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Test Item File for Excellence in Business Communication, Fourth Canadian Edition
Chapter 2
1) Companies today are looking for people who can work alone, since the trend in
business is for most employees to function independently.
A) True
B) False
2) Informal teams are not part of the formal organization but are created to solve
problems or work on specific activities.
A) True
B) False
3) Committees are short-lived groups formed to solve a short-term problem.
A) True
B) False
4) Teams usually achieve greater performance levels than what would have been
accomplished by the members working independently.
A) True
B) False
5) In the phenomenon of groupthink, the team may arrive at poor-quality decisions and
even act unethically.
A) True
B) False
6) Free riders are group members who don’t contribute their fair share to the team’s
activities.
A) True
B) False
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7) Group members who play task-facilitating roles are motivated to fulfill personal needs
so they tend to be less productive than other members.
A) True
B) False
8) Group members who play team-maintenance roles help everyone to work better
together.
A) True
B) False
9) Until roles and status have stabilized on a team, it may have trouble accomplishing its
goals.
A) True
B) False
10) To facilitate global collaboration, many teams now take advantage of vacant office
spaces.
A) True
B) False
11) Most groupware systems have built-in intelligence to control which team members
can read, edit, and save specific files.
A) True
B) False
12) When making a decision, groups usually go through five phases: orientation, conflict,
brainstorm, emergence, and reinforcement.
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A) True
B) False
13) One of the characteristics of effective teams is that one leader tends to take charge
and make all the major decisions.
A) True
B) False
14) Conflict between persons or groups in an organization is destructive and must be
avoided at all costs.
A) True
B) False
15) To resolve conflict successfully, it helps to get feelings out in the open before dealing
with the main issues.
A) True
B) False
16) To resolve conflicts successfully, you seek reasons for the problems before seeking
solutions.
A) True
B) False
17) Much of the communication you’ll participate in will take place in meetings.
A) True
B) False
18) If you encounter irrational resistance, avoid calling the person’s attention to it.
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A) True
B) False
19) Convincing someone of your viewpoint depends as much on the other person’s frame
of mind as it does on your arguments.
A) True
B) False
20) With collaborative writing, the usual outcome is a document that is inferior to one
that would have been produced by a single individual.
A) True
B) False
21) One benefit of wikis is writers don’t need to know any of the techniques normally
required to create web content.
A) True
B) False
22) Most people need to improve their listening skills.
A) True
B) False
23) The goal of content listening is to evaluate the logic, validity, and implications of a
message.
A) True
B) False
24) The goal of empathic listening is to solve the speaker’s problem.
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A) True
B) False
25) Good listeners specialize in one of the three types of listening and apply it to nearly
all situations.
A) True
B) False
26) Defensiveness is a major barrier to effective listening.
A) True
B) False
27) Most people are unable to process information as quickly as a speaker talks, so they
get behind in comprehending what the speaker is saying.
A) True
B) False
28) People generally have more faith in nonverbal cues than they do in verbal messages.
A) True
B) False
29) Virtual meetings let team members in different locations interact without the
disruption, risk, and cost of travel.
A) True
B) False
30) Maintaining eye contact is often effective for indicating attention and interest.
A) True
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B) False
31) Your vocal characteristics reveal many things that you are unaware of but that have
meaning for your audience.
A) True
B) False
32) The one aspect of nonverbal communication that you have little or no control over is
your physical attractiveness.
A) True
B) False
33) A manager might be comfortable using hugs to express support or congratulations,
but his or her subordinates might interpret those hugs as either a show of dominance or
sexual interest.
A) True
B) False
34) There is no such thing as an unproductive meeting.
A) True
B) False
35) Many companies today use intranets and blog postings to distribute meeting minutes.
A) True
B) False
36) Free riders are team members who freely givie their opinions and ideas to the group.
A) True
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B) False
37) The more members you have at a meeting the better for making good decisions
quickly.
A) True
B) False
38) A meeting agenda is just a guideline and doesn’t really need to be adhered to.
A) True
B) False
39) The main role of the meeting leader is to be passive and let others speak without
interference.
A) True
B) False
40) In this day and age, there is no need to follow parliamentary procedure in meetings.
A) True
B) False
41) In participative management _____________
A) employees are involved in the company’s decision making.
B) all top-level managers participate in profit sharing.
C) teams are discouraged in favour of individual achievement.
D) an authoritarian management model is used.
42) ____________________ is an advantage of a successful team.
