CH. 11 Business Communication

In this situation, how many people should be invited to attend the meeting? All employees 5 or fewer 30 or fewer 10 or fewer

10 or fewer To solve the problem quickly, Jody could use some help. Working with her employees in the IT department will probably help her find the source of the problem quickly. It would also be wise to let other department heads know what's going on, in case they too have encountered problems with the database. Depending on the size of her IT department, a meeting with ten or fewer people would be her best choice.

virtual teams

A group of people who, aided by information technology, accomplish shared tasks largely without face-to-face contact across geographic boundaries, sometimes on different continents and across time zones.

uptalk

A habit of using a rising inflection at the end of a sentence resulting in a singsong pattern that makes statements sound like questions.

polish

A high degree of refinement; ability to demonstrate professional nonverbal techniques and etiquette.

virtual meetings

A real-time gathering of dispersed participants who connect using communication technology.

desirable workplace behavior

A set of attitudes and behaviors ensuring that employees get along and deliver positive results that enhance profits and boost the company's image.

business etiquette

A set of guidelines pertaining to proper business attire, dining manners, and other aspects of professional presentation in the workplace.

ethics

A set of moral principles or virtues.

vocal fry

A speech habit characterized by a creaky, raspy sound at the end of drawn-out sentences.

dining etiquette

An area of etiquette that provides guidelines for behavior essential for making a favorable impression during interviews over meals and in social business situations

round-robin

An effective closure technique encouraging participation as people take turns summarizing their interpretations of what was decided and what happens next.

civility

Behavior that is considered respectful and considerate of others.

You work for AdSmart, a marketing research firm. You and a new coworker are meeting a potential client for lunch. You have several morning meetings on the same day as the lunch meeting, so you arrange to meet your coworker and the potential client at 12:15 p.m. at the restaurant. You arrive five minutes early, and the prospective client arrives shortly thereafter. You both wait in the lobby until 12:35 p.m. when you decide to be seated. You check your smart phone and see no received communications from your colleague. Finally, at 12:45 p.m., your coworker arrives. During the lunch, your coworker tells several white lies and reveals information regarding your boss that should have been kept confidential. The prospective client doesn't seem to notice these indiscretions; however, when your coworker begins to badmouth their former employer, a competitor of AdSmart, the client appears ill at ease. Despite the rough start to the lunch meeting, all ends well. You believe that with the appropriate follow-up, the potential client will become one of the firm's more lucrative partnerships. Once you are back at the office, you debrief with your coworker and discuss the next steps. You decide to take on the task of putting together the proposal the client has requested, and your colleague agrees to send a follow-up note thanking the client and indicating that the proposal will arrive within the next week. When you send off the proposal three days later, you inadvertently learn from the client that they never received any correspondence from your coworker. What dimension of professional behavior did your coworker initially violate by arriving late for lunch? Honesty and ethics Courtesy and respect Reliability and responsibility

Courtesy and respect Your coworker initially violated the professional dimension of courtesy and respect by arriving late and failing to notify others that they were running late.

Which of the following are aspects of reliability and diligence? Check all that apply.

Dependability, honoring commitments, and keeping promises are all aspects of reliability and diligence. Sincerity is an aspect of courtesy and respect. Giving criticism graciously is an aspect of courtesy and respect. Fair treatment of others is an aspect of tolerance and tact.

professionalism

Desirable workplace and online behaviors that help employees get along with others and deliver positive results to enhance profits and boost a company's image; related to business etiquette, protocol, soft skills, social intelligence, ethical conduct, social intelligence, polish,and civility.

Which of the following are aspects of appearance appeal? Check all that apply.

Dining etiquette, good hygiene and grooming, and attractive business attire are all aspects of appearance appeal. Self-control is an aspect of tolerance and tact. Dependability is an aspect of reliability and diligence. Sincerity is an aspect of courtesy and respect.

