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Quintanilla, Business and Professional Communication: KEYS for Workplace Excellence 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
Difficulty Level: Easy
3. Meetings should be kept at the same time of day and time each week in order to develop a
routine schedule for employees.
4. A well-constructed agenda should indicate the topics to be covered, the length of time
allotted to each topic, the person responsible for reporting on each topic, and the time allotted
for new business.
5. Once meetings are set, they need to take place even if one or more key participants cannot
attend.
6. Most of us think of conflict as a word that has a negative connotation.
7. The most efficient and productive employees break traditional organizational norms.
8. When brainstorming, teams should take the time to reflect on each idea and leave it on the
list or eliminate it immediately to avoid wasting time on it at a later time.
7.2: Tools for Innovation
Difficulty Level: Easy
9. The voting technique of majority rule has been found to be the most effective overall, as it
utilizes a more democratic approach to decision making.
10. Groupthink occurs as members of teams begin to think alike.
11. A group consists of two or more people.
12. Because they are achieved by individuals, task roles are also called self-centered roles.
13. Judges begin by systematically examining the positives and negatives of each solution and
render their decision.
14. As explorers, team members follow their curiosity, create a map, leave their own turf, and
look for a lot of ideas and information.
15. Looking both inside and outside your field and your type of business/industry for
information and insight is what will make your team unfocused.
16. The artist’s role in a group tends to be the member who puts together all the graphics for
meeting handouts.
17. Caleb’s workgroup has been struggling to make a decision that will work equally well for the
production/manufacturing people and the marketing people in the organization. After a great
deal of thought about the problem, Caleb came up with a “what if we produced and marketed
like Starshower Coffee?” idea that was found to be a great solution for both departments in the
organization. In this case, Caleb served as the artist in this group.
18. If you want innovative solutions, your team needs time to explore resources and discover
information.
19. Before a team has developed lots of innovative ideas, it moves into the judge mode as team
members evaluate the possible solutions and then select one solution with which to work.
20. Theo’s team had worked overtime to develop a number of very innovative ideas. The next
step for them team is to evaluate the possible solutions and then select one solution with which
to work. Theo’s team will move into judge mode.
21. The team role of the warrior is to develop and carry out the plan.
22. Once the team’s plans have been decided upon, the role of Christina is to develop and carry
out the plan. In this situation, Christina must serve in the role of warrior.
23. Despite some people’s fear of change, innovative ideas are generally not subject to criticism
nor are they attacked just because they are different.
24. Lanny is proud to be the warrior who will carry out the plan of the team, but he is surprised
to find out that innovative ideas are more likely to be criticized and attacked because they are
different. Lanny is correct in his perception.
25. People are sometimes stronger in some roles than in others. For instance, some people are
natural artists, while others are outstanding warriors.
26. David has put together a team that he believes will ensure innovation. To make sure that
the team has a very good chance of success, David’s team must have at least one member who
is strong in each area and share leadership to maximize their strengths.
27. To ensure innovation, teams must have at least one member who is strong in each area and
share leadership to maximize those strengths.
28. Being innovative is a central component to functioning as a team and achieving professional
excellence.
29. The whole purpose for having meetings is to get different people together to share a variety
of ideas and develop innovative solutions to problems.
30. Ben needs to hold a meeting because he wants to arrive at an agreement on the proposal
that he had put forth. It is a good idea for Ben to include only those who support his idea and
not different people who share a variety of ideas to develop innovative solutions to problems.
31. Because most people see conflict as having a negative connotation, replacing the word
conflict with words such as battle or insurrection, the phrase sounds more appealing.
32. Chuck knows that most of the people who are his subordinates see conflict as having a
negative connotation. In an attempt to reduce that negative view of conflict, Chuck uses
wording such as discussion or sharing of ideas when mentioning conflict. Chick has a good idea.
33. Groups that demonstrate groupthink are often headed by a charismatic, directive leader.
34. If a group member does voice disagreement, “mind melds” jump in and silence the dissent
until the dissenting member begins self-censoring.
35. Carroll is known as the group’s mind guard. This is because when a group member does
voice disagreement, Carroll jumps in and silences the dissent until the dissenting member
begins self-censoring.
