Question 1

Amanda sends an email to her assistant requesting information for an upcoming meeting. Since her team is working on a variety of projects, Amanda is very specific about the materials she needs in order to avoid confusion. As the sender, is Amanda is ______.

Accepted Answer

Encoding refers to the process of putting a message into a form that can be transmitted successfully. In this case, Amanda is crafting an email with specific details and requests for her assistant, which is an act of encoding.

Question 2

Steve and Renee are city council members who vehemently disagree over a new zoning ordinance. Their arguments have become personal, and other council members are irritated and avoiding meetings. Steve and Renee need to resolve their ______ conflict.

Accepted Answer

The use of the word "personal" suggests that the conflict is affective, meaning it involves emotions and feelings. Additionally, the fact that the conflict is causing others to become irritated and avoid meetings indicates that it is affecting the entire group, making it more than just a cognitive or internal conflict. "Mutual" is not a fitting choice as it implies that both parties have an equal stake in the dispute, which may not necessarily be the case.

Question 3

______ percent of the typical manager's day is spent engaged in communications.

Accepted Answer

More than 75 percent of a typical manager's day is spent engaged in communications, as managers need to interact with employees, clients, and other stakeholders regularly to ensure smooth operations and effective management.

Question 4

Greg is an operating room nurse and notices the head surgeon is exhausted and disoriented. Greg decides to speak up, even though his actions defy the team ______ that surgeons outrank nurses.

Accepted Answer

The word "norm" refers to a set of expectations or beliefs about the proper behavior of individuals. In this case, the team norm suggests that surgeons outrank nurses, but Greg goes against this norm by speaking up to point out the head surgeon's exhaustion and disorientation.

Question 5

Evan is listening to a voice message left by his manager, but he cannot understand most of it due to his manager's cell phone breaking up. Evan calls back his manager for the complete message since he CANNOT effectively communicate with this type of ______.

Accepted Answer

The term "noise" in communication refers to anything that interferes with the message being transmitted effectively, such as poor cell phone reception in this scenario. Therefore, option C is the correct choice. Options A, B, and D are irrelevant to the given scenario.

Question 6

Angie's marketing team disagrees on the way to advertise a product based on their past experiences. However, all members are attempting to reconcile their differences to produce an effective marketing strategy. Angie's team is experiencing ______ conflict.

Accepted Answer

The conflict in Angie's marketing team is cognitive because it is based on differing opinions and perspectives on how to advertise a product. There is no animosity or emotional tension between the team members. The team is working to reconcile the differences in opinions and come up with an effective marketing strategy, which indicates that they are engaging in constructive conflict resolution.

Question 7

Which of the following allow members to participate in team-building exercises and games away from the office?

Accepted Answer

Team retreats are organized events for members to engage in team-building exercises and games away from the office. Option A, team norm, refers to the behavioral expectations established within a team. Option C, team diversity, refers to the variety of skills, experiences, and perspectives within a team. Option D, informal team, refers to a group of individuals who come together to work on a project without any formal authority or structure.

Question 8

______ teams quickly achieve high levels of performance and consistently demonstrate high performance.

Accepted Answer

Cohesive teams have a strong sense of unity and trust among team members, which leads to effective communication, collaboration, and a sense of shared responsibility. This helps them quickly achieve high levels of performance and consistently demonstrate high performance. Formal teams have a specific organizational structure and defined roles and objectives, but this does not necessarily guarantee high performance. Informal teams are not officially recognized or sanctioned by the organization and may lack structure and clear goals. Virtual teams work remotely and face unique challenges in building cohesion and maintaining communication, which can impact their performance.

Question 9

Which of the following statements is correct regarding team conflict?

Accepted Answer

While conflict within a team can be uncomfortable, it often leads to constructive problem-solving and improved team performance. It allows team members to express different perspectives and opinions, which can ultimately lead to better solutions. Avoiding conflict may actually do more harm than good in the long run. Diversity within a team may potentially contribute to conflict, but it is not a guaranteed solution for reducing it. Conflict may occur in any team regardless of its composition. Option D, stating that conflict rarely occurs in most teams, is not accurate as conflict can be a common occurrence in many teams.

Question 10

Countries like Canada which tend to rely on explicit written and verbal messages are considered ______ cultures

Accepted Answer

Countries that rely on explicit written and verbal messages are considered low-context cultures, where communication is more direct and explicit. High-context cultures rely more on nonverbal cues, implicit communication, and shared cultural norms and values.

Question 11

Communication in most Asian countries does NOT only depend on the message, but also on nonverbal cues, as well as past and present experiences. This is an example of communication in a ______ culture.

Accepted Answer

The statement mentions that communication in Asian countries depends not only on the message but also on nonverbal cues and past experiences. This indicates that the culture is high context, where the meaning of a message is conveyed not just by the words used but also by the context and cultural background.

Question 12

Lisa works for an advertising agency and has presented her client with ideas for new commercials. After the presentation Lisa asks for ______ to determine if the clients correctly understood her message.

Accepted Answer

Feedback refers to the response or reaction that the client gives to Lisa's ideas. It helps Lisa to assess whether or not the client has understood the message and can be used to fine-tune the presentation to better meet the client's needs.

Question 13

Team norms are ______ and ______ standards of behaviour.

Accepted Answer

Team norms are usually established informally within a team and are often not explicitly written down. They are unwritten standards of behaviour that team members develop and agree upon through their interactions with one another. While some teams may create formal, written norms, this is not necessary for effective team functioning.

Question 14

Jeremy announced to his accounting team that the company's financial reports should be completed "by next week." Subsequently, members of his team had completely different ideas about when the reports were due. At which stage of communication are the team members?

Accepted Answer

The team members are at the stage of message decoding, where they are interpreting and understanding the message that Jeremy has conveyed to them.

Question 15

Steve, the manager of ABC Ltd., is trying to resolve conflicts between teams in his organization and has identified ______ as the main cause of team conflicts

Accepted Answer

Disagreement over goals and priorities is a common cause of team conflicts as team members may have differing views on what is important or how to achieve specific goals. Team diversity and personality differences can also contribute to conflicts but are typically not the main cause. Inefficiency may cause frustration or stress, but it is not necessarily a direct cause of conflicts between teams.

Question 16

This type of conflict refers to the emotional reactions when disagreements become personal instead of remaining professional.

Accepted Answer

The term "affective" refers to emotions, and this type of conflict is characterized by personal emotional reactions rather than logical or objective disagreements.

Question 17

A communication process is effective when

Accepted Answer

The effectiveness of a communication process depends on the understanding of the idea by the receiver in the way it was intended by the sender. The use of a sophisticated communication channel, fast communication, or simple language can contribute to the effectiveness of the process, but they are not enough on their own to guarantee a successful communication process. Therefore, the most important factor in measuring the effectiveness of a communication process is the degree to which the message has been correctly interpreted by the receiver.

Question 18

Japan is considered to be a ______ context country and thus, Japanese businesspeople place importance on ______ communications.

Accepted Answer

Japan is a high-context country where communication relies heavily on nonverbal cues and the context of the message, so both verbal and nonverbal communications are important.

Question 19

Feedback ______.

Accepted Answer

Feedback helps determine whether a message was correctly received and interpreted by the receiver.

Question 20

The communication ______ composes the message.

Accepted Answer

The sender is the person who composes the message and initiates the communication. The receiver is the person who receives the message. The channel is the means through which the message is transmitted, such as email or phone. The context refers to the circumstances that surround the communication, such as the setting and the relationship between sender and receiver.

Quiz 9: Top Performance Through Empowerment, Teamwork, and Communication