CHAPTER 1
HUMAN RELATIONS AND YOURSELF
CHAPTER OUTLINE AND LECTURE NOTES
The chapter begins with ten statements about human behavior in the form of a
quiz. The purpose of the quiz, including the explanation of answers, is to provide
the student insight into the relevance of studying human relations, as well as to
pique the student’s curiosity about the field.
I. HOW STUDYING HUMAN RELATIONS CAN HELP YOU
Human relations is defined here as the art of using systematic knowledge about
human behavior to improve personal, job and career effectiveness. From the
standpoint of management human relations is quite important because it
contributes to organizational effectiveness, the extent to which an organization is
productive and satisfies the demands of interested parties such as employees,
customers, and investors.
Human relations knowledge and skill is potentially beneficial for the individual as
well as the organization. Carefully studying human relations, and incorporating
suggestions into work and personal life, can lead to five key benefits:
1. Acquiring valid information about human behavior.
2. Developing skills in dealing with people.
3. Coping with job problems.
4. Coping with personal problems.
5. Capitalizing on opportunities (such as ideas for developing your career
and becoming a leader).
6. Demonstrating potential for advancement (possessing good human
relations skills facilitates being promoted).
II. HOW WORK AND PERSONAL LIFE INFLUENCE EACH OTHER
Work and personal life have a reciprocal influence. A study with university
employees found that employee satisfaction with their job influences the mood at
home. Work and personal life influence each other in a number of specific ways.
1. Job satisfaction contributes to general life satisfactions and chronic job
dissatisfaction leads to declines in general life satisfaction.
2. An unsatisfying job can affect physical health, primarily through stress
and burnout. People with high job satisfaction even tend to live longer
than those who suffer prolonged job dissatisfaction.
3. The quality of relationships with people at work and in personal life
influence each other. Personal relationships on the job also influence
personal relationships off the job. How we behave at work is closely
related to how we behave at home.
Successful couples look for ways to emphasize the positive, and
perhaps the same approach is useful on the job. Interacting harmoniously
with coworkers can put one in a better mood for dealing with family and
friends.
4. Certain skills contribute to success in both work and personal life. For
example, people who are effective in dealing with friends and family
members and who can organize things are likely to be effective
supervisors.
5. Workers who achieve a good balance between the demands of work and
family life are likely to be productive and have more job satisfaction.
III. HUMAN RELATIONS BEGINS WITH SELF-UNDERSTANDING
You have to understand yourself before you can be effective with others. Six
methods of achieving self-understanding are noteworthy. The self generally
refers to a person’s total being or individuality. The public self is what a person
communicates about himself or herself, and what others actually perceive about
the person. The private self is the actual person that one may be. The alternative
self is an understanding of the self, based on what could have been if the past had
happened differently.
Some evidence suggests that the self is based on structures within the brain. The
self may be the sum of the brain’s individual components, or subsystems.
Here we discuss six types of information that contribute to self-understanding,
along with potential problems in self-evaluation.
A. General Information about Human Behavior
Information one acquires about people in general can be applied to the self.
B. Informal Feedback from People
You can pick up useful feedback (information that tells you how well you
have performed) on the job and in personal life. Sometimes this feedback
must be solicited.
C. Feedback from Superiors
Most employers provide feedback to their employees. In some companies
feedback is provided formally such as during a performance evaluation. In
other cases feedback may be provided informally, such as a supervisor telling
an employee he or she is doing a good job.
D. Feedback from Coworkers
A growing practice in organizations is the use of peer evaluations, a system
in which coworkers contribute to an evaluation of a person’s job performance.
The peer evaluation for customer service technicians might be good class
discussion material.
Feedback from teammates could indicate a developmental opportunity,
an area for growth, or a weakness.
E. Feedback from Self-Assessment Quizzes
The exercises in this book, and in magazines and newspapers, can often give a
person some useful self-insights, but the exercises should not be regarded as
scientifically valid. Students can visit www.queendom.com for a wide variety
of self-assessments.
