Deck 3: Team Communication and Difficult Conversations

Question 1

The basic principles of team communication all depend on a strong speaking-centered approach.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

During group writing projects, it is important not to waste time discussing roles and contributions.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

In the current business environment, virtual teams rely primarily on phone calls, teleconferences, and email to communicate with one another.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

An absence of conflict during conversations might imply that employees are not voicing their true perspectives.

Question 5

The most important stage of group writing is the drafting stage.

Question 6

When developing an agenda to address high-priority items, items of least importance must be placed near the beginning of the agenda.

Question 7

For brevity, the minutes of a meeting should include only the main decisions that were reached.

Question 8

One of the unique challenges of working in virtual teams is the inability to gain information by reading nonverbal cues.

Question 9

Because virtual teams have a more difficult time building relationships than traditional teams, experts recommend starting each virtual meeting with social chat.

Question 10

High-performing teams go through repeated cycles of disassociation and association.

Question 11

Research has shown that teams that have less dissent during meetings reach higher-quality decisions.

Question 12

Sally attends a meeting that focuses on brainstorming how to solve a particular problem. The agenda is fluid, and the team adjusts the time it spends on various tasks as needed. This is an example of a coordination meeting.

Question 13

In emotionally charged, high-stakes conversations, forcefully stating your message at the beginning will often lead to productive outcomes.

Question 14

One significant advantage of virtual meetings is that team members can multitask during them.

Question 15

Melva perceives that Jonathan, the meeting facilitator, seems to favor one position over others. As a result, Melva may be reluctant to share her opinions.

Question 16

When team members experience conflict because they are trying to make sense of competing ideas about how the team should work, they are in the storming stage of team development.

Question 17

When producing group writing, it is important to ensure that the writing reflects the views of the group at every stage-gathering information, drafting initial findings, and editing the final document.

Question 18

High self-awareness is crucial for handling difficult conversations successfully.

Question 19

Effective teams spend about half their time bonding by talking about social activities.

Question 20

In best-case scenarios, work teams usually take six to seven weeks to achieve maximum performance.

Question 21

In which of the following situations is a company most likely to need a series of problem-solving meetings that have no preset agenda?

A) planning the annual picnic
B) deciding the work assignments for a project
C) developing a new product proposal
D) discussing the transition to new ownership
E) reviewing a market research report

Question 22

Moira has a standard way of running meetings that she has used for a long time. Her meetings tend to be efficient but dry, and people have difficulty feeling engaged. Which of the following techniques should Moira use to solve that problem?

A) distribute an agenda ahead of time
B) have someone take minutes and distribute them afterward
C) make sure to start and end the meeting on time
D) encourage each person to share his or her opinion
E) remain neutral while facilitating the discussion

Question 23

Whenever he has to present a proposal to his managers, LeRoy is able to distance himself from his ideas and accept criticism without becoming defensive. What process enables LeRoy to do this?

A) consolidation
B) association
C) disassociation
D) formation
E) reflection

Question 24

Which of the following describes a team in the forming stage of team development?

A) All four members of the team discuss what the team roles and goals should be.
B) Nick and Julie present alternate ways of assigning work, and the team debates the issue.
C) Nick, Julie, Raul, and Ming take turns sharing their background with the others.
D) The four group members work at their assigned tasks efficiently and work together as needed.
E) Nick and Ming draft a work plan, while Raul and Julie write guidelines for the group to consider.

Question 25

A catering company has a weekly meeting. Every week, the meeting starts with a story about how the caterer's food helped make an occasion special for the people who were there. What is the most likely reason for this tradition?

A) to help the employees open up to each other
B) to help the employees bond since they work on scattered jobs
C) to deal with the most important agenda items first
D) to illustrate an important aspect of teamwork
E) to remind the employees of the company's customer focus

Question 26

Abdul is frustrated because his team members come unprepared for meetings. What is the first thing he should do to try to improve the situation?

A) distribute minutes after the previous meeting to remind people of what was covered
B) distribute an agenda ahead of the meeting so people know what to expect
C) distribute homework assignments several days before each meeting
D) criticize people during the meeting if they are not contributing enough
E) criticize people after the meeting to make his point without embarrassing them

Question 27

Which of the following is characteristic of the norming stage of team development?

