Business Communication Essentials, 6e (Bovee/Thill)
Chapter 2 Mastering Team Skills and Interpersonal Communication
1) Teams are at the core of ________ management, which is the effort to involve employees in
the company’s decision-making process.
A) autocratic
B) participative
C) top-down
D) personnel
E) laissez-faire
2) Teams can increase performance levels by ________.
A) pooling experience
B) discouraging consensus
C) encouraging groupthink
D) duplicating effort
E) promoting hidden agendas
3) Simon has just launched a startup and has big ideas for the company. He assembles a large
team of people from different backgrounds who have the skills he needs to get the job done.
Simon’s brother criticizes this, saying that such a large team will result in too much conflict,
because the different team members will all have individual approaches to a problem. Which of
the following should Simon say to effectively counter this argument?
A) A diverse group will encourage groupthink.
B) The larger the team, the fewer the chances of conflict.
C) The variety of perspectives will improve decision making.
D) Working as a team will encourage members to eventually think alike.
E) A larger team is more efficient in its use of resources.
4) ________ occurs when peer pressure causes team members to withhold contrary or unpopular
opinions.
A) Free riding
B) Social loafing
C) Collaboration
D) Groupthink
E) Feedback
5) Jean’s eight-member team met to discuss their strategy for completing a project. Though Jean
and her colleague Jenna didn’t agree with the proposed plan, they didn’t voice their disapproval
when the plan was put to vote, because the rest of the team agreed with it. Jean and Jenna’s
behavior in this situation can be explained by the phenomenon of ________.
A) brainwashing
B) social loafing
C) groupthink
D) hidden agendas
E) mob mentality
6) Which of the following is true for teamwork?
A) It entails higher costs for a company, in terms of time as well as money.
B) The diversity of perspectives offered by a team improves decisions.
C) Those who participate in team decision-making often become jaded and discourage others
from supporting it.
D) Groupthink is an advantage of teamwork as it encourages rapid consensus.
E) Conflict is a sign of ineffective teamwork and should be discouraged.
7) Which of the following is true for ineffective teams but not for effective teams?
A) There are conflicts of opinion between team members.
B) Poor communication prevents the team from reaching its goal.
C) Setting up the team involves coordination costs in terms of time and money.
D) Interpersonal friction is likely to exist.
E) There is a diversity of views as members have different opinions.
8) Which of the following is a characteristic of an effective team?
A) conformance to the common opinion
B) withholding contrary opinions
C) individual agendas
D) constructive resolution of conflicts
E) limited communication
9) When undertaking a collaborative writing project, which of the following steps is best
undertaken by individual team members rather than by the team working as a group?
A) writing
B) determining project goals
C) planning
D) outlining the project
E) research
10) Sensient Solutions picked out a team from its employees to research and develop a new
software product. The team outlined the requirements for the product and set a deadline for the
research process, leaving individual developers free to explore and research their own ideas.
When the team finally began to evaluate the results of the research, it was found that a lot of the
effort had been duplicated, resulting in a waste of time and resources. Which of the following
guidelines for collaborative work did the team ignore?
A) Agree on project goals before the start of the project.
B) Clarify individual responsibilities.
C) Select collaborators carefully.
D) Make sure tools are compatible across the team.
E) Give the team time to bond before beginning.
11) Nicholas and his team need to write and design a small brochure for an insurance plan.
Which of the following methods is the ideal way to go about this?
A) Agree on a central idea for the brochure and then begin writing together.
B) Allocate every task, from planning to writing, equally among all members of the team.
C) Assign parts of the project to certain members and allow them to decide the concept and write
in their own styles.
D) Outline the brochure together but assign the task of the final writing to one person.
E) Divide the writing equally among all team members and have each person review another
person’s work.
12) ________ refers to a website that allows anyone with access to add new material and edit
existing material.
A) Java
B) Wiki
C) Blog
D) Microblog
E) Browser
13) Essential Solutions has employees in branches across the United States. The company wants
to create a common site for information about all the projects its employees tackle, the solutions
they offer, and the outcomes of these solutions over time. Most of its employees are not well-
versed with creating web content, but will be required to update the site frequently by
themselves, adding their observations and experiences. Which of the following technologies is
the best option for both Essential and its employees?
A) a wiki
B) cloud computing
C) a social networking site
D) telepresence technologies
E) a virtual whiteboard
14) Emma wants to set up a wedding planner website for weddings in her city. She needs a site
where caterers, florists, and designers from the city can post their offerings and prices for a fee.
As the products and rates will change with the seasons, the site will have to be updated often by
the sellers themselves. Prospective customers should be able to register on the site to read the
information, but should not be able to make any changes to the site. Which of the following is
the best option for Emma?
A) media curation
B) cloud computing
C) a public wiki
D) a private wiki
E) a virtual whiteboard
15) ________ lets people communicate, share files, review previous message threads, work on
documents simultaneously, and connect using social networking tools.