F. Looking at the Self through the Johari Window
The Johari Window is a grid showing how much information you know
about yourself as well as how much other people know about you. One axis of
the grid is the degree to which information about you is known to or understood
by you. The other axis is the degree to which information about you is known
to others. The basic premise of the model is that we can improve our personal
and professional relationships through understanding ourselves in depth.
G. Two Self-Evaluation Traps
Self-awareness also has two negative extremes or traps. One extreme is that
focusing on the self can highlight shortcomings the way staring into a mirror
can dramatize every blemish and wrinkle in the face. The other extreme is
tending to overestimate one’s competence. For example, some people are
always thinking they deserve a bigger raise. Others suffer from a holier than
thou syndrome – overestimating their moral competence. A study with college
students found that they consistently overrated the likelihood that they would
act in generous or selfless ways.
Cultural differences can help to explain at least some differences in under
evaluation versus over evaluation. For example, East Asians tend to
underestimate their abilities, while North Americans are more likely to
overestimate their abilities.
IV. HOW THE HUMAN RELATIONS MOVEMENT DEVELOPED
The human relations movement began as a concentrated effort by some
managers and their advisors to become more sensitive to the needs of employees
or to treat them in a more humanistic manner. The following influences,
presented in Figure 1-4, supported the human relations movement.
A. Scientific Management
Frederick W. Taylor’s theory that focuses on the application of scientific
methods to increase productivity. The focus of scientific management was on
the application of scientific methods to increase individual’s worker
productivity. Taylor also studied problems such as safety and fatigue.
Scientific management also contributed to the human relations movement by
creating a backlash against what many people thought was mistreatment of
workers.
B. The Hawthorne Studies
Research methods were used to investigate employee productivity using the
scientific method. An interpretation of the findings was that employees
reacted positively because they felt management cared about them. This
interpretation is referred to as the Hawthorne effect.
C. The Threat of Unionization
In the late 1930s, as labor unions grew rapidly, employers’ feared
unionization would have negative consequences for their companies.
Therefore, they sought human relations techniques to satisfy workers in an
effort to stem the tide of union growth.
D. The Philosophy of Industrial Humanism
According to industrial humanism, emotional factors (such as a desire for
recognition) are a more important contributor to productivity than physical
and logical factors. The key to increased productivity is to motivate
employees rather than to order them to perform better.
E. Theory X and Theory Y of Douglas McGregor
Douglas McGregor urged managers to be open to the possibility that under the
right circumstances people are eager to perform well.
Theory X Assumptions
1. The average person dislikes work and will avoid it if possible.
2. Most people must be coerced, controlled, directed, or threatened with
punishment to get them to work.
3. Average employees prefer to be directed, wish to shirk responsibility, have
relatively little ambition, and highly value job security.
Theory Y Assumptions
1. Expenditure of physical and mental effort is as natural in work as in play.
2. Employees will exercise self-direction and self-control for objectives to
which they attach high value.
3. Commitment to objectives is related to awards associated with their
achievement.
4. Under the right conditions, the average person accepts and seeks
responsibility.
5. Employers have the ability to exercise a high degree of imagination,
ingenuity, and creativity to solve organizational problems.
6. Under present conditions of industrial life, the intellectual potentials of the
average person are only partially utilized.
McGregor, although humanistic, did not mean to imply that being directive
and demanding with workers is always the wrong tactic. Visit the Business
Balls Website to assess whether a situation and management style are X or Y.
http://www.businessballs.com/mcgregorxytheorytest.pdf
F. The Internet and Social Media Era
Human relations in organizations have been affected by the Internet including
social media. Rather than being a new approach to human relations, these modern
developments in information technology are incorporated into the activities of
most workers. An example is that workers often collaborate with each other
through company social media networks, as well as public social media sites.
G. Relevance of the History of Human Relations to Today’s Workplace
Many ideas from the human relations movement still influence the practice of
human relations today including:
1. Many principles of scientific management are useful in increasing worker
productivity.
