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The Analysis
1. Suggest that The Scorch have exclusive use of the facilities
Monday through Wednesday (right before publication when the
facilities are needed most). Have The Crucible use the facilities
Thursday and Friday (mostly "down time" for The Scorch staff).
2. Ask the college administration to hire a work study student
to operate the machine (trained, of course, and paid for by
government money). Then if anything happens to the
machine, neither group will blame the other. Chances of
equipment damage are reduced because only one person runs
the machine. A second work study student can also be
trained as a backup or to share the work load. The fewer the people
handling the machine the less likely Murphy’s Law will bite.
CASE STUDY #TWO
The Problem
A primary school teacher (3rd grade) has had some discipline problems in the classroom.
Several students have been chronically disruptive. The teacher has disciplined them in
various ways (e.g., verbal reprimand, extra homework, detention after school) with little
success. The students' clownish antics threaten to turn the classroom into a zoo.
As a "last resort" the teacher sends the disruptive students to the principal whose policy is
that a little corporal punishment (spanking) will solve most problems of disruption ("Spare
the rod, spoil the child"). The teacher is uncomfortable with this policy, abhorring violence,
but desperate people do desperate things. The spankings temporarily reduce the disruption
but it is beginning to increase once again. To make matters worse, now the entire class
sees the teacher as an insensitive ogre. In addition, some parents have verbally accosted the
teacher over the phone for sending their kids to the principal to be spanked. When the
teacher retorts that the parents should instruct their children to "toe the line," the teacher is
told to "lighten up" and learn to accept a little "harmless playfulness."
The teacher is beginning to lose motivation to continue teaching. The classroom has
become a battlefield and large amounts of time are spent disciplining students. Little
learning is taking place. Parents are upset with the teacher, the students are upset with the
teacher, and the teacher hasn't a clue how to proceed.
All right, you brilliant conflict managers, help this poor beleaguered teacher.
What should the teacher do?
The Analysis
A. The only communication style used by the teacher has been
competing/forcing. As is typical of such a strategy, competition breeds
conflict and exacerbates the disruption. The teacher has turned
discipline problems into a contest of wills.
B. Confrontation needs to take place between the teacher and the disruptive students'
parents. The parents, if made to see that their children are preventing learning from
taking place in the classroom by their disruptive antics, may lend assistance to
the teacher. If not, nothing is lost. Confrontation also needs to occur between the
teacher and the disruptive students. A clear and consistently applied discipline plan
should be instituted, one that the students help formulate. Experts on "assertive
discipline" argue that when students participate in constructing a discipline plan
they see it as their own and are more willing to have it enforced by the teacher than
if it is imposed on them by the authority figure. In the spirit of principled
negotiation, such a plan should be pursued as a problem to be solved (i.e.,
disruption), but not as an opportunity to humiliate individual students
(separate the people from the problem).
C. There needs to be greater emphasis on positive reinforcement of admirable behavior
than has taken place. In addition, the class should be made more interesting. In
terms of principled negotiation strategies, the interest of the teacher is to make
order out of what has become chaos. The interest of the students is almost
assuredly to have a more exciting, stimulating class. Boredom breeds discontent
and disruption. Emphasizing the positive accomplishments of students and
striving to make the class more exciting would help meet the
interests of both parties in this conflict.
IV. Excerpt from the movie, Ordinary People
A. Show clip about mid-film where Conrad (Timothy Hutton) and his dad
(Donald Sutherland) bring a Christmas tree home. Conrad’s mom (Mary
Tyler Moore) enters the living room while Conrad and his dad trim the
tree. End the segment when Conrad’s dad leaves Conrad’s room after a
terrible fight has ensued. Give class brief background on what has
occurred prior to this scene, namely, that Buck, Conrad’s older brother
died in a sail boating accident. Conrad blames himself, even though he
did nothing wrong but managed to survive during a storm that
swamped their sailboat. Conrad is deeply disturbed by his older brother’s
death. He requires psychiatric therapy after trying to kill himself.
B. This is a powerful, disturbing excerpt that illustrates well several
communication styles of conflict management and their likely results.
Most students have never seen this movie so it will be a fresh
experience.
1. Conrad’s mom confronts Conrad about quitting the swim team, but
she doesn’t confront as a collaboration (descriptive first-person
singular language). Instead, she seems to be attacking him
(competitive/power-forcing).
2. At first, Conrad plays dumb, trying to avoid an ugly conflict with his
mother. It doesn’t work. Conrad’s dad, ever the peacemaker, tries to
smooth things, but ends up looking like an ineffectual referee
separating mother and son from coming to blows. Conrad explodes at
his mother unleashing vitriol and obscenities. His mom strikes back.
Power-forcing is the primary style used at this point.