A) Increased diversity of views
B) Groupthink
C) Cost
D) Hidden agenda
43) Groupthink refers to __________________
A) the willingness of individual group members to set aside their personal opinions and
go along with everyone else.
B) the four-step decision-making process in groups.
C) software programs that help groups make decisions.
D) the basic rules that underlie a group’s behaviour.
44) A hidden agenda refers to _____________
A) a meeting agenda that is not revealed to others outside the meeting group.
B) individuals’ private motives that affect a group’s interaction.
C) an agenda that members must look for before they can attend a meeting.
D) an approach to group dynamics that helps facilitate group functioning.
45) Unwritten rules that govern the behaviour of group members are referred to as
_____________
A) group maintenance roles.
B) parliamentary procedure.
C) group norms.
D) Robert’s Rules.
46) Group members who are motivated mainly to fulfill personal needs play a
______________
A) team-maintenance role.
B) task-facilitating role.
C) self-oriented role.
D) coordinating role.
47) Group members who try to help people work well together are able to fill a
______________
A) team-maintenance role.
B) task-facilitating role.
C) self-oriented role.
D) coordinating role.
48) During the reinforcement phase of group decision making, members
______________
A) socialize and establish roles.
B) air all options and discuss their pros and cons.
C) reach a decision.
D) are given their assignments for carrying out the group’s decision.
49) To improve meeting productivity, ______________
A) communicate.
B) wait for everyone to arrive even if it means starting the meeting 10 minutes late.
C) work out an agenda that will achieve your objectives.
D) smile, laugh, enjoy yourself.
50) Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of effective teams?
A) A clear sense of purpose
B) Open and honest communication
C) Decision making done primarily by the team leaders
D) Encouragement of original thinking
51) When it comes to resolving conflict in groups, it is a good idea to ______________
A) be flexible.
B) hold off dealing with minor problems until the conflict becomes major.
C) avoid all conflict in the first place.
D) encourage participants to repress their emotions about the situation.
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52) The best way to handle an emotional reaction in a business setting is to
______________
A) focus on your argument and ignore the emotional elements.
B) repeat yourself in hopes that this will help diffuse emotions.
C) express understanding.
D) agree with the other person’s emotional reaction.
53) Working with other writers to produce a single document is called ______________
A) groupthink.
B) participative management.
C) collaborative writing.
D) task facilitating.
54) Successful collaboration requires a number of steps, from selecting the right partners
and agreeing on project goals to ___________________________
A) establishing clear processes and avoiding writing as a group.
B) setting timelines and meeting at the same location.
C) making sure all members speak more than one language.
D) creating agendas and controlling creativity.
55) In collaborative writing, it is a good idea to _________________
A) make sure tools and techniques are ready and compatible across the team.
B) begin by letting all members “do their own thing” and then seeing what they all
produce.
C) let all members use their own preferred software.
D) make the team as big as possible so that every possible area of expertise will be
covered.
56) When questioned about material they have just listened to, most people are likely to
______________
A) remember nearly all of the content correctly.
B) get the facts mixed up.
C) remember almost nothing.
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D) fake an answer.
57) If you are listening mainly to understand and retain information imparted by a
speaker, you are engaging in ______________
A) content listening.
B) critical listening.
C) empathic listening.
D) active listening.
58) If you are engaging in critical listening, your goal is to ______________
A) understand and retain information.
B) understand the speaker’s feelings, needs, and wants.
C) evaluate the logic and validity of the message.
D) appreciate the speaker’s point of view.
59) If you are listening mainly to understand the speaker’s needs and wants, you are
engaging in ______________
A) content listening.
B) critical listening.
C) empathic or active listening.
D) sustained listening.
60) The first step in the basic listening process is ______________
A) physically receiving the message.
B) interpreting the message.
C) evaluating the message.
D) encoding the message.
61) Poor listeners may create a barrier to listening by ___________
A) relating what they hear to their own experience.
B) thinking of related questions.
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C) checking their watch or PDA.
D) focusing on the message.
62) “Selective listening” refers to ___________________
A) a highly focused form of listening.
B) when the listener’s mind wanders until something relevant is said.
C) a form of defensive listening.
D) listening only long enough to get a word in edgewise.
63) Nonverbal differs from verbal communication in that it _____________________
A) rarely occurs spontaneously.
B) lacks intent.
C) often reveals information without your consent.
D) doesn’t provide a message.
64) If a person says one thing but sends a conflicting message nonverbally,
_____________
A) people are more likely to believe the verbal message.