2. Ideas from the Hawthorne studies brought out the importance of providing
congenial work surroundings and adequate compensation to motivate
workers.
3. Industrial humanism is widely practiced today through methods such as
flexible work arrangements, family leave, and dependent care benefits.
4. Theory Y has prompted managers to think through which style of
leadership works best with employees.
V. MAJOR FACTORS INFLUENCING JOB PERFORMANCE AND BEHAVIOR
Part of understanding human relations is recognizing the factors or forces that
influence job performance and behavior. The factors are presented in Figure 1-5,
and are as follows:
1. Factors related to the employee. The major influence on how a worker
performs on the job stems from his or her personal attributes such as mental
ability, education, physical abilities, job knowledge, motivation and interest,
encouragement from family and friends, distractions and personal problems,
and level of stress.
2. Factors related to the manager. Managers or supervisors are another major
influence on work behavior through factors such as leadership style, quality
and quantity of communication, feedback on performance, quality of
relationship, and favoritism.
3. Factors related to the job. The job itself influences how workers perform
through such factors as adequate equipment, challenge and excitement, and
adequate training and instructions.
4. Factors related to the organization and the external environment. The
organization as a whole can have a profound influence on individual workers’
performance through such factors as the culture including ethics, work group
influences, and human resource policies. It is also possible for the external
environment to influence job performance and behavior. Two such factors are
the desirability of the geographic region, and the difficulty of commuting. A
study showed that rainy weather creates fewer cognitive distractions for
workers.
ANSWERS TO DISCUSSION AND REVIEW QUESTIONS
1.1. Why do you think good human relations skills are so important for supervisors
who direct the work activities of entry-level workers?
1.2 How might participation in team sports enhance an individual’s human relations
skills? How might such participation encourage a person to develop poor human
relations skills?
1.3 Give an example from your own experience of how work life influences personal
life and vice verse.
another coworker, and not being able to get it off their mind when they leave
work. In some cases, they report yelling at their children simply because they are
noisy or not showing an interest in a spouse because of preoccupation with work
problems.
1.4 How might a person improve his or her personal life to the extent that the
improvement would also enhance his or her job performance?
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1-7
Personal life satisfaction and job satisfaction are directly related, therefore, if
someone is happier in personal life, his or her job satisfaction would also be
higher. Satisfied workers tend to be more productive workers. As the example in
the text pointed out, people who are effective in dealing with friends and family
members and who can organize things are likely to be effective supervisors.
1.5 How might a person improve his or her job or career to the extent that the
improvement would actually enhance his or her personal life?
1.6 Describe a situation in which making Theory X assumptions about employees
might be accurate.
1.7 How do you think having good human relations skills and knowledge might add
to your job security in a competitive workplace?
1.8 Identify a person in public life, including a television show character, who you
think has outstanding human relations skills, and explain the basis for your
1.9 Identify a person in public life, including a television show character, who you
think has terrible human relations skills, and explain the basis for your conclusion.
Copyright © 2017, Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
1-8
A given news commentator can also provide an example of terrible human
relations skills. A few commentators are abrasive in such ways as shouting down
interviewees with an opposite opinion to theirs. The same commentators will
sometimes mock people with whom they disagree.
1.10 Based on what you have studies so far, in what way does human relations involve
more than “being nice to people”?
A reasonable answer here is that human relations involves a good deal of opinion
COMMENTS ON EXERCISES AND CASES
Human Relations Self-Assessment Quiz 1-1: My Attitudes toward Studying Human
Relations
The underlying purpose of this exercise is to engage students in the study of human
relations. Another purpose is to help students understand the relevance of human
relations in work and personal life. The statements range from the obvious to the subtle.
Equally important as the statements are the answers and explanations of answers that
follow the quiz.