Which of the following is an outcome of incivility at the workplace? Check all that apply. Drop in productivity More engagement Better employee focus Cyberbullying Less employee turnover Increased performance levels Feelings of lack of respect Higher turnover Improved thinking skills Better health More focus on the work Increased helpfulness Loss of customers Lack of effort on the job Better health

Drop in productivity Cyberbullying Feelings of lack of respect Higher turnover Loss of customers Lack of effort on the job Researchers found that even low-level rude exchanges spread like contagion; they taint a worker's entire day. Employers, of course, suffer from the resulting drop in productivity and exodus of talent. Employees, too, suffer. They are more likely to disengage or quit and experience stress responses such as digestive problems, sleeplessness, and headaches. Workplace rudeness also turns customers away.

Distributed Age

Era of distributed organizations that can engage talent wherever that talent resides and empowers employees to work from wherever they want to work.

Employers want team players. Excellent interpersonal and organizational skills are highly valued in professional settings where good teamwork is essential to company success.

Excellent interpersonal and organizational skills are highly valued in professional settings where teamwork is essential to the organization's success. While using social media professionally and responsibly is important, if you are unable to work with others successfully, your skills may be less valuable to the company.

desk rage

Extreme outbursts or violent anger in the workplace.

You are a project manager for a specialty sports equipment manufacturer. A critical member of your design team, Gwen, has been unprofessional and rude to her coworkers, and she has missed two deadlines. You need to address the problem before it gets out of hand and you fall behind schedule. What channel would be most effective for offering Gwen constructive criticism? Face-to-face communication A formal letter or interoffice memo E-mail

Face-to-face communication When providing constructive criticism, you should prepare a mental outline of your conversation, use face-to-face communication, and focus on improvement, discussing the behavior rather than the person. Additionally, you might offer to help. Be sure to keep the conversation private and encourage two-way communication.

integrity

Following a code of moral values and being incorruptible.

Form collaborative culture

Forming Forming 1.Select members 2.Become acquainted 3.Build trust 4.Form collaborative culture

You work for AdSmart, a marketing research firm. You and a new coworker are meeting a potential client for lunch. You have several morning meetings on the same day as the lunch meeting, so you arrange to meet your coworker and the potential client at 12:15 p.m. at the restaurant. You arrive five minutes early, and the prospective client arrives shortly thereafter. You both wait in the lobby until 12:35 p.m. when you decide to be seated. You check your smart phone and see no received communications from your colleague. Finally, at 12:45 p.m., your coworker arrives. During the lunch, your coworker tells several white lies and reveals information regarding your boss that should have been kept confidential. The prospective client doesn't seem to notice these indiscretions; however, when your coworker begins to badmouth their former employer, a competitor of AdSmart, the client appears ill at ease. Despite the rough start to the lunch meeting, all ends well. You believe that with the appropriate follow-up, the potential client will become one of the firm's more lucrative partnerships. Once you are back at the office, you debrief with your coworker and discuss the next steps. You decide to take on the task of putting together the proposal the client has requested, and your colleague agrees to send a follow-up note thanking the client and indicating that the proposal will arrive within the next week. When you send off the proposal three days later, you inadvertently learn from the client that they never received any correspondence from your coworker. What dimension of professional behavior did your coworker violate when discussing their previous employer with the prospective client? Honesty and ethics Courtesy and respect Reliability and responsibility

Honesty and ethics One dimension of professional behavior that your coworker violated is the dimension of honesty and ethics; they did so by revealing confidential information and making disparaging remarks about one of AdSmart's competitors.

Which of the following are characteristics of professional behavior? Check all that apply.

No matter how you define professionalism, it is an important aspect of the business world and a necessary component of career advancement. The skills related to professionalism influence your ability to communicate successfully (both verbally and nonverbally) with others. Several characteristics of professional behavior include civility, polish, business etiquette, protocol, social intelligence, and soft skills.