A) Team members get to know each other and try to gain acceptance.
B) Team members share competing ideas about the task and roles, and conflict occurs.
C) Team members easily manage to reach consensus even when there is conflict.
D) Team members are still uncertain about what is required of them.
E) Team members agree upon mutual goals and individual responsibilities.

Question 28

What is a recommended method of planning thoroughly for meetings?

A) reviewing the minutes of the last meeting to see what was left unfinished
B) calling everyone together and working out an agenda as a group
C) using the agenda of the last meeting as a model for running the next meeting
D) taking ten minutes before the meeting starts to prepare a few action items
E) asking yourself essential questions about purpose, strategy, scheduling, and coordination

Question 29

_____ is the psychological bonding that occurs between people and their ideas.

A) Consolidation
B) Association
C) Disassociation
D) Formation
E) Reflection

Question 30

Which of the following is characteristic of members from high-performing teams?

A) They view conflict as unhealthy and counterproductive.
B) They approach work with a judgmental mind-set.
C) They openly discuss the set of values, norms, and goals they share.
D) They make fewer work-related and supportive statements than other groups.
E) They meet infrequently, preferring to work as individual units.

Question 31

Teams rapidly develop shared perceptions and commitment during the _____ stage of team development.

A) norming
B) forming
C) performing
D) storming
E) reforming

Question 32

Which of the following would be the most productive time to schedule a meeting?

A) 2:00 p.m. Thursday
B) 4:00 p.m. Wednesday
C) 10:00 a.m. Tuesday
D) Noon Monday
E) 10:00 a.m. Friday

Question 33

Which of the following is the role of a facilitator?

A) keeping the meeting's minutes
B) ensuring fair discussion of each agenda item in a meeting
C) discouraging debate and dissent
D) steering conversations toward predetermined conclusions
E) presenting counter arguments to ideas or suggestions

Question 34

What impact does 2-D diversity have on a company?

A) The company is more likely to increase its market share.
B) The company is more likely to experience damaging conflict.
C) The company is less likely to have a "speak-up culture."
D) The company is less likely to have access to a variety of perspectives.
E) The company is more likely to suffer significant financial losses.

Question 35

Which of the following best describes the performing stage of team development?

A) All four members of the team discuss what the team roles and goals should be.
B) Nick and Julie present alternate ways of assigning work, and the team debates the issue.
C) Nick, Julie, Raul, and Ming each share their background at the company.
D) The four group members work at their assigned tasks efficiently and work together as needed.
E) Nick and Ming draft a work plan, while Raul and Julie write guidelines for the group to consider.

Question 36

Which of the following is true of high-performing teams?

A) They remain professional and avoid social bonding or personal connection.
B) They see differences of opinion as signs of dysfunction in the team.
C) They spend most of their time discussing work-related issues.
D) They do not meet frequently to discuss their purposes because it wastes time.
E) They have a homogenous rather than a diverse membership.

Question 37

Which of the following is a trait that contributes to the inherent diversity of a team?

A) members with customer service experience
B) members with retail experience
C) members with engineering experience
D) members with managerial experience
E) members with a variety of ethnic backgrounds

Question 38

Nick, Julie, and Raul each share different ideas about how the team should approach work, and the team spends some time debating which ideas to adopt. What stage is the team at?

A) norming
B) forming
C) performing
D) storming
E) reforming

Question 39

Erik is a manager who organizes his department into teams at the beginning of September. By December, he worries because the teams are still having conflict and do not seem very productive. What would be the best advice to give Erik?

A) Conclude that his workers are not team-oriented people. Abandon the experiment before work falls further behind.
B) Be patient because the teams are in the storming stage. Give them time to reach the norming and performing stages.
C) Conclude that he made a mistake in the makeup of the teams. Reassign people to new teams and start over.
D) Be patient because the teams are in the norming stage. Give them time to reach the more productive performing stage.
E) Conclude that the teams are spending too little time on work. Start to sit in meetings and direct activities.

Question 40

Oscar starts his meetings by describing the procedures he wants people to follow while taking part in the discussion and explaining what topics must be kept confidential. By doing this, Oscar is providing

A) agenda items.
B) minutes.
C) consensus.
D) ground rules.
E) action items.