Human Relations Self-Assessment Quiz 1-2: Human Relations Skills
Here is a useful warm-up self-quiz that confronts the reality of the student’s everyday
human relations skills. At the same time the quiz points to the importance of feedback
from others in evaluating one’s skills and capabilities. All twenty-one statements deal
with a human relations skill that could assist a person’s career when the skill is positive,
or damage the career if the skill is negative. Almost all of the skills are discussed at some
point in the text. Here we take three examples from the quiz:
1. “Listening carefully when in conversation with another person” As explained in
the study of communications, listening, or receiving messages, is a key
communication skill.
9. “Have a neat, well-groomed appearance” Unfortunately too many students think
of a neat, well-groomed appearance as applying mostly to job interviews. A
positive appearance contributes to success, and a negative appearance can be a
career retardant. Appearance is also part of nonverbal communication.
15. “Cooperate with others in a team effort” Business has become a team sport, so
students need to continually work on their team skills. Most students are
accustomed to teamwork yet studying about teamwork will provide additional
insights on being an effective team player.
Human Relations Self-Assessment Quiz 1-3: The Written Self-Portrait
Preparing a written self-portrait can be a powerful vehicle for the person to begin
thinking seriously about the self. Some students may need guidance in personalizing the
portraits, rather than making generalities. The portrait exercise is particularly useful in
helping the student realize that the self-concept has many spheres. Here we focus on the
spheres of (a) occupational and school, (b) social and interpersonal, (c) beliefs, values,
and attitudes, and (d) physical description (body type, appearance, and grooming).
A supplementary approach to the written self-portrait is for students to see if some
aspects of the self-portrait are more positive than others. For example, does the student
have a positive self-portrait in the occupational and school dimension, yet negative self-
portrait for the social and interpersonal dimension? The discrepancies might point the
way toward areas for self-development.
Applying Human Relations Exercise 1-1: Learning about Each Other’s Human Relations
Skills
My experience has been that this type of exercise is an eye-opener for students, and
simultaneously gives them one more opportunity to practice their presentation skills
about a subject of great interest to them. Many students will find it challenging to
organize their presentation into two minutes. However, many more students will fall into
the other side of the ditch—making ten second statements of their human relations skills.
With a modicum of success, I have told students in advance that we are not trying to set
Olympic speed records for self-presentations. The answers to the questions will vary
considerably from classroom to classroom, and we do not have normative data. Here are
a few representative answers to the three questions:
1. The most frequent human relations skill mentioned could refer to being well
liked.
2. Exaggeration is quite likely because so many people think that they are gifted
with respect to human relations skills.
3. The omissions are likely to include advanced human relations skills such as
resolving conflict, negotiation, and cross-cultural competence.
Applying Human Relations Exercise 1-2: My Human Relations Journal
Maintaining a human relations journal has an enormous potential payback. Recording
critical incidents about human relations success and failure has a mysterious way of
sensitizing a person to the need for change. Also, the fact of being measured—even by
oneself—has a way of elevating performance. Many students will be familiar with
preparing a journal from their elementary school days. Yet, the journal approach,
especially in the area of leadership development, has gained in popularity.
Another reason we like the journal approach is that it highlights the importance of
enhancing human relations skills in everyday settings, such as interacting with customer
contact workers and strangers in bus terminals and airports.
The act of graphing progress in human relations skills works well for systematically-
minded and quantitatively-minded students. The input may be subjective, yet the output
is an objective-appearing graph.
Human Relations Case Study 1.1: Amanda, the Rejected Job Candidate
The case about Amanda, the job candidate who displays poor human relations skills, is
potentially important because it points to a widespread problem. A couple of Amanda’s
errors may seem laughable, but they are frequent.
1.11 What evidence do you see from the information presented that Amanda has poor
people (human relations) skills?
Amanda commits several human relations errors during the interview. She
accepts replies to a text message; she admits to not wanting to interact with
coworkers; she asks harshly, “What do you want from me?”; she wears a sports
1.12. Why should the interviewing manager at Noble Properties care if a website
developer has good human relations skills?
1.13. What advice might you offer Amanda to increase her chances of becoming more
successful during an interview for the position of website developer?
