Giving Instructions (SB-5.1)
Drawing 1
Giving Instructions (SB-5.1)
Drawing 2
BEHAVIOR MODEL VIDEO 5
VIDEO EXERCISE
Response Styles
Module 5 Response Styles. This video module uses the same situation, with each of the six response styles
illustrated. Students are asked to identify each response style. The answers are as follows:
Scene 1- Diverting by talking about golf.
Scene 2- Evaluating—Advising—by telling the employee what to do, giving advice.
Scene 3- Reassuring by telling the employee not to worry.
Scene 4- Probing by asking the employee questions for more information.
Scene 5- Confronting—Advising—by asking the employee if s/he is worried.
Scene 6- Reflecting by paraphrasing back the message, letting the employee expand upon the original
statement. The reflective style is the most appropriate in this situation.
SKILL BUILDING EXERCISE SB-5.2
Listening Skills
Total Time (20 minutes)
Recommended approximate time for a 20 minute period:
8:00 Procedure 1. 2 minutes
8:02 ” 2. 6 “
8:08 ” 3. 9 ”
8:17 Conclusion 1 “
8:18 Application 2 ‘
8:20
SKILL BUILDING EXERCISE, SB-5-3
Situational Communications
Total Time (10-75 minutes)
You may select any length of time to spend on this exercise. Do as many situations as you have time to do in the allotted time,
and give the students the answers to the remaining situations not covered.
To save class time you can cover the exhibit and situation 1 in class, (Procedure 1.) then have the class do the other 11
situations for homework. The following class you can give them the answers.
Recommended approximate time for a 50 minute period
8:00 Procedure 1. 10 minutes. You may cover situation 1 during a lecture
to save this time or show video module 6 giving the instructional
answers.
8:10 ” 2. 7 minutes
8:17 ” 3. 30 “
8:47 Application 3 “
8:50
Times will vary from class to class. If you need more time, take it. You can give them the answers to the situations not
covered.
If they are faster, use a conclusion and/or sharing.
Recommended answers to the twelve situations
When going over the answers I try not to get into debates over which answer is the most appropriate. I stress
identifying the situation communication style needed, and using it.
Situational Communications (SB-5-3) Answers
Sit. Time Info. Acc. Cap. Sty. Stys. Pts.
1. yes P-L P-L P-L S-P A. S-A 0
B. S-C 1
C. S-P 3
D. S-L 2
6. yes C P-L P-L S-P ` A. S-P 3
B. L 1
C. A 0
D. C 2
7. yes A A P-L S-A A. S-C 2
B. P 1
C. A 3
D. L 0
11. yes P-L C-P P-L S-P A. S-C 1
B. P 3
C. A 0
D. L 2
Skills Assessment of SB 5-3 (Questions and Answers also in Test Bank)
The test bank application section of this instructor’s manual has multiple choice questions similar to the 12 situations
in the text, however, the questions only require the student to select the best alternative action.
The way I test on situational communications is as follows. Four situations similar to the 12 in this exercise are in the test
bank. However, they are not multiple choice questions. When I go over Situation 3, I explain how students will be tested.
NOTE: The four lines do not appear when the computer test is printed.
I tell students to set up the test this way.
Variables:
_____ 1. ____________________ _____ 2. ___________________________
_____ 3. ____________________ _____ 4. ____________________________
Communication Style:
Behavior:
Action Taken:
Variables: (Time, Information, Acceptance, Capability level)
Communication Style: (Autocratic, Consultative, Participative, Laissez-faire)
Behavior: (High and/or Low task and relationship)
Action Taken: (Similar statement to the four alternatives a-d).
I give full credit for the best or second best alternative answers, as long as the answers are consistent for the style. Some
students mix style answers, such as autocratic, high task/high relationship, and they write an action that is participative.
1. Situational Communication. You have just walked into the back of the room where your employees work in the front.
There is a lot of smoke, which they do not realize, in the back of the room. Your employees are very
highly capable and like to participate in decision-making. As a situational communicator, you should do what?