Question 41

Barb's team has to write a report recommending three healthcare plans to offer the company's employees next year. At the planning meeting, each person is assigned responsibilities. Which of the following team members is not carrying a fair share of the group's work?

A) Barb, Jaime, and Kat will each research several healthcare plans for the team to evaluate.
B) Elena will create all of the charts, graphs, and tables needed for the final report.
C) Meghan will take minutes at the meetings and use them to create a first draft of the report.
D) Amy will send out reminders of the meetings and take attendance.
E) Michael will edit the report until the team agrees it is polished enough to distribute.

Question 42

What impact does it have on long-term virtual teams when they meet in person?

A) They are more likely to start having conflicts.
B) They find it easier to build rapport.
C) They take longer to trust each other.
D) They often split into separate factions.
E) They waste more time on social chat.

Question 43

Hector and his team work for an educational publisher. The team has to write a report comparing the textbooks of three competitors. Who would be the best person to analyze the books' methods of teaching?

A) Hector, who has two years of experience in market research
B) George, who has five years of experience as an editor
C) Kerry, who has three years of experience as a book designer
D) Lin, who has four years of experience as an educator
E) Lisa, who has five years of experience as a production coordinator

Question 44

Team leader Sean always follows through after meetings by asking all the participants how they are doing with their assigned action items. What effect is this likely to have on the other team members?

A) They will feel that the meeting was a waste of time.
B) They will perceive the team decisions as important.
C) They will feel that Sean views them as children.
D) They will be less likely to attend the next meeting.
E) They will procrastinate because they resent being nagged.

Question 45

Which stage of team development do virtual teams sometimes skip?

A) forming
B) storming
C) norming
D) performing
E) reforming

Question 46

David has just been appointed leader of a new virtual team. He senses that the team members have doubts about each other's competence. What can he do to alleviate this situation?

A) take time during a meeting to review the company's mission statement
B) encourage the team members to consider stakeholders in every discussion
C) allow team members to choose the people they want to work with more closely
D) schedule a time when people can share their professional accomplishments
E) establish ground rules for their meetings from the very beginning

Question 47

What do professionals identify as the number one challenge of working in virtual teams?

A) the need to make decisions too quickly
B) unclear decision-making rules
C) not enough time to build relationships
D) differing leadership styles
E) lack of participation

Question 48

What is a virtual watercooler?

A) a virtual place to record team goals, assignments, and projects
B) a social media space where virtual team members can interact spontaneously
C) a database of all the agendas and minutes from a virtual team's meetings
D) a social collaboration tool that allows virtual team members to work together easily
E) a virtual collaboration tool that adjusts for time zone and language differences

Question 49

What should the leader do just before closing a meeting?

A) summarize what was accomplished
B) allow the attendees to ask questions
C) elaborate on the main issues
D) ask each attendee to share
E) evaluate his or her performance

Question 50

After Karla's team completed the first draft of its group document, the team asked her to edit it carefully for grammar, punctuation, and spelling. At the next meeting, the group decided one section of the document was not relevant and deleted it. Karla was upset about her wasted work. What did the team do wrong?

A) It did not establish a system for version control.
B) It did not agree on rules for overwriting one another's work.
C) It did not set up guidelines for using comments and track changes.
D) It did not choose a single person to do the final edit.
E) It did not choose an appropriate purpose for each round of revision.

Question 51

Janet's team is working on a group document, which they store in an FTP system on the company server. On Friday, Claire and Malik download the document at the same time, and each makes edits. Malik uploads his document first. When Claire uploads her copy of the document, she erases all of Malik's work. What went wrong?

A) Team members did not use the same word processing program.
B) The team did not assign its members clear responsibilities.
C) The team did not have a system to handle version control.
D) Team members were not clear about the purpose of the revision.
E) The team did not consider the needs of the audience.

Question 52

Jamila is concerned that her virtual teammates are misinterpreting each other's statements because they cannot see facial expressions and gestures. Which of the following possible solutions should Jamila suggest to her team leader?

