Human Relations: Interpersonal Job-Oriented Skills, 12e (DuBrin)
Chapter 6 Developing Teamwork Skills
6.1 Multiple Choice Questions
1) With a true team, the skills of members
A) are complementary.
B) duplicate each other’s.
C) are rated on a one-to-ten scale.
D) are opposite to those of the leader.
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2) A distinguishing characteristic of a workplace team is that the team is assigned
A) a leader who exercises considerable control of the group.
B) short-term tasks.
C) new responsibility almost every day.
D) some of the responsibility for managing its own work.
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3) You know you are a member of a virtual team when your team members
A) work in different locations and communicate electronically with each other.
B) work in the same location but you rarely communicate with each other.
C) play video and computer games during breaks.
D) are below standard in terms of productivity.
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4) A factor that contributes to effective teamwork in business is
A) an atmosphere that encourages individual accomplishment.
B) financial bonuses for high-performing individuals in the team.
C) financial bonuses for high-performing teams.
D) a firm commitment to groupthink.
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5) A group has achieved synergy when
A) all members agree on a course of action.
B) each member agrees with a problem solution.
C) members are solving problems at an above-average rate.
D) the total output exceeds the sum of individual contributions.
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6) Group decision making is particularly helpful in
A) gaining acceptance and commitment for a decision.
B) avoiding conformity in thinking.
C) arriving at quick decisions.
D) ensuring that everybody makes a fair contribution.
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7) You can tell that group member Clyde is a social loafer when he
A) naps during lunch break.
B) asks questions before proceeding with a difficult task.
C) asks for more privileges than do the other group members.
D) lets the other group members do most of his work.
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8) Groupthink takes place because group members
A) dislike individual problem solving.
B) strive extra hard to achieve consensus.
C) attempt to avoid conformity.
D) have feelings of inferiority.
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9) A potential disadvantage of groups in organizations is that they
A) often breed conformity in thinking and behavior.
B) encourage a spirit of teamwork.
C) encourage individuality in thinking and behavior.
D) discourage consensus thinking.
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10) One of the conditions for overcoming the potential disadvantages of a group or team is for
A) members to actively engage in groupthink.
B) the assigned task to require collective effort.
C) each member to have a separate specialty.
D) the leader to minimize interaction with group members.
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11) Suzy often occupies the creative problem solver role in a group, so she emphasizes
A) achieving harmony.
B) challenging faulty ideas.
C) conducting research.
D) solving difficult problems.
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12) Chuck occupies the coordinator role in a group, so he is likely to
A) carefully examine the group process.
B) seek ways to hog recognition.
C) clarify goals and promote decision making.
D) form alliances with the group leader.
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13) A major contributor to the team worker role is to
A) screen new members for the group.
B) spark the creativity of group members.
C) build relationships within the group.
D) challenge the thinking of the group.
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14) Research evidence suggests that one reason many people are hesitant to speak up when part
of a group is that if we think that
A) others in the group are smarter, our problem-solving ability is suppressed a little.
B) we are smarter than others in the group we do not want to show off.
C) others in the group are less intelligent, they will not be understood.
D) others are not contributing fairly, they do not want to do most of the work.
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15) A study of the communication patterns of members of a productive team revealed that
A) sending text messages to each other produced the best results.
B) face-to-face communication was the most valuable for team purposes.
C) nonverbal communication proved to be ineffective.
D) talking in loud, abrasive tones facilitated group productivity.
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16) The cornerstone attitude of an outstanding team player is to
A) make sure he or she gets individual recognition.
B) have competitive attitudes toward other team members.
C) aspire to be the team leader.
D) trust team members.
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17) ________ and ________ are synonymous with teamwork.
A) Cooperation, collaboration
B) Independence, initiative
C) Competition, conflict
D) Assertiveness, satisfaction
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18) Team player Tessie plays the anonymous praise game when she
A) sends a tweet under her own name complimenting the team leader.
B) lists what she likes about other team members without identifying them.
C) writes a list of things she likes about a specific teammate.
D) writes a list of thing she likes about herself.
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19) An important suggestion for criticizing another person on the job is to
A) disguise the criticism so it appears to be a compliment.
B) make jokes about the other person’s problems.
C) criticize the work, not the person.
D) criticize the person, not the work.
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20) The team tactic sharing the glory is usually justified because
A) team-based pay has replaced individual pay.
B) glory sharing fits the WIIFM principle.
C) most team accomplishments require input from several members.
D) most team members are self-centered.
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21) A suggestion for making outstanding use of technical expertise as a group member is to
A) keep your expertise to yourself.
B) freely contribute knowledge and skills to teammates.
C) impress other members with how smart you are.
D) make your best suggestions at the end of meetings.
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22) Seeing the big picture in a group setting involves
A) understanding what the group is attempting to accomplish.
B) assigning work roles to team members.
C) examining the history of the team.
D) criticizing group members who step out of line.
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23) Consensus comes about when
A) every member agrees completely on the decision.
B) group members generally accept a decision and then give it their support.
C) group conformity reaches a peak.
D) group members practice individual decision making.