The general advice would be to study carefully information about presenting
Human Relations Case Study 1.2: Calvin Struggles to Balance His Life
This case illustrates that both positive and negative events on the job can influence a
person’s interpersonal relationships at home.
1.14 What does this case illustrate about the relationship between work and personal
life?
1.15 What might Calvin do to soften the impact his professional life has on his
personal life?
1.16 What role might Ashley play in helping Calvin with his struggle?
To play a constructive role in helping Calvin with his struggle, Ashely would
relate positively to the family.
Human Relations Role Plays
For our introductory role plays, students will have to rely heavily on common sense and
intuition. For role plays in later chapters, students will probably need urging to apply
human relations principles and techniques acquired in the course rather than rely
exclusively on common sense and intuition.
Scenario 1: Kindness at the Building Inspection Office
Here is an opportunity for the students who play Beverly to practice diplomacy and
tact—a traditional skill that has elevated in importance in recent years because so many
people are undiplomatic and tactless.
Scenario 2: Having a Conversation about Work and Family Life
Here is an opportunity to practice one of the most important of all human relations
skills—having a constructive discussion with another person about a conflict. Ashley is
in good shape to help Calvin because he says he wants to minimize his work problems
having a negative impact on his home life. See if Ashely is willing to listen before
jumping in with suggestions.
Class Activity: The Unique People
Then idea of understanding the uniqueness of others is a basic activity in one way or
another in courses in both human relations and organizational behavior. The exercise
presented here is more systematic than many others, and gives students a framework for
understanding what is unique about others.
ADDITIONAL CLASS ACTIVITY
A fun class activity to illustrate scientific management and the human relations
movement is to divide the class into teams of three to four students. Assign each team a
task such as
1. Reorganizing the tables into a u-shape or other shape
2. Moving the chairs to fit at the new table shape
3. Passing out papers to each of the places at the tables
4. Passing out paper clips to each of the places at the tables
5. Passing out markers to each of the places at the tables
6. Choose your own tasks
Also assign one student to observe the work of each team, and a group of three to
four students to observe the overall work of all of the teams. Emphasize the importance
of maintaining safety throughout the activity.
Round 1: Have each team try to complete their task
• Have each team’s individual observer quietly take notes on his or her work,
paying close attention to things he or she could do more efficiently
• Team observers should also time their team to see how long it takes to complete
their task
• Overall observers can just observe at this time
Round 2: Put everything back the way it was before round one
• Before beginning round two, have the individual team observers discuss their
observations with their team, and tell their team members how they can complete
their task more quickly in this round
• Then have each team redo their tasks, trying to do them in less time than they did
in round one
• Team observers should time their team
• They should also note any areas for improvement
• Overall observers should note how much time the project takes overall
• Overall observers should also note ways the teams could do things more
efficiently so the overall time would be less (Such as having one team do their
work first if they have all being doing it at the same time, or having all teams do
their work at the same time if they have been taking turns)
Round 3: Put everything back the way it was before rounds one and two
• Before beginning round three, have the overall observers discuss their
observations with the team observers, and together the observers should come up
with ways the team members can complete their tasks more quickly in this round
• Have the team observers go back and tell their team members what they should do
to complete their tasks more quickly in this round
• Then have the team redo their tasks in an attempt to beat their times from rounds
one and two
• Team observers should note times and opportunities for improvement
• Overall observers should also note the overall time and opportunities for
improvement
Round 4: Put everything back the way it was before beginning the activity
• Before beginning round four, have a class discussion with team members, team
observers, and overall observers to come up with ways to complete the entire
activity more quickly and efficiently
• Upon reaching agreement, have the teams complete their tasks again, attempting
to do them in the least amount of time so far
• Have team observers time their individual teams, and overall observers note the
overall time
Conduct a discussion on the activity. Points of interest could be:
• When the activity was completed the most productively and efficiently
• When the “workers” felt the best about doing the work
• Feedback
• Developmental opportunities
SEMESTER OR QUARTER ASSIGNMENT
TEAM TEACH – TO – LEARN PRESENTATION
Teams are responsible for teaching the class about a topic regarding human relations (use
text Subject Index for topics). Teams will consist of 3 – 4 members who must share
personal contact information since I am not legally able to provide that data. Team
members will prepare a class presentation of 30 – 45 minutes minimum. It may be longer
with prior approval.
