Deck 10: Strategies for Communicating Change

Question 1

____ is engaging in intentional, interpersonal interactions with staff to minimize their perceptions that changes are likely to lead to harm for them.

A) Perspective taking
B) Threat reducing behavior
C) Reflection
D) Internal therapy

Answer 1

B

Question 2

With the communication strategy of ____, fundamental issues remain the focus, but management engages employees in a dialogue about the change process and seeks to identify obstacles and misunderstandings that will need to be addressed.

A) Tell and sell
B) Spray and pray
C) Underscore and explore
D) Identify and reply

Answer 2

C

Question 3

According to Ryan and Haslam, women may be in danger of suffering from the problem of ____, in that if things don't work out they may take the fall for the organization.

A) The glass ceiling
B) The glass slipper
C) Falling off the glass cliff
D) The half-glass syndrome

Answer 3

C

Question 4

____ is when employees make a self-evaluation of their actions to lessen the emergence of negative emotions and identify corrective actions where necessary.

A) Perspective taking
B) Threat reducing behavior
C) Reflection
D) Internal therapy

Question 5

Within the principles of a simple model of communication, ____ is the creation, transformation and deciphering of information.

A) Feedback
B) Channel
C) Encoding/Decoding
D) Noise

Question 6

____ occurs when meanings are misinterpreted through intentional or unintentional problems relating to the sending or receiving of the message.

A) Message overload
B) Message distortion
C) Message ambiguity
D) Message perception

Question 7

According to Fox and Amichai-Hamburger, ____ is/are the use of negative words to help convey what will occur if change fails, while using positive words to help depict success of a change program in the future.

A) Emotional arguments
B) Metaphors
C) Spin-analysis
D) Manipulation

Question 8

According to Stace and Dunphy, ____ transitions aim for widespread involvement and emphasize face-to-face communication as well as the use of change teams to identify initiative and broaden commitment.

A) Developmental/incremental
B) Task-focused
C) Charismatic
D) Turnarounds

Question 9

According to Elandson, many mangers are ___, in that they are fast thinkers, having opinions on every topic, being analytical and data-driven, impatient and thinking they are smarter than most other people.

A) Arrogant princes
B) Alpha males
C) Dumb geniuses
D) Authoritarian apes

Question 10

According to Daly, which of the following will NOT make managers more trusted by staff during times of change?

A) Providing accurate information about the change
B) Providing accurate feedback about the process
C) Adequately explaining the basis for decisions during the process
D) Leaking information regarding the change using the informal communication process

Question 11

With the communication strategy of ____, employees are showered with a wide variety of information.

A) Tell and sell
B) Spray and pray
C) Underscore and explore
D) Identify and reply

Question 12

____ occurs when an organization has a vision but is not prescriptively clear on how to achieve it.

A) Message overload
B) Message distortion
C) Message ambiguity
D) Message perception

Question 13

Within the principles of a simple model of communication, ____ are the distractions that exist in the communication environment which may act to interfere with the transmission of meaning.

A) Feedback
B) Channel
C) Decoding
D) Noise

Question 14

According to Tannen:

A) Men tend to claim credit through the use of the word "I"; women are more likely to use the word "we"
B) Women tend to claim credit through the use of the word "I"; men are more likely to use the word "we"
C) Men are more frequently use both terms, "I" and "we"
D) Statistically, men are better managers than women

Question 15

____ is thinking about how others are likely to think and feel about change.

A) Perspective taking
B) Threat reducing analysis
C) Reflection
D) Internal therapy

Question 16

With the communication strategy of ____, information is provided to staff, but it is limited to core organizational issues.

A) Tell and sell
B) Spray and pray
C) Underscore and explore
D) Withhold and uphold

Question 17

The ____ image of managing change views the purpose of communication is to ensure people understand what is going to happen and what is required of them.

A) Director
B) Navigator
C) Caretaker
D) Coach

Question 18

With the communication strategy of ____, a defensive strategy is used to identify and respond to employee rumors and innuendos regarding changes and work practices.

