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6. Professional etiquette is practicing good manners in a professional setting.
7. If ingratiation is insincere, not your style, or if your boss doesn’t like the attention, your
resulting communication will come across as less than professional.
8. Communication that occurs within the white space is known as informal communication.
9. Sexual harassment can include unwelcomed sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and
other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature and is a result of communicative behaviors
and sense making.
10. The interpersonal communication between supervisors and subordinates is limited to the
relational layer.
11. Intimacy only occurs in romance and sexuality.
12. Creating a hostile work environment is a form of sexual harassment.
13. Getting to know yourself better involves adjusting your communication style in professional
settings.
14. Semantic information distance is a term that describes how employees and supervisors
make sure that they share the same view of some fundamental areas such as organizational
issues or basic job duties to make sure everyone is in the know.
15. When Samantha and her coworkers in her work team moved a message toward their direct
supervisor but made some critical changes in that message, they engaged in gatekeeping.
16. When Chad and his coworkers in his work team moved a message toward their direct
supervisor but made some critical changes in that message, they engaged in upward distortion.
17. If Clarence and his coworkers in his work team were supposed to move a message toward
their direct supervisor but did not pass information on to that supervisor, they engaged in
withholding.
18. Sean moved a message toward his direct supervisor but emphasized some aspects of the
message. Sean engaged in summarization.
19. To communicate effectively with your supervisor, you must evaluate him or her in the same
way you evaluate everyone else.
20. Rudy has met his new boss, Jeremy, and has decided that he will communicate with Jeremy
as though Jeremy were his close friend and will just let communication occur. Rudy needs to
realize that he needs to evaluate Jeremy just as he would anyone else.
21. In the workplace, the superior is typically the higher status person, and the subordinate is
the lower status person.
22. If Marybeth is Alonzo’s direct boss, she would be, in workplace terms, Alonzo’s superior.
23. If Alonzo works directly for Marybeth, Alonzo would be, in workplace terms, Marybeth’s
subordinate.
24. The interpersonal communication between supervisors and subordinates is limited to the
relational layer of communication in the workplace.
25. The interpersonal communication between supervisors and subordinates focuses
exclusively on conveying status.
26. Cathy has tried ingratiation to improve communication with her boss because she wants to
get extra paid days off to attend a concert that is several hundred miles away. Cathy’s
communication with her boss is insincere or has not generally been viewed as her style, and
Cathy has gotten the impression that the boss doesn’t really like the direct attention. These
would be the factors that caused Cathy’s communication to come across as less than
professional.
27. For those seeking professional excellence, advocacy is the strategy of choice when
communicating with supervisors.
28. Rich has been working on applying the KEYS process to his life and career. He has recently
been working to include advocacy into his workplace communication skillset. This is a good
move for Rick because advocacy falls in line with the KEYS process, as it requires him to know
himself and evaluate the professional context.
29. It is important to know that appropriate verbal behaviors often make or break your chances
of being viewed positively on the job, but nonverbal behaviors have little effect.
30. Alphonse has, at times, gotten nervous when talking with the district manager to whom he
reports. Alphonse has to give a presentation at a meeting where the district manager will be in
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attendance. As a result, not only has Alphonse worked on his verbal presentation skills, but he
has also tried very hard to see if his nonverbal behaviors are generally appropriate for the
occasion. This is a good idea for Alphonse because appropriate verbal and nonverbal behaviors
often make or break your chances of being viewed positively on the job.
31. Effective interpersonal communication with your coworkers is less important than
interpersonal communication with your superiors.
32. Coworker relationships may be based on the fulfillment of needs.
33. Annabelle does not have any idea how to change the toner cartridge in the large copy
machine in the office at work. She has seen LaToya change the cartridge in a copier in a
different office, but those two copiers look quite similar. Annabelle and LaToya work well
together, and she asks LaToya for help because she has a large set of documents that her boss
wants before the end of the workday. LaToya says that she is more than happy to help her
friend and coworker, and they change the toner, and Annabelle successfully get the set of
documents copied. This success is based largely on the fact that coworker relationships may be
based on the fulfillment of needs.
34. Coworkers who work at desks near one another are less likely to develop close relationships
than people who work for the same company but on different floors or opposite ends of a
building.
35. When Theo began working for his new company, his desk was situated a few feet away
from Bruno’s. Very quickly the two began going to lunch together and, after a few weeks, began
to shoot a few baskets after work and even get their families together for barbeques and
parties on weekends. The two became fast friends because coworkers who work in adjacent
desks, cubicles, or offices are more likely to develop close relationships than people who work
for the same company but on different floors or opposite ends of a building.
36. An informal communication network is defined as “a group of individuals who regularly
share a line of communication” who have communication responsibility prescribed by the
organization.
37. The information found on the grapevine is more efficient and more accurate than the
information shared through formal communication channels.
38. Achieving professional excellence with your coworkers is accomplished most easily by
following the KEYS process and thinking of your coworkers as internal customers.
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Short Answer
1. The majority of communication occurs in what is known as the ______.
2. Interpersonal communication occurs between two people, meaning it is ______.
3. Your interpersonal relationships at work provide a supportive social system that will increase
your job ______.
4. ______ describes how employees and supervisors do not share the same view of some
fundamental areas such as organizational issues or basic job duties.
5. ______ occurs when the messages sent up the chain of command, from subordinates to
supervisors, are altered.
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6. ______ occurs when information is not passed on to the supervisor.
7. When using the persuasive technique of ______, you evaluate your boss’s needs and
preferences and then develop messages, arguments, and proposals that line up with those
needs and preferences.
8. The “co–” in ______ is a prefix meaning “together or jointly.”
9. Each communication channel has strengths and weaknesses, but when it comes to
developing interpersonal relationships, ______ communication is still the best way.
10. Customer relations may also be called ______.
11. Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersexed, and ally (______) people will
no doubt make up part of the diverse population in any professional setting.
12. We each develop our own set of rules that helps us determine what information we share,
or ______, and what information we keep private.
13. In any case of sexual harassment, you should report the behavior to a ______ and/or your
______.
Essay
1. Explain communication privacy management (CPM) theory, including issues that are
managed using this theory.
2. How do messages get altered as they move from subordinates to superiors?
3. Discuss intimacy in the workplace.
4. Discuss how ingratiation can work for and against a subordinate.
5. Explain how external customers and internal customer differ.
6. Discuss how advocacy can work to a subordinate’s advantage and improve his or her
professional excellence in the workplace.
7. How do upward distortion and general distortion differ?