Question 1

Groupthink refers to
A) the willingness of individual group members to withhold contrary or unpopular opinions, even when those objections are legitimate, and to go along with majority opinion.
B) the four-step decision-making process in groups.
C) software programs that help groups make decisions.
D) the basic rules that underlie a group's behavior.
E) putting others first instead of being selfish.

Accepted Answer

A)Groupthink occurs when peer pressures cause individual team members to withhold contrary or unpopular opinions.Like other social structures,business teams can generate tremendous pressures to conform with accepted norms of behavior.The result can be decisions that are worse than the choices the team members might have made individually.Groupthink is not about a 4-step process,software,basic rules,or putting others first.

Question 2

The primary difference between constructive feedback and destructive feedback is
A) constructive feedback is focused on the people involved.
B) destructive feedback is focused on the process and outcomes of communication.
C) constructive feedback can hurt people's feelings.
D) destructive feedback delivers criticism with no guidance for improvement.
E) constructive feedback includes a threat of consequences for failure.

Accepted Answer

D)Constructive feedback sometimes called constructive criticism focuses on the process and outcomes of communication,not on the people involved.Destructive feedback delivers criticism with no guidance to stimulate improvement.The other answers are the opposite of what constructive and destructive feedback are about.

Question 3

You and several coworkers serve on a task force charged with updating the company personnel policy manual.To proceed effectively,you should concentrate on
A) pointing out as many typos, misspellings, and grammatical errors as possible.
B) ensuring that all members have a clear and shared sense of purpose.
C) making other team members feel good.
D) making the manual as long as possible (to let everyone know you are serious).
E) doing all of the above.

Accepted Answer

B)Characteristics of effective teams: have a clear objective and shared sense of purpose,have a sense of trust,communicate openly and honestly,reach decisions by consensus,think creatively,and know how to resolve conflict.Effective teams are not about pointing out grammatical mistakes,making other members feel good,or making the manual as long as possible.

Question 4

Social networking technologies are designed to
A) discourage employees from socializing at work.
B) help dissatisfied employees find better jobs.
C) discourage teamwork so individual employees can reach their full potential.
D) help employees respect the distinction between personal time and work.
E) do none of the above.

Accepted Answer

E)Groupware is a general term for computer-based systems that let people communicate,share files,review previous message threads,work on documents simultaneously,and connect social networking tools.These systems help companies capture and share knowledge from multiple experts,bringing greater insights to bear on tough challenges.These social networking tools are not referring to Facebook or LinkedIn.

Question 5

When it comes to overcoming resistance in groups,it is a good idea to
A) avoid all conflict in the first place.
B) hold off dealing with minor problems until the conflict becomes major.
C) deal directly with resistance.
D) encourage participants to repress their emotions about the situation.
E) make an example of one team member by expelling him or her from the team.

Accepted Answer

C)If someone is resisting change,you can be persuasive with calm,reasonable communication: Bring resistance out into the open.When people are noncommittal and silent,they may be tuning you out without even knowing why.Continuing with your argument is futile.Deal directly with the resistance,without accusing.You might say,"You seem to have reservations about this idea.Have I made some faulty assumptions?" Conflict does not disappear if you avoid it.If you hold off on minor problems,they can become major ones if not resolved.Repressing emotions can lead to festering and an explosion of pent-up emotions.

Question 6

Only one sales representative can go to the conference in Hawaii,but both Susan and Sean want to go.After much discussion and arguing,they draw straws and Susan gets the trip.This is an example of
A) a win-lose situation.
B) the five-step decision-making process.
C) the best way to deal with a conflict.
D) a lose-lose situation.
E) all of the above.

Accepted Answer

A)Conflict is destructive if it diverts energy from more important issues,destroys the morale of teams or individual team members,or polarizes or divides the team.Destructive conflict can lead to win-lose or lose-lose outcomes,in which one or both sides lose,to the detriment of the entire team.There was no five-step decision making process in this example.It was not an effective way to deal with conflict.Susan "won," so it clearly was not a lose-lose situation.

