Business Communication Essentials, 8e (Bovee/Thill)
Chapter 2 Collaboration, Interpersonal Communication, and Business Etiquette
1) Which of the following is the result of peer pressure that forces team members to go along
with decisions they really don’t believe in?
A) Hidden agendas
B) Learning opportunities
C) Groupthink
D) Participative management
E) Collaboration
2) Collaboration is best described as what?
A) Active listening
B) Groupthink
C) Clearly agreed upon agendas
D) Working together on complex challenges
E) Dependent on strong nonverbal communication skills
3) Teams that bring together people with diverse specialties give people the chance to increase
their knowledge by increasing what?
A) Boldness
B) Trust building
C) Sense of community
D) Learning opportunities
E) Buy-in for solutions
4) Participative management allows employees at any level of the organization to do what?
A) Solve long-term problems
B) Allow long-term problem-solving teams to flourish
C) Allow effective virtual teams
D) Increase effectiveness of new member orientation
E) Be involved in the company’s decision making
5) Which of the following is a benefit of a successful team?
A) Diversity of views
B) Groupthink
C) Multiple agendas
D) Low cost
E) Limited peer pressure
6) Which of the following is a disadvantage of working in a team?
A) Limited knowledge
B) Diversity of views
C) Limited acceptance of a solution
D) Lower performance levels
E) Cost of time and money
7) To maintain harmony in a group, some team members may withhold unpopular opinions. This
is known as what?
A) Collaboration
B) Non performance
C) Groupthink
D) Hidden agendas
E) Participative management
8) When faced with potentially unpopular choices, having a team develop potential solutions and
implementation methods can result in what?
A) Increased information
B) Increased acceptance
C) Higher performance levels
D) Lower costs
E) Hidden agendas
9) Activities that support incompatible goals to those of the group are referred to as what?
A) Groupthink
B) Participative management
C) Multitasking
D) Hidden agendas
E) Increased diversity of views
10) Which of the following is generally true when referring to groups?
A) Group meetings are costly in terms of time and coordination.
B) Team members will work harder to support the goals of a group than individual projects.
C) Group members are more accepting of contrary opinions.
D) Groups are usually ineffective.
E) Groups have limited access to research data and other essential information.
11) Which of the following is considered the most important factor in determining how well a
team will perform?
A) A shared sense of purpose
B) The right mix of creative talent
C) Full engagement of team members
D) Strong communication skills
E) Clear objectives
12) Unsuccessful teamwork is often the result of destructive conflict, which is the result of what?
A) Groupthink
B) Hidden agendas
C) Incompatible technology
D) Disagreement over the team’s goals
E) Ineffective team leaders
13) Which of the following is an indication of positive behavioral norms within a group,
allowing members to propose ideas and express vulnerability?
A) Well-balanced mix
B) Groupthink
C) Psychological safety
D) Compatible values
E) Overload
14) Some companies have embraced collaborative work approaches to the point of overload.
15) A team is a group of two or more people with a shared mission and responsibility for a goal.
16) When a collaborator is located off site, the most productive way of working with that person
would be to require attendance at regularly scheduled meetings, at the physical workplace, with
the rest of the team.
17) Describe how conflict within a team can improve the performance of the team.
18) Discuss the advantages of working in teams and tools to improve communication with team
members.
19) Which of the following is an advantage of collaborative writing?
A) Each member has to accomplish fewer tasks.
B) Each member has different expertise to contribute.
C) Each member can focus on accuracy and detail so no errors are missed.
D) Each member can rely on another member if their schedule gets busy.
E) Each member can change another member’s work to ensure unified ideas.
20) When writing collaboratively, what should each team member focus on supporting?
A) Individual areas of expertise
B) Individual priorities
C) Team objectives
D) Organization and coherence
E) Writing styles and work habits
21) In order to save time and frustration, what should be agreed upon before beginning a
collaborative process?
A) Skill sets
B) Project goals
C) Leadership roles
D) Writing style
E) Due dates
22) When one or more writers can offer opinions or ask questions on a shared document without
modifying the document text, what type of software tool is likely being used?