B) people are more likely to believe the nonverbal message.
C) people are more likely to just stop listening.
D) People will think the speaker does not know what he/she is saying.
65) Touching behaviour ________________
A) is the least important form of nonverbal communication.
B) is the great equalizer, putting people of different status on the same footing.
C) should be completely avoided in all business situations.
D) is governed by relatively strict customs that establish who can touch whom and when.
66) One of the biggest mistakes in holding meetings is ______________
A) not having a specific goal.
B) not inviting enough participants.
C) circulating the agenda too far in advance.
D) sticking too closely to the agenda.
67) In an informational meeting, ______________
A) the participants share information and coordinate actions.
B) the group rarely arrives at some kind of decision.
C) brainstorming sessions are avoided.
D) participants dress casually.
68) A meeting agenda _______________
A) is a formality that most groups skip these days.
B) should be circulated a in advance of the meeting to give participants time to prepare.
C) should be general rather than specific so participants can add to topics to it during the
meeting.
D) is only a guideline, and deviations are common and expected.
69) When conducting a meeting, __________________________
A) if some people are too quiet, leave them alone; they probably have nothing to
contribute.
B) if some people dominate the conversation, let them do so, since they are probably the
most knowledgeable attendees.
C) try to simply act as an observer, and let the meeting “run itself.”
D) be sure to follow the agenda.
70) Use of parliamentary procedure ________________
A) tends to slow meetings down.
B) contributes to dissension among participants.
C) aids in planning and running effective meetings.
D) is only useful for highly formalized, important meetings with more than a dozen
participants.
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71) Instant messaging and teleconferencing are ________________
A) the most complex forms of virtual meetings.
B) are not classified as virtual meetings.
C) the simplest forms of virtual meetings.
D) are not used in business correspondence.
72) A(n) __________ is a unit of two or more people who work together to achieve a
goal.
73) __________ management is a way of involving employees in the company’s decision
making.
74) Group loyalty can lead members into__________, a willingness to set aside personal
opinions and to go along with everyone else, even if everyone else is wrong.
75) Some group members have a(n) __________: private motives that affect the group’s
interaction.
76) __________ are the interactions and processes that take place in a meeting.
77) Group __________ are informal standards of conduct that members share and that
guide member behaviour.
78) A lack __________ of is cited as the most common reason for the failure of teams.
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79) Teams need to learn how to resolve __________ over differences in ideas, power
struggles, or basic differences in personalities.
80) In __________ writing, a team of writers works together to produce a single
document.
81) __________ contributors need to let go of traditional expectations of authorship,
including individual recognition.
82) The goal of __________ listening is to evaluate the message at several levels.
83) The goal of __________ listening is to understand the speaker’s feelings.
84) In the __________ stage of listening, you apply critical thinking skills and separate
fact from opinion.
85) You are engaging in __________ when you tune out a speaker until you hear a word
or phrase that gets your attention once more.
86) When it comes to nonverbal communication, your __________ are especially
effective for indicating attention and interest, regulating interaction, and establishing
dominance.
87) __________ is knowing how to behave properly in a given situation.
88) When planning a meeting, the person holding the meeting prepares a(n) __________
of items to discuss.
89) Describe the primary difference between a committee and a task force.
90) Briefly explain why the ability to work effectively in teams is so important in
business.
91) What are four potential disadvantages of working in teams?
92) Describe three functional team roles and discuss how these roles aid in achieving
project goals.
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93) Describe three dysfunctional team roles and how these roles do NOT aid the team in
achieving project goals.
94) Discuss two advantages as well as two disadvantages of online meetings compared to
face-to-face meetings.
95) As the leader of a new task force, you notice that one of your team members remains
silent during meetings. What should you do?
96) Describe three types of listening: critical listening, content listening, and empathic
listening.
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97) Proper introductions are an important part of business etiquette. Describe the
introduction you would use in each of the following cases:
1) Introducing yourself to a stranger
2) Introducing someone younger to someone older
3) Introducing a junior executive to a senior executive
4) Introducing a fellow executive to a client or customer
98) List at least three benefits of effective listening in business.
99) List at least three strategies for keeping one’s mind from wandering while listening to
a speaker.
100) List at least three general categories of nonverbal communication.
101) Describe at least three common types of teams companies often create.
102) Discuss four strategies to use when planning an effective meeting.
103) Differentiate among the three primary types of listening.
104) List and briefly explain the three roles nonverbal communication plays in
communication.