Discuss alternatives

Norming Norming 1.Discuss alternatives 2.Evaluate outcomes 3.Apply criteria 4.Prioritize alternatives

You work for AdSmart, a marketing research firm. You and a new coworker are meeting a potential client for lunch. You have several morning meetings on the same day as the lunch meeting, so you arrange to meet your coworker and the potential client at 12:15 p.m. at the restaurant. You arrive five minutes early, and the prospective client arrives shortly thereafter. You both wait in the lobby until 12:35 p.m. when you decide to be seated. You check your smart phone and see no received communications from your colleague. Finally, at 12:45 p.m., your coworker arrives. During the lunch, your coworker tells several white lies and reveals information regarding your boss that should have been kept confidential. The prospective client doesn't seem to notice these indiscretions; however, when your coworker begins to badmouth their former employer, a competitor of AdSmart, the client appears ill at ease. Despite the rough start to the lunch meeting, all ends well. You believe that with the appropriate follow-up, the potential client will become one of the firm's more lucrative partnerships. Once you are back at the office, you debrief with your coworker and discuss the next steps. You decide to take on the task of putting together the proposal the client has requested, and your colleague agrees to send a follow-up note thanking the client and indicating that the proposal will arrive within the next week. When you send off the proposal three days later, you inadvertently learn from the client that they never received any correspondence from your coworker.

One dimension of professional behavior that your coworker violated is the dimension of reliability and responsibility; they did this by failing to act on the commitment to send follow-up correspondence to the prospective client.

Zoom fatigue

Participants' exhaustion after hours on Zoom and other video calls prompted by (1) overstimulation caused by the close proximity to a screen with large faces staring at each other; (2) self-critical feelings and stress resulting from gazing at oneself for many hours; (3) unnatural sitting position due to the camera's narrow field of vision; and (4) having to work harder to communicate due to a lack of body language cues.

Analyze effects

Performing Performing 1.Select alternative 2.Analyze effects 3.Implement plan 4.Manage project

The staff meeting started at 2 p.m., but Yvette didn't arrive until 2:30 p.m.. She listened to a discussion of order processing problems and began to shuffle through a stack of papers looking for the agenda. Frustrated, she leaned over and whispered to you, "What's going on?" You tried to explain the situation, but by the time you had finished, the meeting was over. What could Yvette do to make the next meeting more effective and productive? Use body language to indicate confusion Text the question to you Prepare before the meeting and arrive on time

Prepare before the meeting and arrive on time If she had prepared before the meeting and arrived on time, Yvette would have gotten the benefit of the full meeting, and people might have noticed her dedication.

MacCall Medical Billing's intranet has a glitch. When employees log on to enter patients' medical insurance data, they are automatically redirected to the insurance company phone directory. When they query the insurance company files, they find themselves looking at the hospital billing records. Jody Abbot, the CIO, recently installed a new database program to handle MacCall's growing needs. She's not sure if the problem is in the program or the company's server. She's going to need some help to find out. What purpose will this meeting serve? Intensive problem solving Problem identification Information review and presentation Motivation

Problem identification Jody knows there's a problem. She's not sure what's causing it, however. She'll have to investigate to identify whether the problem is in the database software or the server itself.

Social intelligence indicates an understanding of culture and life.

Social intelligence points to a deep understanding of culture and life that helps us negotiate interpersonal and social situations. Polish is the level of professionalism displayed in social situations. Your online presence should be positive and professional, but a social media presence that is poorly developed or inappropriate indicates a lack of social intelligence. Integrity refers to the quality of being honest. It does not necessarily give you an understanding of culture and life.

pitch

Sound vibration frequency, i.e., the highness and lowness of sound.

Collect and share information

Storming Storming 1.Identify problems 2.Collect and share information 3.Establish decision criteria 4.Prioritize goals

Strong verbal and written communication skills are highly sought by employers.

Strong verbal and written communication skills are highly sought by employers. Learn to improve your communication skills to increase the productivity of your company and advance your own career.

Who should be invited to attend this meeting? The IT department and other department heads All employees The CEO and CFO

The IT department and other department heads While Jody doesn't need help from other departments, the heads of those departments should be aware of the problems in case they too experience database issues. Their input may also provide IT department employees with important clues about what's wrong. The IT department and all department heads should be invited to the meeting.

social intelligence

The ability to interact well with others, be perceptive, show sensitivity, get along with others, and to persuade them to cooperate.

volume

The loudness or the intensity of sound that speakers adjust to the occasion and their listeners.

rate

The pace of speech.

hard skills

The technical skills in a worker's field.