Question 7

At the last staff meeting,someone suggested that using parliamentary procedure would help make the meetings more efficient.To learn more about parliamentary procedure,which of the following should you consult?
A) SEC Standards of Ethics
B) Robert's Rules of Order
C) Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
D) Fundamental Meeting Management
E) Congressional Meeting Policies and Procedures

Accepted Answer

B)When conducting and contributing to efficient meetings,follow agreed-upon rules.The larger the meeting,the more formal you need to be to maintain order.Formal meetings use parliamentary procedure,a time-tested method for planning and running effective meetings.The best known guide to this procedure is Robert's Rules of Order (www.robertsrules.com).The other answers are other guidelines for various professions like accounting.

Question 8

Use of parliamentary procedure
A) tends to slow meetings down.
B) contributes to dissent among participants.
C) helps meetings run more smoothly.
D) is only useful only for meetings with more than a dozen participants.
E) is a longstanding tradition in Europe, but has not caught on in the U.S.

Accepted Answer

C)Follow agreed-upon rules.The larger the meeting,the more formal you need to be to maintain order.Formal meetings use parliamentary procedure,a time-tested method for planning and running effective meetings.The best known guide to this procedure is Robert's Rules of Order.

Question 9

One member of a task force on which you serve is particularly good at helping other members get along and work through their differences.This individual plays a(n)________ role.
A) team-maintenance
B) task-oriented
C) self-oriented
D) coordinating
E) empathic

Accepted Answer

A)Far more likely to contribute to team goals are members who assume team-maintenance roles to help everyone work well together and those who assume task-facilitating roles to help the team reach its goals.There are no such roles as "task-oriented" or "empathic." Self-oriented roles are dysfunctional.Coordinating is one type of task-facilitated role.

Question 10

A meeting agenda
A) is a formality that most groups skip these days.
B) should be circulated before the meeting, providing participants with enough time to prepare.
C) should be general rather than specific.
D) is only a guideline, and deviations are common and expected.
E) should be distributed no sooner than the start of the meeting.

Accepted Answer

B)People who will be presenting information need to know what is expected of them,nonpresenters need to know what will be presented so they can prepare questions,and everyone needs to know how long the meeting will last.In addition the agenda is an important tool for guiding the progress of the meeting.It is not just a formality.Agendas should be specific and distributed ahead of time so people know what to expect.It is not just a guideline.

Question 11

The key to a productive meeting is careful planning that addresses
A) its purpose.
B) its participants.
C) its location and agenda.
D) none of the above.
E) all of the above.

Accepted Answer

E)When preparing for a meeting,proceed with these four planning tasks.1)Clarify your purpose.2)Select participants for the meeting.3)Choose the venue and the time.4)Set the agenda.The other answers are only a part of the careful planning that should happen.

Question 12

When composing collaborative messages,the best strategy is to
A) avoid composing as a group.
B) begin by letting all members "do their own thing" and then seeing what they all produce.
C) let all members use their own preferred software.
D) make the team as large as possible so that every possible area of expertise will be covered.
E) insist that no one is leaving the room until the task is complete.

Accepted Answer

A)One key guideline for collaborative writing: avoid composing as a group.The actual composition is the only part of developing team messages that usually does not benefit from group participation.For longer projects,you will usually find it more efficient to plan,research,and outline together,but assign the task of writing to one person or divide larger projects among multiple writers.The other answers are not good strategies to compose collaborative messages.

Question 13

A hidden agenda refers to
A) a meeting agenda that is not revealed to others outside the meeting group.
B) individuals' private, counterproductive motives.
C) an agenda that members must look for before they can attend a meeting.
D) an approach to group dynamics that helps facilitate group functioning.
E) an agenda that is not shared until the meeting begins.

Accepted Answer

B)Some team members may have a hidden agenda - private,counterproductive motives,such as a desire to take control of a group,to undermine someone else on the team,or to pursue a business goal that runs counter to the team's mission.A hidden agenda is not about a list of items to be discussed in a meeting.

Question 14

Which of the following is not a way teams help organizations to succeed?
A) Increase information and knowledge
B) Increase groupthink among members
C) Increase performance levels
D) Increase diversity of views
E) Increase acceptance of a solution.

Accepted Answer

B)Groupthink occurs when peer pressures cause individual team members to withhold contrary or unpopular opinions.The result can be decisions that are worse than the choices the team members might have made individually.The key word is "not." The other answers are ways teams help organizations to succeed.