A) Tell and sell
B) Spray and pray
C) Identify and reply
D) Withhold and uphold

Question 19

____ occurs when information acquisition is overbalanced compared to an individual's response capabilities.

A) Message overload
B) Message distortion
C) Message ambiguity
D) Message perception

Question 20

The ____ image of managing change views the purpose of communication is on letting people know about the "why" of change, that is, the inevitability of the changes and how best to cope or survive them.

A) Director
B) Navigator
C) Caretaker
D) Interpreter

Question 21

In the inspirational leadership style, the leader develops a vision of the future and seeks to encourage the cohesiveness of organizational members around the vision.

Question 22

According to Reardon and Reardon, in the ___ leadership style, leaders are performance and results oriented and communication mainly entails directing people toward various tasks.

A) Commanding
B) Logical
C) Inspirational
D) Supportive

Question 23

Women are more likely to ask questions than men.

Question 24

When male change managers wish to communicate change using a style which is not direct, competitive, patriarchal and authoritative they are sometimes accused by their fellow male managers of "going soft" or becoming too "touchy feely".

Question 25

According to Stace and Dunphy, ____ transitions occur at times of organizational crises and draw on formal, top-down modes of communication that endeavor to force people to comply with the new direction.

A) Developmental/incremental
B) Task-focused
C) Charismatic
D) Turnarounds

Question 26

There is universal consensus that you can never "communicate too much" during a time of organizational change.

Question 27

According the Reardon and Reardon, in the ____ leadership style, leaders employ strategic actions as a result of discovering the range of alternatives available to them through analysis and reasoning.

A) Commanding
B) Logical
C) Inspirational
D) Supportive

Question 28

Incremental transitions seek to gain emotional commitment to a new way of proceeding and entail more personalized forms of communication that enable top-down communication with at last some symbolic two-way communication media.

Question 29

Which of the following statements would signal a higher status of the person uttering the statement, perhaps anger and no need to exchange pleasantries?

A) "I would be honored if you sit down"
B) "You must be so tired. Why don't you sit down?"
C) "Sit down!"
D) None of the above

Question 30

According to Quirke's types of target change audiences, ____ is directed to those people who will be impacted by the change but really haven't taken notice as of yet.

A) Waking up
B) Engaging
C) Educating
D) Reassuring

Question 31

Which of the following is NOT a stage of change identified by Reardon and Reardon?

A) The planning stage
B) The enabling stage
C) The launching stage
D) The floating stage

Question 32

When communicating, humor can help create a sense of ease and lessen the gap between manager and staff.

Question 33

Men are more likely to downplay their certainty and women are more likely to minimize their doubts.

Question 34

The Spray and Pray strategy is also known as "communication clutter".

Question 35

The ____ image of change views the purpose of communication as a way to focus on ensuring people share similar values and is aware of what actions are appropriate to these values.

A) Director
B) Navigator
C) Caretaker
D) Coaching

Question 36

According to Duck, managers often fail to realize that they are sending out messages even when they are not formally communicating with change recipients.

Question 37

According to Quirke's types of target change audiences, ____ is directed to people who are only marginally affected by or interested in the change and so only really need to be educated about what is going on.

A) Waking up
B) Engaging
C) Educating
D) Reassuring

Question 38

Which of the following methods of communication was NOT used by Ford during the Ford 2000 Communication Strategy?

A) A weekly publication, Grapevine
B) Showing videotapes of planned changes
C) "Town hall" face-to-face meetings
D) National commercials

Question 39

According to Lengel and Daft, difficult management problems are best dealt with using media-rich communication sources such as face-to-face meetings.

Question 40

Face-to-face communication is best suited to ____; impersonal static media are better suited to ____.

A) Shaping behavior; sharing information
B) Sharing information; shaping behavior
C) Routine communication; unique communication
D) None of the above