What techniques would be effective in getting meetings started and keeping them focused? Check all that apply.

To effectively manage meetings, make sure you start promptly, state the goals and length, introduce a tentative agenda, set ground rules, and assign a minute taker and recorder.

Identify the telephone etiquette that will make your telephone calls productive. Check all that apply.

To increase the productiveness of your phone calls, plan a mini-agenda, use three-point introductions, be brisk if you are rushed, be cheerful and accurate, be professional and courteous, end the call politely, avoid phone tag, and leave complete voice mail messages.

Which of the following are etiquette guidelines that promote positive workplace conversations? Check all that apply.

To promote positive workplace conversations at the office and in work-related social settings, use correct names and titles, choose appropriate topics, avoid negative remarks, listen to learn, give sincere and specific praise, and act professionally in social situations.

Which of the following are aspects of honesty and ethics? Check all that apply.

Truthfulness, respecting others, fair competition, and empathy are aspects of honesty and ethics. Apologizing for errors is an aspect of courtesy and respect. Showing up prepared is an aspect of collegiality and sharing. Consistent performance is an aspect of reliability and diligence.

Which of the following will help ensure that interaction with remote members will have the best results during virtual meetings? Check all that apply.

Virtual meetings have less visual richness with little ability to read nonverbal cues. Assuming everyone is familiar with technology may result in some members not having compatible technology or access to the meeting. The best practices recommended by experienced meeting facilitators will help you address premeeting issues such as technology glitches, scheduling across time zones, and language challenges. Creating ground rules, anticipating limited media richness, managing turn-taking, and humanizing the interaction with remote members all achieve the best results during virtual meetings.

Successful teams share several characteristics. For example, successful teams

are small but diverse Small teams are easier to organize, reach consensus faster, and benefit from the diversity of their members.

Uptalk

creates an unintentional impression that the statement is a question. You can change your speaking voice to make it a powerful communication tool. Pay attention to your pronunciation, saying words clearly and correctly in accepted ways. Avoid uptalk, which causes your statements to sound like questions and makes you seem unsure of yourself. Additionally, speak at an appropriate rate of speed, which is about 125 words per minute.

Face-to-face conversation

has the highest level of media richness. Face-to-face conversations and meetings have the highest level of media richness and are most effective. As you move to more impersonal communication methods, such as video conferencing, IMs, and e-mail, media richness and effectiveness decline.

Employers want team players. Proven team skills

help deliver on-time, on-budget results . Proven team skills help deliver on-time, on-budget results. Learn how to work with others to increase the productivity of your company and advance your own career.

Social intelligence

helps us negotiate interpersonal situations and interact with others more professionally. Social intelligence points to a deep understanding of culture and life that helps us negotiate interpersonal and social situations. Teamwork is the process of two or more members working to complete a task. Self-confidence is a person's belief in their own abilities. Unfortunately, when strong enough, that belief can blind you to the situation around you. Incivility is rude and inappropriate behavior that detracts from social situations rather than helping us to negotiate them.

Social intelligence

is the ability to get along well with others and to get them to cooperate with you. Social intelligence points to a deep understanding of culture and life that helps us negotiate interpersonal and social situations. Incivility is rude and inappropriate behavior and will not allow members to get along and cooperate. Professionalism means maintaining personal credibility and a positive online presence. A broad definition of professionalism also encompasses another crucial quality in a businessperson: ethics, or integrity. While professionalism and high ethical standards are important workplace skills, they do not guarantee an understanding of social situations and cultures.

Organizations form teams because effective teams

promote greater buy-in Team members are more willing to support decisions that they help make. They also are more likely to take an active role in promoting those decisions to coworkers.

You can use voice mail more effectively if you

test your message Call your number and assess your message. Is the tone warm and friendly? Does it sound inviting?

You can use voice mail more effectively if

you respond to messages promptly . If you rely heavily on voice mail, make sure you respond to messages promptly.