Question 15

The first phase that a new team typically goes through is
A) conflict.
B) reinforcement.
C) orientation.
D) brainstorming.
E) intensification.

Accepted Answer

C)Teams typically evolve through a number of phases on their way to becoming productive.A variety of models have been proposed to describe the evolution toward becoming a productive team.The phases in this model are orientation,conflict,brainstorming,emergence,and reinforcement.Conflict,reinforcement,and brainstorming are other phases a team can go through.There is no phase called intensification.

Question 16

________ are informal standards of conduct that team members share.
A) Group maintenance roles
B) Rules of parliamentary procedure
C) Group norms
D) Robert's Rules
E) Group dynamics

Accepted Answer

C)Productive teams tend to develop clear norms - informal standards of conduct that members share and that guide member behavior.Group norms are not about maintenance roles,parliamentary procedures,Robert's Rules,or group dynamics.

Question 17

"Virtual offices" that give everyone on a team access to the same set of resources and information are called
A) instant messaging software.
B) videoconferencing systems.
C) shared workspaces.
D) extended databases.
E) none of the above.

Accepted Answer

C)Shared workspaces are online "virtual offices" and give everyone on a team access to the same set of resources and information: databases,calendars,project plans,pertinent messaging and exchanges,reference materials,and team-created documents.They are also sometimes called intranets and extranets.

Question 18

Group members who are motivated mainly to fulfill personal needs play a(n)________ role.
A) team-maintenance
B) task-oriented
C) self-oriented
D) coordinating
E) empathic

Accepted Answer

C)Team members can play various roles.Members who assume self-oriented roles are motivated mainly to fulfill personal needs,so they tend to be less productive than other members.Team-maintenance is one group of functional roles.Coordinating is one type of functional role.There is no such thing as a task-oriented role.Empathic is referring to empathic listening.

Question 19

When conducting a meeting
A) if some people are too quiet, leave them alone; they probably have nothing to contribute.
B) if some people dominate the conversation, let them do so, since they are probably the most knowledgeable attendees.
C) try to simply act as an observer, and let the meeting "run itself."
D) allow only one comment on each issue-otherwise discussion can take too long.
E) do none of the above.

Accepted Answer

E)When conducting a meeting,follow these five guidelines: Keep the discussion on track.Follow agreed-upon rules.Encourage participation.Participate actively.Close effectively.

Question 20

In participative management
A) employees are involved in the company's decision making.
B) all top-level managers participate in profit sharing.
C) teams are discouraged in favor of individual achievement.
D) an authoritarian management model is used.
E) managers have exclusive control.

Accepted Answer

A)When teams are successful,they can improve productivity,creativity,employee involvement,and even job security.Teams are often at the core of participative management - the effort to involve employees in the company's decision making.Participative management is not about profit sharing participation,an authoritarian management,or exclusive control.A team is a unit of two or more people who share a mission and the responsibility for working to achieve a common goal.

Quiz 2: Mastering Team Skills and Interpersonal Communication

Groupthink refers to

The primary difference between constructive feedback and destructive feedback is

You and several coworkers serve on a task force charged with updating the company personnel policy manual.To proceed effectively,you should concentrate on

Social networking technologies are designed to

When it comes to overcoming resistance in groups,it is a good idea to

Only one sales representative can go to the conference in Hawaii,but both Susan and Sean want to go.After much discussion and arguing,they draw straws and Susan gets the trip.This is an example of

At the last staff meeting,someone suggested that using parliamentary procedure would help make the meetings more efficient.To learn more about parliamentary procedure,which of the following should you consult?

Use of parliamentary procedure

One member of a task force on which you serve is particularly good at helping other members get along and work through their differences.This individual plays a(n) ________ role.

A meeting agenda

The key to a productive meeting is careful planning that addresses

When composing collaborative messages,the best strategy is to

A hidden agenda refers to

Which of the following is not a way teams help organizations to succeed?

The first phase that a new team typically goes through is

________ are informal standards of conduct that team members share.

"Virtual offices" that give everyone on a team access to the same set of resources and information are called

Group members who are motivated mainly to fulfill personal needs play a(n) ________ role.

When conducting a meeting

In participative management