Research is required and possible resources include but are not limited to the Internet,
books, articles, interviews, experiments, etc. Presentations are intended to supplement
the material in the text. Videos, guest speakers, class exercises, etc. may be part of the
presentation. The more creative, and interactive the presentation, the better it will be.
Note: if guest speakers are part of the presentation, arrangements including
directions/greeter must be made for the convenience of the guest. Teams may involve
class members in their teaching. Teams may include assessments such as games or other
assessment activities.
At the beginning of your presentation, you must submit the typed and signed team
rules, a combined bibliography, and a scored Teach – to – Learn Rubric. Teams will earn
a maximum of 56 points for this project (max. 56 points x the number of members = total
points for presentation). Teammates decide among themselves how to divide the total
points and then inform the instructor for grading purposes.
Student cannot substitute other assignments in lieu of the Team Teach – to – Learn
assignment. Therefore, if a teammate is ejected from a group for not following the team
rules, he/she is not allowed to make up those points individually.
STUDENT HANDOUTS
Suggestions for Preparing Teach – to – Learn Team Presentation
Review choice of topic
Chunk topic into a manageable topic of study
Assign parts of the project to members
Set deadlines for individual work
Set timeline for project
Determine types of resources to be used in research and how they will be compiled to
turn in to instructor
Determine what visuals and other presentation materials will be used
Determine who will develop visuals and other presentation materials
Have technology resources ready and checked for compatibility, etc.
Determine flow of the presentation.
What are the expectations of participants in order that they receive maximum
individual credit?
What assistance is needed from the instructor?
Develop Team Roles and Corresponding Team Rules
Think about all the roles team members need to play to be a team and develop a team
presentation. Some of these roles might focus on:
Procedural Roles
• Schedule Keeper
• Assignment Recorder
• Communicator (e-mail or call team members when needed)
• Team Facilitator
Task-Related Roles
• Information Collector (collect information for team presentation/visual aides, etc.)
• Analyzer (analyze collected information)
• Writer
• Proofreader
Maintenance Roles
• Supporters (encourages other team members, show appreciation for good work,
etc.)
• Harmonizer (intervene in group discussions when conflict is threatening to harm
group cohesiveness)
One popular description of the roles people play in teams is by Meridith Belbin. He
recognized that everyone responds differently to being in a team situation. These roles are
described in Chapter 12 of this text. Read through the roles and think about your own
strengths. What skills do you have to offer the team?
Team Rules
You are required to develop and submit your own list of team rules prior to the beginning
of your presentation. Be realistic and practical in developing your list of team rules.
Each team may have a completely different list of rules based on the team’s skills and
perceptions of the project. There is no correct list of rules. Everyone must sign that they
agree to abide by the team rules.
Important: A typed list of Team Rules must be submitted with combined, typed
bibliography at the time of your presentation.
Psychology
Team Teach – to – Learn Presentation Rubric
Name of Team
Team
Score
Instructor’s
Score
Section A
Knowledge of Subject (Research is apparent)
11-15 pts.
Information presented was plentiful, accurate, relevant, timely, and came from
several credible sources
5-10 pts.
Some information met criteria, but some did not; or there was not enough
information; or information came from few sources
1-4 pts.
Knowledge of subject was very limited
Section B
Well Developed Thoughts & Critical Thinking
7-10 pts.
Team used their own words, thoughts and examples in the presentation
4-6 pts.
Team used some of their own words, thought and examples
1-3 pts.
Most material used was directly from sources with little interpretation
Section C
Packaged Well
7-10 pts.