A) setting up a virtual watercooler
B) opening with a contentious question
C) taking minutes in real time
D) asking team members to avoid multitasking
E) using video during the meetings

Question 53

Which of the following practices helps to increase buy-in from virtual meeting participants?

A) running the meeting efficiently
B) multitasking during meetings
C) taking minutes in real time
D) opening with a contentious question
E) preparing how to state views ahead of time

Question 54

Which of the following is a reason that organizations use virtual teams?

A) to reduce isolation
B) to resolve conflict more easily
C) to encourage sharing of opinions
D) to save money
E) to avoid time zone differences

Question 55

Difficult conversations can be handled successfully by

A) hearing everybody's story.
B) agreeing with everything you hear.
C) using the either/or approach.
D) invalidating the perspective of other people.
E) adopting a judgmental stance.

Question 56

A learning stance implies that

A) you have nothing to learn from the other people involved in the conversation.
B) you intend to find contradictions in what other people have said or done.
C) you avoid difficult conversations in order not to hurt the feelings of other people.
D) you are committed to understanding other peoples' versions of interpersonal interactions.
E) you intend to agree and comply with everything that the speaker says.

Question 57

When editing a group document, what should be the first thing the team works on?

A) whether the paper is organized logically
B) the transitions between sections
C) whether the main ideas are strong and clear
D) whether the word choices are appropriate
E) the correctness of the grammar and mechanics

Question 58

Which action is most likely to help build trust in a virtual team?

A) be proactively engaged
B) multitask during meetings
C) avoid social conversation
D) work as independently as possible
E) rely mostly on email to communicate

Question 59

Hector and his team work for an educational publisher. The team has to write a report comparing the textbooks of three competitors. Who would be the best person to polish the final version of their report so it has a consistent voice?

A) Hector, who has two years of experience in market research
B) George, who has five years of experience as an editor
C) Kerry, who has three years of experience as a book designer
D) Lin, who has four years of experience as an educator
E) Lisa, who has five years of experience as a production coordinator

Question 60

Lana's team has been given a group writing assignment. The deadline is two months away. When should the group start working on the project?

A) a week before the deadline
B) two weeks before the deadline
C) in a month
D) in two weeks
E) right away

Question 61

What are at least three ways to build team rapport on virtual teams?

Question 62

What does validating someone entail?

A) recognizing their feelings as legitimate
B) refusing to have difficult conversations with them
C) agreeing unconditionally with their perspectives and views
D) leading them around to your way of thinking
E) deciding to comply with their requests in advance

Question 63

Which of the following statements is an example of disagreeing diplomatically?

A) You always interrupt me when I try to explain my reasons.
B) Your methods never work, but you refuse to give mine a chance.
C) I know I'm right about this, and I can prove it to you.
D) This is an issue of policy, not personal interpretation.
E) I feel that I was not given a chance to explain my actions.

Question 64

Why is disagreeing diplomatically an important component of managing difficult conversations?

Question 65

What are actions that will help foster trust during the norming stage of a virtual team project?

Question 66

Briefly explain the four stages of team formation.

Question 67

Which of the following is the best opening for a difficult conversation?

A) We need to discuss the way you let your team members down on the last project.
B) I really want to understand what went wrong and find a solution we both can accept.
C) Your work has suffered lately, and I want to make some suggestions for improvement.
D) What were you thinking when you made that proposal in the group meeting?
E) You have been demonstrating a bad attitude lately, and I would like to know why.

Question 68

During emotionally charged conversations, the participants should try to

A) oversimplify their approach.
B) find common ground.
C) exaggerate their points.
D) cast situations in either-or terms.
E) evaluate the other person's motives.

Question 69

What are the advantages of adopting a learning stance?

Question 70

What is the purpose of an agenda, and how does it relate to effective meetings?

Question 71

During a group writing project, what should teams do to ensure that all team members buy into the final product? Identify actions to take during all stages of the project.

Question 72

How should a leader who wants a high-performing team view dissent in meetings? Explain.

Question 73

Which of the following makes comments sound more conciliatory and less accusing?

A) I-statements
B) You-statements
C) He-or-she-statements
D) It-statements
E) They-statements

Question 74

List the traits of effective teams.

Question 75

What are some of the roles that team members might be assigned in a group writing project?