Instructions: Variables. Write the numbers 1 to 4. To the right of the four numbers, write the four variables. To the left of
the four numbers, write the answers to each variable from the model that represents the style to use based on the variable. Fill
in the Communication Style, Behavior, and Action Taken lines with the appropriate answers.
Variables:
Communication Style:
Behavior:
Action Taken:
Answer –
When there is no time the autocratic style is used regardless of the other variable answers
Autocratic
High task/low relationship
Yell “fire” and tell everyone to get out of the room.
Second best answer
One of four variables must have S2C
Consultative
High task/high relationship
Yell “fire” and tell everyone to get out of the room. Show your concern for their safety.
2. Situational Communication. You are an expert professor in your field. When going over the answers to the exam, a few
students disagree with the recommended answer you gave. You check the answer and know that it
is correct. The students get average grades and do not have a good explanation for your answer being wrong.
As a situational communicator, you should do what?
Instructions: Variables. Write the numbers 1 to 4. To the right of the four numbers, write out the four variables. To the left
of the four numbers, write the answers to each variable from the model that represent the
style to use based on the variable. Fill in the Communication Style, Behavior, and Action Taken lines with the appropriate
answers.
Variables:
Communication Style:
Behavior:
Action Taken:
Answer:
S1A-S2C 2. Information
S4L 3. Acceptance
S2C 4. Capability
Consultative
High task/high relationship
3. Situational Communication. Your coworker Chris usually does an excellent job. However, lately the work Chris is doing
has slipped. You are concerned because it is affecting your work as well. You think Chris has a family problem, and you
know Chris does not like to be told what to do. As a situational communicator, you should do what?
Instructions: Variables. Write the numbers 1 to 4. To the right of the four numbers, write out the four variables. To the left
of the four numbers, write the answers to each variable from the model that represent the
style to use based on the variable. Fill in the Communication Style, Behavior, and Action Taken lines with the appropriate
answers.
Variables:
Communication Style:
Behavior:
Action Taken:
Answer –
S2C-S3P 2. Information
S3P-S4L 3. Acceptance
S3P 4. Capability
Participative
Low task/high relationship
Second best answer
One of four variables must have S2C
Consultative
4. Situational Communication. You work in the accounting office. Chris has come to you stating that there are a few
questions for you to answer about the budget. Chris has done an excellent job of preparing and staying within the
budgeted amounts in recent years. As a situational communicator, you should do what?
Instructions: Variables. Write the numbers 1 to 4. To the right of the four numbers, write out the four variables.
To the left of the four numbers, write the answers to each variable from the model that represent the style to use
based on the variable. Fill in the Communication Style, Behavior, and Action Taken lines with the appropriate
answers.
Variables:
Communication Style:
Behavior:
Answer –
Yes 1. Time
S3P-S4L 2.. Information
Second best answer
One of four variables must have S3P
Appendix A to IM Chapter 5
NOTE: This Appendix is no longer in the Text, but you may use it for class purposes.
Writing Skills
In the 8e I included writing tips, but in the 9e when combining chapters 5 and 6, I deleted them from the
text. However, I am including them here in the IM. So if you are an adopter of the text, you have
permission to copy and use this material.
I wrote this subsection to help you improve your writing skills. It covers grammar,
syntax, rhetoric, editing, and punctuation using commas. When writing, use this
review as I do.
Grammar refers to the rules for use of the eight parts of speech, which are
defined as follows:
1. Nouns are the names of people, places, or things. Nouns often answer the who
2. Pronouns take the place of nouns. Starting sentences with nouns and using
3. Verbs are the action words in a sentence. Verbs have tenses (past, present,
future) and number (singular or plural) that must agree with the subject or with the
4. Adjectives tell us something about the noun. Adjectives often answer the
5. Adverbs tell us something about a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
6. Prepositions tell us how a noun or pronoun is related to another part of the
sentence
(e.g., to, of, if, for, at, by, as, on, in, before, after, when ). Avoid using more than
7. Conjunctions connect two words or parts of a sentence (e.g., and, but, or, for,
8. Interjections are words used to express feelings (e.g., surprise— wow, pain—
To simplify grammar, we use subjects, predicates, modifiers, and connectives.