Team used various teaching methods such as visuals, activities, etc., including at
least one activity that engaged the class
4-6 pts.
Team used few teaching methods, but they did have an activity that engaged the
class
1-3 pts.
Team used only lecture to teach
Section D
Organization & Time Usage
5 pts.
Very effective use of time and well organized presentation
3-4 pts.
Fairly effective use of time and pretty well organized
1-2 pts.
Lacked preparation or organization
Section E
Team Collaboration
5 pts.
The team worked well together and everyone was involved in the presentation
3-4 pts.
Not all members were involved (does not refer to members cast out of team for
violating team rules), or presentation lacked coordination between members
1-2 pts.
Presentation was disjointed and little coordination between members was evident
Section F
Creativity/Visual Elements
3 pts.
Presentation was unique or creative with effective visual elements
2 pts.
Presentation contained a creative aspect with limited visual elements
1 pt.
Little creativity was apparent with minor or no visual element
Section G
Outline & List of Sources
2 pts.
Typed combined list submitted at beginning of presentation
1 pt.
Typed combined list submitted after presentation during the class session
Section H
Team Rules & Team Scored Grading Rubric
4(2 pts. ea.)
Submitted at beginning of presentation
2 (1 pt. ea)
Submitted at after presentation during the class session
Total Pts.
Maximum 56 Points
Team Teach – to Learn Presentation Point Distribution by Members
Your team earned points x (number of teammates) = points
Team Member Points Notes
_________________________________ _____________ ________________________________
_________________________________ _____________ ________________________________
_________________________________ _____________ ________________________________
_________________________________ _____________ ________________________________
_________________________________ _____________ ________________________________
In addition to your Team Rules, listed below are some questions you may want to
consider when distributing points among team members. Did the team member:
A. Comply with team rules?
B. Communicate positively and openly with other team members?
C. Work effectively with the team in planning, organizing, and completing tasks?
D. Keep team discussions and efforts on task?
E. Complete an equal share of the writing and other team work?
D. Come prepared for all team meetings
SEMESTER OR QUARTER ASSIGNMENT
FINAL PROJECT
The topic you choose for your final project may be related to any of the topics we discuss
in class (see text for ideas) or any additional topics you feel are relevant to human
relations or psychology. In order to get credit for the project, the topic you choose must
be addressed by you in terms of its human relations relevance. The project must
supplement the information in the text book (meaning it may not come from the text
book).
The format you choose to present your topic is entirely up to you. For example, you
may choose to:
• do a research paper (5-7 pages, complete with bibliography and footnotes)
• do a lecture
• host or organize and be part of a panel discussion
• do a skit or class activity
• design an original game (complete with rules)
• write an informational pamphlet
• Feel free to come up with your own creative ideas.
Another option for this project is to perform at least 12 hours of volunteer work at a
community agency of your choice. If you choose volunteer work for your project, you
will submit a 2-3 page paper summarizing the following:
• The name of the agency where you volunteered
• The name, address, and phone number of a contact person at that agency
• A description of the work you did
• Relevance of your volunteer work to human relations or psychology
• Signed “Volunteer Report Form”
The 12 hours of volunteer work must be completed during the class dates.
All projects must list any sources used for information. An oral class presentation will be
the final step in completing your project so that everyone can gain from your work or
experience.
Volunteer Report Form
Name of Student _________________________________________________
Student Phone
Number _________________________________________________
Student E-mail _________________________________________________
Name of Course _________________________________________________
Volunteer Site _________________________________________________
Site Address _________________________________________________
Site Phone Number _________________________________________________
Site E-mail _________________________________________________
Site Contact _________________________________________________
Volunteer Activities _________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Student Signature _____________________________________ Date __________
Site Contact Signature ____________________________________ Date ___________
Approval by Instructor: Signature ___________________________ Date ___________
********************************************************************
12 Hours of Volunteer Time Completed as (Date) ______________________________
Site Contact Signature __________________________________ Date ____________
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Grade/Comments:________________________________________________________
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