Communicating at Work, 12e (Adler)
Chapter 7 Leading and Working in Teams
1) Groups tend to outperform individuals when
A) time pressures are intense.
B) members share similar opinions.
C) standards of excellence are high.
D) employees are not highly committed to the job.
2) Which of the following is NOT a typical advantage of a group?
A) breadth of perspectives available
B) greater accuracy
C) increased enthusiasm
D) increase in members’ salaries
3) Well-managed workgroups offer several advantages over individual workers. Which of the
following is NOT one of the typical advantages of working in a group?
A) accuracy
B) efficiency
C) productivity
D) enthusiasm
4) Which of the following statements is true about group size?
A) Choosing an even number of members will allow for smoother decision making.
B) A dozen members is an ideal size for most task groups.
C) To reduce the likelihood of a few members dominating, choose groups larger than twenty
members.
D) An odd number of members will allow for smoother decision making.
5) Two people working together
A) constitutes a small group.
B) can outvote the minority.
C) can resolve disputes by persuading one another.
D) can form alliances.
6) Which of the following would NOT be classified as a workgroup, according to the
characteristics explained in your text?
A) Twelve individuals interact through e-mail to select a scholarship recipient.
B) Six neighbors organize a work party one Saturday morning.
C) Three classmates plan a joint presentation.
D) Seven students attend a seminar about male/female communication differences.
7) Heather, Lenore, and Germaine are in the business of making and streaming humorous videos
on the Internet. Heather writes the scripts, Lenore creates the costumes and props, Germaine
handles the video editing, and they all collaborate on the acting. If any one of them were to leave
the group, it would cease to function properly. This demonstrates which key characteristic of a
workgroup?
A) shared purpose
B) interdependence
C) interaction over time
D) identity
8) An effective team exhibits all of the following except
A) shared goals.
B) directive leadership.
C) a results-driven structure.
D) competent team members.
9) Which of the following examples show the attributes of a team instead of a group?
A) The manager assigns the tasks to employees.
B) The employees work together to produce a collective product.
C) Several employees each create a great product idea.
D) The employees mainly focus on their personal goals.
10) As the team leader, Mi Sun has brought together experts in their individual fields. However,
she also made sure her team’s members are enthusiastic about being a part of the team and enjoy
working with others. How has Mi Sun made her group into a team? Check all that apply.
A) She put together competent team members.
B) She made sure the members have a unified commitment.
C) She provided external support and recognition for the team.
D) She chose members who enjoy a collaborative work environment.
11) Which of the following is NOT one of the characteristics of true teams (compared to
less-productive groups) that Larson and LaFasto have identified?
A) The group has no structure, to allow flexibility.
B) The group’s members believe their purpose is worthwhile.
C) The group’s leader creates a vision of the group’s purpose.
D) The group receives recognition by outsiders.
12) Virtual teams have become an integral part of today’s workplace. Which of the following
statements about virtual teams is FALSE?
A) Status differences are less prominent in virtual teams than in face-to-face teams.
B) Virtual teams usually operate on different continents.
C) Virtual teams have not been able to overcome the difficulties of working with members from
different time zones.
D) Virtual teams often enhance the efficiency of people working under the same roof.
13) Which of the following are important to remember when choosing an app for a virtual team?
A) the ability to sync with external calendars
B) the role of the visual element to track team progress
C) the needs and preferences of the company’s CEO
D) the need for an integrated chat feature
14) The “trait approach” to the study of leadership
A) emphasizes laissez-faire leadership.
B) is a contingency approach.
C) attempts to identify characteristics possessed by leaders.
D) can easily predict which group member would make the best leader.
15) Mary believes she is a leader because she is intelligent and sociable. Which perspective about
leadership does Mary’s belief correspond to?
A) trait approach
B) contingency approach
C) life-cycle theory
D) leadership emergence model
16) The trait approach to leadership presents the idea that individuals with certain qualities will be
good leaders. According to research, which of the following is the best predictor of leadership?
A) a desire for leadership
B) physical attractiveness
C) intelligence
D) No personal trait has been found that can accurately predict leadership.
17) The “style approach” to studying leadership explored
A) the impact of a leader’s communication method on the group’s effectiveness.
B) inborn traits of leaders.
C) conditions that might require different types of leadership.
D) functional leadership.
18) An “authoritarian” manager tends to
A) give control to employees.
B) allow employees to make decisions.
C) control employees.
D) bully employees.
19) A “laissez-faire” manager
A) is democratic.
B) coerces employees into doing what she wants them to do.
C) yields leadership to the group, so that members function as a collection of equals.
D) invites members to help make decisions.
20) According to Blake and Mouton’s leadership grid, the most effective leaders
A) show no concern for people and a high concern for product.
B) emphasize product more than people.
C) emphasize people more than product.
D) show a high concern for both product and people.
21) According to research on contingency approaches, the task-oriented approach works bests
under which of the following circumstances? Check all that apply.
A) moderately favorable
B) moderately unfavorable
C) extremely favorable
D) extremely unfavorable
22) A contingency approach to studying leadership
A) recognizes that there is not just one best approach; the context determines which approach will
work best in any given situation.
B) found that in favorable settings, laissez-faire works best.
C) found that in unfavorable settings, laissez-faire works best.
D) recommends a democratic style of management.
