, and any action items, the people undertaking them, and related deadlines. minutes serve as a record of what your team accomplished and a checklist of follow-up items to be done

why is it beneficial to set expectations and follow an agenda when running a meeting?

some meeting participants may become uninterested or annoyed if they perceive the meeting as unstructured or off schedule; expectations let people know what you hope to accomplish

what are the benefits and drawbacks of speaking more rapidly?

speaking at a faster rate makes a speaker seem more persuasive and credible. if you speak too fast, your listeners may not understand your message but may instead simply focus on how fast you're talking. should adapt your speaking rate to your audience

How can a team leader enhance productivity in a virtual team meeting?

start the meeting with social chat, start with a contentious question, ask "what do you think" questions, make sure each team member is involved, articulate views precisely, take minutes in real time, focus on your teammates and avoid multitasking, use video when possible

how can presentation aids cause unintentional harm to your audience?

stay way from horrifying or disgusting photographs, audio or video recordings with profane or offensive language, and objects that produce dangerously loud sounds or noxious fumes; places your listeners in danger of being hurt, physically or emotionally

why is intellectual theft considered a serious offense?

stealing someone else's work and claiming it as your own; casts doubt on your credibility in the future

what are common reasons for public speaking anxiety?

stress

what are the various types of slides you might use as presentation aids? what kind of data is each designed to present?

text slides: an electronic display of text to accompany a speech graphic slides: electronic display of information in a visually compelling format that can enhance listeners' attention (tables, charts, pictures) video and audio

what is the definition of listening?

the active process of making meaning from another person's spoken message

what does it mean to "view conflict as an opportunity"?

the exchange of perspectives and competing ideas offers and open and honest communication; if there is no conflict, employees are likely not voicing their true perspectives

what makes an interruption "competitive"?

the practice of using interruptions to take control of the conversations

how is listening different from hearing?

the sensory process of receiving and perceiving sounds - listening is about creating meaning from what we hear

what is informational overload? how new of a phenomenon is it?

the state of being overwhelmed by the huge amount of information taken in every day. term was coined in 1970

what does it mean to be closed-minded?

the tendency not to listen to something with which we disagree

what are mnemonic devices, and why are they useful?

tricks that can aid our short- and long-term memory (acronyms, etc.)

for what reasons do most people prefer to avoid difficult conversations?

want to prevent conflict or avoid hurting the feelings of others; entry-level professionals can feel some apprehension, nervousness, or even fear when receiving a bad performance review, having their ideas rejected, critiquing a colleague, giving feedback to a boss, correcting someone, approaching rule breakers about their behavior, talking to a slacker on a group project, and dealing with office politics.

What are the most essential questions to ask when planning and preparing a meeting?

what is the purpose of the meeting? what outcomes do i expect?, who should attend, when should the meeting be scheduled, what roles and responsibilities should people at the meeting have, what will be on the agenda, what materials should i distribute prior to the meeting, when and how should i invite others, what logistical issues do i need to take care of

when is it especially beneficial to consider holding a meeting online, instead of face-to-face?

when people are far away, the group is large, when you feel too emotional or nervous for a face-to-face meeting, when you've already established trust with meeting participants, or when the agenda is fairly routine.

what types of noise are necessary to overcome in a difficult conversation?

your own emotions, the other party's emotions