A) Revision tracking
B) Enterprise systems
C) Workflow features
D) Commenting
E) Wikis
23) Which of the following is the generic name for software that helps organize and control
website content for groups?
A) Enterprise systems
B) Workflow systems
C) Cloud management systems
D) Content management systems
E) Intranet systems
24) Which of the following is least helpful to effective collaborative writing?
A) Selecting collaborators carefully
B) Establishing clear processes
C) Agreeing on project goals before you start
D) Taking time to bond before starting the collaboration
E) Writing together as a group
25) Technologies that allow people to share files, review message threads, and work on
documents simultaneously are known as what?
A) Virtual offices
B) Shared workspace
C) Cloud computing
D) Social intranets
E) Collaboration platforms
26) Websites that are accessible only to employees are what type of systems?
A) Clouds
B) Extranets
C) Intranets
D) Wikis
E) On demand
27) Websites that are accessible only to employees and select parties external to the organization
are known as what?
A) Clouds
B) Extranets
C) Intranets
D) Wikis
E) On demand
28) Which of the following improve response times and collaboration efforts when using mobile
collaboration?
A) Clouds
B) Intranets
C) Fixed-web collaboration systems
D) Social intranets
E) Unified communication
29) When providing feedback, focusing comments on the message, not the person who created it,
is an example of what?
A) Verifying understanding
B) Constructive feedback
C) Destructive feedback
D) Focusing on controllable behavior
E) Discussing improvements rather than flaws
30) The goal when giving feedback should focus on the outcomes of the communication. This
type of feedback is often called what?
A) Constructive feedback
B) Destructive feedback
C) Criticism
D) Collaboration
E) Unified communication
31) Groupware allows users to work on documents simultaneously and connect using social
networking tools.
32) When writing collaboratively, it is often more effective to write as a group, ensuring all
collaborators are following the same format.
33) Today’s mobile systems can do virtually everything fixed-web collaboration systems can do.
34) Identify eight ways to ensure successful collaboration.
35) Describe how a content management system could be used effectively for groups who work
in different locations.
36) Which of the following is the least beneficial aspect of holding meetings?
A) Social interaction
B) Team building
C) Low cost
D) Problem solving
E) Idea development
37) When planning a meeting, the leader should do which of the following?
A) Set and share the agenda
B) Keep the meeting on track
C) Follow agreed upon rules
D) Discourage participation
E) Close effectively
38) To ensure all members actively participate in a meeting, what should a leader do?
A) Tweet questions about the topic.
B) Ask for opinions from nonparticipants.
C) Follow Robert’s Rules of Order.
D) Explain areas of knowledge to the group.
E) Distribute an agenda ahead of time.
39) When recording meeting minutes, which of the following would be most helpful for
attendees?
A) A list of those who were invited but didn’t attend
B) A list of comments from each participant
C) All major decisions reached
D) Discussion points
E) A list of those who attended
40) One advantage of virtual meetings is what?
A) Less time spent in actual meetings
B) Opportunity for hardware and software upgrades
C) The ability to multitask during the meeting
D) Increased access to a wider pool of expertise
E) Ability to limit those who are in attendance
41) Realistic conferences in which participants thousands of miles apart almost seem to be in the
same room is an example of what?
A) Instant messaging
B) Webinars
C) Virtual whiteboards
D) Idea campaigns
E) Telepresence
42) If a firm wanted to conduct a training session for employees at multiple facilities
simultaneously, what type of meeting tool should be used?
A) Conference calls
B) Virtual whiteboards
C) Webinars
D) Idea campaigns
E) Telepresence
43) Which of the following is an advantage of virtual meetings?
A) There is more opportunity for visual data.
B) Nonverbal communication skills are easier to read.
C) Participants are more engaged in the topic.
D) Participants can collaborate in real time.
E) Less planning is needed.
44) When setting up a meeting, anyone who might have insight on the issue should be invited to
the meeting.
45) Formal meetings often use parliamentary procedures to maintain order in the decision–
making process.