23) Kat is the coach of a high school gymnastics team that has been extremely successful over the
past 12 years. Her leadership varies, depending on the nature of the task confronting the athletes.
When they must do something they don’t want to do, she exerts position power by using an
autocratic style. But, when the goal is just to have fun, she allows the team to have as much say as
possible. Kat manages from a ________ perspective.
A) trait
B) contingency
C) laissez-faire
D) leadership emergence
24) According to Fred Fiedler’s comparison of task-oriented versus relationship-oriented styles,
the best choice of leadership in a given situation depends on
A) members’ ages, members’ genders, and the leader’s level of experience.
B) the type of organization, the purpose of the group, and the size of the group.
C) leader-member relations, task structure, and the leader’s power.
D) whether the group is for-profit or not-for-profit.
25) According to Hersey and Blanchard’s situational leadership model, leaders should
A) treat older members with more respect than they treat younger members.
B) micro-manage, even with highly independent workers.
C) manage all employees the same way.
D) use a directive, task-oriented approach with members who aren’t yet ready to work
independently.
26) During his introductory remarks to his team, Bayu emphasizes that his office door is always
open to any of his team members who need assistance. Which of the following leadership
approaches is Bayu showing?
A) democratic approach
B) authoritarian approach
C) contingency approach
D) transformational approach
27) Which of the following are examples of transformational leaders? Check all that apply.
A) Burt and many of his team members would willingly work overtime for their team leader, Lalit.
B) George credits his team leader Harini for inspiring him and his co-workers to achieve what
seemed unlikely.
C) Karen drove Sean and other members of the team to meet the deadline, despite their complaints.
D) Lily and other team members feel that their team leader Claude tolerates their ideas.
28) Which of the following are traits of transformational leaders? Check all that apply.
A) sets clear goals
B) inspires people to reach for the practical
C) encourages others
D) provides support and recognition
29) Which of the following are accurate statements about servant leadership? Check all that apply.
A) It often decreases employee creativity.
B) It is likely to increase the turnover rate.
C) It often improves the ethical behavior of employees.
D) It is likely to boost employee performance.
30) Cheryl Bachelder reinvigorated Popeyes by focusing on serving
A) the company.
B) franchise owners.
C) customers.
D) all employees.
31) How did Cheryl Bachelder implement servant leadership?
A) She made the workplace environment more supportive.
B) She encouraged the sharing of ideas as a team.
C) She focused on streamlining the production process.
D) She relocated several franchises.
32) The leader-member exchange (LMX) theory teaches that
A) leaders exchange perks for good performance from members.
B) every leader has some high-quality relationships with some employees and low-quality
relationships with some other employees.
C) an effective organization will exchange its worst leaders for new leaders each year.
D) if employees exchange their poor communication habits for better communication skills, they
will become leaders.
33) According to leader-member exchange (LMX) theory, employees who have high-quality
relationships with their superiors
A) typically communicate in supportive ways.
B) are treated as outsiders.
C) have low levels of satisfaction with the organization they work for.
D) are subject to face-threatening acts and power games.
34) According to leader-member exchange (LMX) theory, employees who have low-quality
relationships with their superiors
A) typically communicate in defensive ways.
B) are treated as insiders.
C) have high levels of satisfaction with their employer.
D) receive coaching from their boss.
35) Employees can increase their chances of having a high-quality relationship with their superiors
by all of the following EXCEPT
A) showing initiative.
B) using a competitive language style.
C) going beyond the official job description.
D) taking responsibility.
36) A person who ________ is most likely to emerge as the leader of a group.
A) doesn’t say much
B) is dogmatic
C) cracks a lot of jokes
D) helps the group succeed
37) According to Bormann’s “method of residues,” potential candidates for emergent leaders are
likely to remain in the running for leadership if they
A) are flexible.
B) are very quiet.
C) are dogmatic.
D) exhibit annoying behaviors.
38) If you want to become a group’s emergent leader, you should AVOID
A) expressing your opinion in strong, unqualified terms.
B) participating frequently in group conversations.
C) providing relevant information.
D) suggesting solutions to problems that are tough to solve.
39) Effective lateral leadership refers to all of the following EXCEPT
A) asking thoughtful questions.
B) inviting others to challenge your thoughts.
C) modeling constructive team behavior.
D) taking charge of a team’s decisions.
40) A lack of sleep often
A) lowers the ethics of employees.
B) lowers the charisma of leaders.
C) makes inspiring employees more difficult.
D) makes leaders take on more responsibilities.
41) When Lucy, your manager’s administrative assistant, tells you to sign and submit any
paperwork to her immediately, you comply by the end of the day. Because Lucy is in charge of
keeping the office files in order, she possesses ________ power.
A) position
B) referent
C) orderly
D) connection
42) Coercive power is a function of
A) a person’s job title.
B) the consequences a person can impose.
C) a person’s intelligence.
D) the degree to which a person is respected.
43) Sooja, the vice president of Neo Systems, runs a tight ship and makes sure that her top
management team does what she wants it to. If any member raises issues, she fires that member.
Sooja exerts ________ power.
A) coercive
B) reward
C) referent
D) connection
44) If your subordinates obeyed your orders because of your ability to hand out bonuses, which of
the following forms of power would you be exerting?
A) position power
B) coercive power
C) reward power
D) connection power