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24) Organizational citizenship behavior is even more important when group members
A) are dependent on each other to get their work done.
B) tend to work independently of each other.
C) are hostile toward each other.
D) have considerable experience and are quite competent.
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25) A synthesis of many studies found that when team members engage in team processes, such
as communicating well with each other, the result is likely to be
A) high performance but low satisfaction of team members.
B) low performance but high satisfaction of team members.
C) too much time spent on processes and not enough on actual work.
D) better team performance and satisfaction of members.
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Job Scenario, Multiple-Choice
Victoria and Ted are part of an environmental protection team for a large company that
manufactures and distributes carbonated beverages, juice drinks, and snacks. A major part of
their responsibilities as team members is to investigate how the company can become more
environmentally friendly. Included on the eight-member team are packaging design specialists,
biologists, marketing specialists, and a financial analyst. A good deal of heated discussion takes
place on the team as methods of preserving the environment that would be cost effective and
truly helpful to the environment. Both Victoria and Ted want to do a good job as well as be good
team players.
26) One day the team leader asks Victoria and Ted to perform an analysis of the type of trash
found regularly in the company dumpsters. In discussing the assignment with each other, the two
teammates and friends agree that such an assignment is totally vile. To preserve their goal of
being good team players, yet still enjoy their work, what do you recommend that Victoria and
Ted do?
A) Explain to the team leader that they both want to be good organizational citizens but garbage
of analysis is too far removed from their job description.
B) Acquire the necessary technical expertise, get the job done as quickly as possible, and don’t
criticize the assignment.
C) Explain to the team leader that analyzing the contents of a dumpster does not fit the big
picture of preserving the environment.
D) Explain that his role is so important they would like to have three other team members help
with the garbage analysis in order that any recognition from the task be shared with other team
members.
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27) One day the team leader asks Victoria and Ted to conduct an extensive analysis of how much
water the company is using in getting raw fruit ready for preparation as ingredients in fruit-
flavored drinks. A third team member, Rachel, will also be part of their sub-team. Victoria and
Ted are delighted to have this important assignment, yet they agree that Rachel may be too weak
with statistical analysis to do a competent job. What do you recommend that Victoria and Ted do
in this situation?
A) Explain to the team leader that if you put a poorly qualified team member on an assignment,
failure will be inevitable.
B) Encourage Rachel to do busywork parts of the water analysis, and conduct the key statistical
analysis themselves.
C) Criticize Rachel about her statistical skills right away, so she might turn down the sub-team
assignment.
D) Ask Rachel to do part of the statistical analysis, and express confidence in her abilities.
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6.2 True/False Questions
1) An important requirement for a true team is that all members possess virtually the same skills.
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2) A common characteristic of workplace teams is that the members cooperate with each other
and have a complementary set of skills.
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3) Members of a workplace team typically take on responsibility for managing their own
activities.
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4) A study with business students suggested that when team members trust each other too much
they may not check up on each other’s work enough.
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5) A problem noted with virtual teams is that off-site workers often become jealous of the fully-
equipped work environment of the traditional workers.
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6) Mutual trust is a low priority in a virtual team because the team members do not have to deal
with each other face to face very often.
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7) You know that your team has attained synergy when what the team accomplishes is more than
the team members could have accomplished working alone.
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8) A key advantage of teams and groups is that under the right circumstances they enhance
productivity.
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9) Tiffany is being a social loafer when she naps under her desk in order to boost her
productivity.
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10) Groupthink comes about because many of the group members strive so hard to preserve their
individuality.
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11) An important contributor to groupthink is when the group loses its power of critical analysis.
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12) Bruce is a resource investigator within a group, so he will explore opportunities and develop
valuable contacts.
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13) The monitor–evaluator within a group has a special knack for showing drive and inspiring
other team members.
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14) The person who plays the shaper role is unchallenging, dull, and weakens under pressure.
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15) A research study conducted with placing electronic sensors on participants found that
choosing an appropriate body position facilitated good communication.
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16) A research study conducted with placing electronic sensors on participants found that
sending e-mail and text messages enhanced communication more so than face-to-face
communication.
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17) Part of trusting team members is to be willing to submit an unproved idea to them for their
inspection.
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18) Being perceived as an abrasive loner will tend to enhance your stature as a team player in a
high-tech company.
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19) When criticizing a teammate it is generally better to make a declarative statement than to ask
a question such as, “Do you think that your idea could use some more research?”
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20) Billy Joe is an effective team player, so he changes the topic when he is about to be
criticized.
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21) In order to implement the tactic, don’t rain on another person’s parade, it may be necessary
to suppress your feelings of petty jealousy.
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22) Research evidence suggests that when team members help each other, variability in group
performance is reduced because of teammates being overloaded or distracted.
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23) Team member Sharon demonstrates her ability to see the big picture when she asks the team
leader to bring a big bag of donuts and bagels to the next team meeting.
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24) Meeting deadlines in a group takes place naturally because the vast majority of workers
regard deadlines as a moral necessity.
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25) Organizational citizenship behavior is even more important when the group members depend
on each other to complete a task.
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