A) Groupware
B) Firmware
C) Virtualizations
D) Operating systems
E) E-commerce systems
16) ________ are online virtual offices that give everyone on a team access to the same set of
resources and information.
A) Shared workspaces
B) Social media platforms
C) Shared hosting
D) Firmware
E) E-commerce systems
17) Orion Ltd. is a toy company headquartered in El Paso, Texas, with distributors throughout
the United States. At present, the company keeps in contact with its distributors through
telephone and email, communicating confidential information about new products and prices.
Distributors contact Orion’s headquarters to communicate their queries or requirements, but
responding to these questions is a time-consuming process. Orion wants to upgrade to a secure
online system through which distributors can access information from the company and
communicate their queries or complaints. Which of the following methods is most suited for this
purpose?
A) extranet
B) teleconferencing
C) videoconferencing
D) social networking
E) virtual whiteboards
18) Trinkets began as a small family business in Boston, but has since spread throughout the
country and now employs more than a thousand people. Though each branch operates almost
independently, the owners want to develop a feeling of community among Trinkets employees.
Which is the most convenient way for all the employees across the country to get to know each
other?
A) conducting regular teleconferences among employees
B) developing a community for the company on a social networking site
C) organizing virtual meetings regularly
D) developing a content management system for the company
E) videoconferencing at every opportunity
19) ________ organize and control website content and can include features that help team
members work together on webpages and other documents.
A) Content management systems
B) Telepresence systems
C) Virtual whiteboards
D) Instant messaging systems
E) Assistive technologies
20) Which of the following software features lets one or more writers propose changes to the text
while keeping everyone’s edits separate and reversible?
A) formatting
B) commenting
C) change tracking
D) highlighting
E) translating
21) Which of the following statements is an example of constructive criticism?
A) Your argument will be stronger if you rewrite the introduction to include more details about
the event.
B) There were three factual errors in the document you sent. You have been very careless of late.
C) Your meaning is unclear, you should rework the document for more clarity.
D) Your method of organizing information is inappropriate for the subject.
E) You need to improve your style of writing, it is not suited to the topic.
22) Which of the following is true for feedback about writing efforts?
A) Destructive feedback focuses on the process and outcomes of communication.
B) Feedback is constructive and always results in improvement.
C) Constructive criticism makes no effort to stimulate improvement.
D) Constructive criticism focuses on personal shortcomings.
E) Destructive feedback delivers criticism with no effort to stimulate improvement.
23) Ruth is the editor of Bliss, a lifestyle magazine. Rachel has written a substandard article for
the magazine and Ruth has to give feedback to help her improve the piece. Which of the
following is the most effective way to offer feedback?
A) Ruth should mark out the faults in the article and send it back to Rachel.
B) Ruth should ask Rachel to explain her mistakes.
C) Ruth should tell Rachel the shortcomings of her method and approach to writing.
D) Ruth should point out weak areas in the article and suggest alternative approaches.
E) Ruth should compare Rachel’s methods to the standards of the magazine to bring out the flaws
in the article.
24) Which of the following is an example of an informational meeting?
A) a meeting to announce the scope of a new PR campaign for a company
B) a meeting to decide and allot responsibilities for individual employees for the coming week
C) a meeting to analyze the status of an ongoing project and obtain feedback about performance
D) a meeting to find a solution to control rising overheads
E) a meeting to persuade participants to make a donation to a charity
25) Which of the following is an example of a decision-making meeting?
A) A manager has to tell his team about the new leave policy.
B) The chairman of the board holds a meeting to announce his retirement.
C) The department meets to review the progress of a project.
D) A team meets to determine a strategy to counter a competitor.
E) The team gathers to celebrate the completion of a project.
26) Which of the following is true in the case of business meetings?
A) The more participants there are, the more likely it is that a meeting will see effective results.
B) Decision-making meetings should include only those people likely to help the meeting reach
its objective.
C) Informational meetings involve analysis, problem solving, and in many cases, persuasive
communication.
D) Decision-making meetings should include all the people likely to be affected by the decisions.
E) The purpose of the agenda is to help the leader guide the progress of the meeting; participants
need not know the agenda.
27) Jim is the manager at a product development facility. His team has just been given a new
assignment and he needs to hold a meeting to tell the team about it and discuss possible
approaches to the assignment. To achieve this, Jim needs to hold a(n) ________ .
A) informational meeting, because he is conveying information about the assignment
B) feedback meeting, to discuss the individual performances of the employees
C) one-on-one meeting with every team member to tell them their responsibilities
D) decision-making meeting, because the meeting will cover all possible actions
E) review meeting, because the team will need to review its previous performance
28) The purpose of an agenda is to ________.
A) summarize the important information presented and the decisions made during a meeting
B) set out the parliamentary procedure to run the meeting
C) guide the progress of the meeting so that all participants know what will be presented
D) record the proceedings of the meeting in detail as they happen
E) give non-participants an overview of what took place at a meeting once it is over
29) Formal meetings often use ________, a time-tested method for planning and running
effective meetings.