36. False empowerment occurs when a leader acts as if he or she plans to involve the group in
the decision-making process when the leader is actually going to make the decision regardless
of the input received from the group.
37. The five stages of team development include forming, storming, performing, reforming, and
adjourning.
38. Reynaldo is concerned because his new team members seem to be engaging in infighting
and often clash with Reynaldo himself. Reynaldo’s team is in the norming stage.
Short Answer
1. The final stage of team development is ______ where the group completes its work, resolves
issues, and comes to a close.
2. Conflict appears in the second stage, known as ______.
3. The ______ stage of team development is the stage in which the members carry out the
duties of the group.
4. Every time we are faced with a conflict, we must select one of three modes of conflict
resolution: flight, fight, or ______.
5. The third mode for conflict resolution is the ______ approach, which requires team members
to move away from stating positions to exploring interests.
6. The ______ technique requires members to listen and not interrupt while other team
members are speaking.
7. Groups outperform ______, and teams outperform groups.
8. The meeting ______ is as much a part of the communication that occurs as the words that
are said.
9. An ______ is a guide or an overview of the topics that will be covered during the meeting.
10. Determining the participants in a meeting should not be based on ______.
Essay
1. List and describe three ways to generate innovative solutions.
Ans: Answers should include three of the following:
Brainstorming: All ideas are quickly added to a list without criticism or debate, and ideas will be
evaluated at a later point. The goal of brainstorming is quantity of ideas.
2. Briefly explain three types of task roles and three types of relationship roles that help teams
share leadership responsibility.
3. What is groupthink? Briefly describe the causes of groupthink and ways to avoid it.
Quintanilla, Business and Professional Communication: KEYS for Workplace Excellence 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
Ans: Answers should reference the following:
Groupthink is the tendency for highly cohesive groups to make faulty decisions as a result of the
suspension of critical thinking. Groupthink is caused when highly cohesive groups, led by
charismatic, directive leaders, make faulty decisions as a result of its members attempting to
4. Explain the KEYS approach to achieving excellence in team communication. Be sure to go
through the four steps in KEYS and explain how they apply to achieving excellence in team
communication.
Ans: Answers should include the following:
During the first step, know yourself--that is, do a self-inventory of how you have interacted with
others in the past and how your team members reacted to your communication. The second
step--evaluate the professional context--requires you to identify what is considered
5. Explain the unite approach to team problem solving.
Ans: The unite approach requires team members to move away from stating positions to
exploring interests. This approach defines team members as joint problem solvers rather than
as adversaries. Instead of approaching the conflict as team member against team member, it
Quintanilla, Business and Professional Communication: KEYS for Workplace Excellence 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
6. Explain the differences between the unite approach and the nominal group technique in
group problem solving. Be sure to highlight the pros and cons of each approach.
Ans: Nominal group technique is a type of brainstorming designed to incorporate all team
members. Rather than having team members yell out their ideas, nominal group technique has
members brainstorm independently, writing down their ideas on a piece of paper. After a set
7. Explain the difference between groups and teams.
Ans: A group is defined as three or more individuals who are working toward a common goal or
share a common purpose. As a result of their common goal or purpose, they have relationships,
interaction, and influence over one another. A team is defined as a group in which members
8. Define what is meant by consensus and why it is not the ideal solution to a problem.
Quintanilla, Business and Professional Communication: KEYS for Workplace Excellence 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
9. Russell has been elected to be his team’s leader, and he takes to position seriously. One of
the first things Russell needs to do as the leader is to arrange a meeting to arrive at solutions to
a couple of key issues needing attention right away. In this new role, Russell sees himself as a
coach for the team. Explain why and in what ways Russell is a coach for his team.
10. In Ellis’s meetings, he wants to develop listening and participation as a norm, something
that was not common when his predecessor was the leader. Discuss how and why Ellis might
want to consider using a round robin approach.
Ans: The unite approach requires effective listening and participation from all team members.
To develop listening and participating as a norm, Ellis should incorporate the round robin
technique. After he has raised the issue and invited cooperation, he should go around the circle