1. Subjects are nouns or pronouns about which something is said.
2. Predicates express what is said about the subject; they include verbs.
Syntax is the grammatical functioning of words, phrases, and clauses to form
sentence structure.
1. A sentence needs a subject (noun or pronoun) and predicate (verb), and it
2. A phrase is a group of words that do not form a complete sentence.
Rhetoric refers to the effective writing of sentences, paragraphs, and entire
papers, memos, letters, and reports.
1. Paragraphs should have only one main idea. Start with a topic sentence to
introduce the idea; follow with sentences to give more details about the idea.
2. Sentences should include only one idea, and that idea should relate to the
The 1-5-15 writing rule states that paragraphs should expressing 1 idea, with
an average of 5 sentences with 15 words.
Editing improves the quality of your writing.
1. Edit after writing, not during. Get your ideas out first.
2. Run spelling and grammar checks on the computer, and then edit your work
4. Edit the printed draft. Does each paragraph have only one idea, with all
sentences related to that one idea? Does each paragraph have at least three
5. Edit a classmate’s or coworker’s paper or letter, and have that person edit
6. Make the changes on the computer, run spelling and grammar checks, and
Punctuation is the use of special marks (e.g., commas, semicolons, colons,
dashes, parentheses, brackets) to group words, phrases, and clauses. We’ll discuss
1. Commas separate items in a series. A series needing commas has three or
2. Commas precede coordinating conjunctions that join clauses. Conjunctions put
closely related ideas together. In essence, you are putting two sentences into one.
to connect phrases and clauses.
• To test if the comma with a conjunction is used correctly, replace the
conjunction with a period . If you have two complete sentences, the comma is used
correctly. If you do not have two sentences, omit the comma because the
Conjunction Comma Errors
Wrong: Smith studied the age of participants, and the length of time they were sick. (series of two)
Correct: Smith studied the age of participants and the length of time they were sick.
Wrong: Smith studied age and he also studied length of sickness. (two sentences)
Correct: Smith studied age, and he also studied length of sickness.
3. Commas set o* nonrestrictive words and phrases at the beginning, middle,
and end of the sentence. Another way of thinking of commas is that they
separate less important information ( nonrestrictive ) from more important
information ( restrictive ). The comma is used to separate the nonrestrictive
• Beginning. When you start a sentence with a preposition (e.g., to, of, if, for,
at, by, as, on, in, before, after, when ), you usually have an introductory
prepositional phrase. As just shown, you need a comma after this type of phrase.
To test if you have a nonrestrictive introductory word or phrase: (1) Check to see
Avoiding starting sentences with prepositions eliminates the need to check
(2) Replace the comma with a period . If you do not have two complete
sentences, one part is a word or phrase and the other is a clause, so the comma
• Middle. To test if you have a nonrestrictive word or phrase in the middle of a
• End. The word which is commonly used to start an ending phrase. Microsoft
Word grammar check will catch this error for you. To test if you have an ending
Nonrestrictive and Restrictive Comma Errors
Wrong: To improve my conflict team skill I will confront others using the conflict model XYZ statement.
Correct: To improve my conflict team skill, I will confront others using the conflict model XYZ statement.
A P P L I C A T I O N S I T U A T I O N S
AS A–1 Correct the Punctuation
1. If, I stop speaking without thinking I will improve my team skills.
2. My score was a 92 percent which is good.
3. I scored 6 for planning, and 5 for conflict.
Answers to Application Situations
Correct the Punctuation AS A-1
1. If,/ I stop speaking without thinking, I will improve my team skills.
2. My score was a 92%, which is good.
3. I scored 6 for planning,/ and 5 for conflict.
4. After reviewing the survey, I will improve my team skills.