A) code of ethics
B) networking
C) wikis
D) judicial review
E) parliamentary procedure
30) The best-known guide to parliamentary procedure is ________.
A) the SEC Standards of Ethics
B) Robert’s Rules of Order
C) Business Communication 2.0
D) the basic communication model
E) the Code of Professional Conduct
31) Which of the following is true of parliamentary procedure?
A) Parliamentary procedure is important to plan and run effective meetings.
B) Parliamentary procedure is ineffective during virtual meetings and videoconferences.
C) Using parliamentary procedure during a meeting makes the presence of a leader unnecessary.
D) All meetings will be ineffective unless parliamentary procedure is used.
E) Parliamentary procedure is used only for informational meetings, which require no
participation.
32) Patrick’s sales department meets to discuss targets and strategies for the coming month. As
the head of the department, Patrick invites inputs from all the employees, but Brendan dominates
the meeting, offering multiple suggestions, while the others do not participate. What should
Patrick, as the leader, do in this situation?
A) He should adopt Brendan’s suggestions as they are the only options.
B) He should remind Brendan that time is limited and the others need to be heard as well.
C) He should ask Brendan to leave the meeting.
D) He should ignore Brendan’s suggestions and invite responses from other participants.
E) He should call off the meeting and invite written suggestions.
33) During meetings, it’s good practice to appoint a person to record the ________, a summary
of the important information presented and the decisions made during the meeting.
A) agenda
B) inventory
C) bulletin
D) minutes
E) timetable
34) ________ can convey nonverbal subtleties such as facial expressions and hand gestures and
enable realistic conferences in which participants thousands of miles apart almost seem to be in
the same room.
A) Telepresence
B) Microblogging
C) Instant messaging
D) Intranet
E) Extranet
35) Which of the following is true for online meetings through telepresence technologies?
A) The use of parliamentary procedure is not possible in online meetings.
B) Nonverbal communication is insignificant in meetings using telepresence technology.
C) Rules of etiquette are generally relaxed and online meetings are usually informal.
D) Telepresence allows participants to convey more nonverbal signals than other virtual
methods.
E) As participants in online meetings are far apart, a leader is not necessary to monitor meetings.
36) PR firm Psylent wanted to generate new techniques and ideas for promotions. The company
decided to conduct a “Best promotional idea challenge” to source ideas from all its employees,
located in branches across the country. It invited employees to share and discuss ideas on the
company intranet. At the end of the campaign, Psylent Hill had generated many viable
promotional strategies. This method of generating ideas is known as ________.
A) groupthink
B) online brainstorming
C) outsourcing
D) social networking
E) teleconferencing
37) Derek coordinates the sales staff for a pharmaceutical company. As the salespersons
frequently travel across the country, arranging meetings with everyone at the same time is
difficult. Most of the salespeople do not have laptops, but rely on their smartphones for
communication. Which of the following is the easiest way for Derek to arrange a meeting with
all the salespeople?
A) social networking
B) intranets
C) videoconferencing
D) telepresence
E) instant messaging
38) In which of the following methods of holding business meetings is nonverbal communication
absent?
A) telephone conferences
B) video conferences
C) instant messaging
D) telepresence technologies
E) in-person meetings
39) D&B Solutions currently uses teleconferencing and telepresence technologies to hold
meetings with executives in different locations, but is now considering switching over to virtual
meetings in virtual worlds such as Second Life. Which of the following, if true, would weaken
D&B’s decision to opt for virtual meetings?
A) Virtual worlds such as Second Life are user-friendly, require little technical knowledge, and
are cost-effective in the long term.
B) Virtual meetings allow participants to multitask.
C) More than the mode used for communication, the success of any official interaction depends
on the involvement of the participants.
D) Virtual meetings are considered to be the most modern and progressive method of business
communication.
E) Companies usually find it very difficult to establish a successful brand presence on virtual
worlds such as Second Life.
40) The goal of content listening is to ________.
A) understand the speaker’s feelings, needs, and wants
B) analyze the speaker’s intentions and motives
C) understand and retain the information in the speaker’s message
D) critique the speaker’s style and any limitations in the presentation
E) evaluate the logic of the argument
41) Marty is a reporter for his college magazine. A controversial speaker has been invited for the
college’s graduation ceremony and Marty needs to write a clear, unbiased account of the
speaker’s views, disregarding the speaker’s motivations and the implications of the speech.
Which style of listening is most suited to this purpose?
A) selective listening
B) critical listening
C) empathic listening
D) content listening
E) passive listening
42) In critical listening, listeners ________.
A) evaluate the speaker’s presentation style
B) interpret the message using prejudgment
C) criticize the speaker’s argument
D) interrupt the speaker to point out flaws in the speech
E) evaluate the validity of the speaker’s conclusion
43) ________ listening aims to understand the speaker’s feelings, needs, and wants so that the
listener can appreciate his or her point of view, regardless of whether the listener shares that
perspective.
A) Empathic
B) Content
C) Selective
D) Critical
E) Creative