3. Conrad retreats to his bedroom. Conrad’s dad asks his wife to join
him to talk to their son about what had just transpired. She refuses,
attacking him as over-protective. Conrad’s dad explodes at his wife,
then tries to smooth things (“Let’s not fight.”). Too late. Power-
forcing styles have corroded the atmosphere making smoothing
ineffectual. Conrad’s dad sits down with Conrad, who is lying on his
bed with his face covered. Conrad’s dad confronts his son in an
empathic, collaborating way. Conrad finally opens up (“Can’t you see
she hates me?”). Conrad’s dad contradicts his son (“She doesn’t hate
you, Conrad”). He seems to take sides from Conrad’s perspective
(competing style) so he clams up once again.
V. Excerpt from the movie, Saving Private Ryan
A. Following a discussion of anger management, show a 5-minute clip
from the movie Saving Private Ryan. The clip is approximately 70
minutes into the film. Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) has just released a
German hostage. His unit is deeply divided about this action. One of his
platoon members (Edward Burns) decides to desert. A sergeant (Tom
Sizemore) pulls out a weapon and threatens to kill the private if he
leaves. Until this moment, Captain Miller’s unit has known nothing
about their leader’s personal life. In fact, they’ve become so obsessed with
finding out about Miller that they’ve started a betting pool to see who
can get him to talk about himself. Begin the clip when the private says,
“I’m done with this mission.” End with the team digging a grave at
sunset. A scene change immediately follows.
B. This scene depicts an extremely intense situation that is masterfully
diffused by Captain Miller. As men under his command erupt into rage,
he remains completely calm (asymmetrical). He diverts attention from
the increasingly chaotic situation by asking “What is the pool up to
now?” He shifts the focus away from the almost unbearable and
potentially disastrous pickle his troops have created for themselves.
Captain Miller validates the private’s frustration by recognizing that they
are on a mission that seems to make no sense. By talking about who he
is and how he feels about being in the war, Miller validates what all of
the men are feeling.
VI. Excerpt from movie, The Negotiator.
A. Choose any scene in movie where either Samuel L. Jackson (beginning
of movie) or Kevin Spacey (later in movie) act as negotiators trying to
defuse a hostage situation.
B. Each negotiator works hard at being asymmetrical, trying to divert
attention, validating, probing, and problem solving. Shows that we can
train ourselves to respond to the anger of others without also “losing it.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Technology and Virtual Groups
I. Theory and practice
A. Discuss media richness and media synchronicity theories with class.
B. Break class into 4 groups of about equal size.
C. Ask each group to choose a single, specific group for analysis (jury, work group,
etc.). Apply both theories to a face-to-face and to a virtual version of the chosen
group. Consider pros and cons of each version of the chosen group using the two
theories for analysis.
D. Report group conclusions to the entire class. Make a list on the board of group
conclusions.
II. Text-messaging: Pros and cons
A. Break class into groups of 5-7 members.
B. Have each group discuss the advantages and disadvantages of text-messaging
communication.
C. What difficulties emerge when more than two individuals are involved in a text-
message conversation?
D. Report group conclusions to entire class and discuss.
III. Text-messaging, audio conferencing, and videoconferencing activity
A. Discuss text material on text-messaging, audioconferencing, and
videoconferencing. with the class.
B. Break class into groups of 5-7 members. Have each group discuss individual
experiences that either support or contradict the research findings about these
three versions of virtual groups.
IV. The inherent limitations of technology demonstration/discussion
A. Purpose: To explain the bias of technologies and how electronic
technologies have an inherent bias for speed of information transmission,
contributing to information overload.
B. Time required: Approximately 5-10 minutes plus discussion
C. Instructions
1. Bring a box to class filled with these items: a hammer, a screwdriver,
a fork, a pencil, a pocket calculator, a pager, a Palm Pilot (if available),
and a cell phone (borrow one from a student if necessary–someone surely
has one).
2. As you show each item to the class, ask what function it has (i.e., a
hammer is meant to do what? Pound nails.)
3. Ask if it can do other things. Ask if it can be used for communication
(typically participants will say “tap out Morse code”). Ask if a
hammer is an efficient communication technology. Why or why not?
4. Do the same with each item shown to the class (a pager, for example,
can leave simple messages such as “911” to indicate urgent message,
but it is a relatively simple beeper, a signaling device). Ask if two or
more of the items could be used in combination to communicate
messages (e.g., the hammer and screwdriver could chisel a message
on stone). Again ask if this would be an efficient and effective way to
communicate messages.
D. Processing
1. Every technology, simple (hammer) or complex (Palm Pilot) has a
technological bias. Hammers are meant to pound nails, screwdrivers
are meant to twist screws, a pencil is made to write, a pager is meant
to signal, a cell phone is meant for verbal communication, etc.). Each
technology, or tool, can do other things but not very well. Thus, each
technology has an inherent bias–it is preordained for a specific
function.
2. Electronic technology (cell phones, faxes, ATMs, television and
computers in particular) have a bias for SPEED–instant transmission
of information and data. Transmitting enormous amounts of
information and data at the speed of light is what computers do best.
3. Electronic technologies have increased the pace of life (see Closer
Look, “Technology and the Bias of Speed,” p. 216). We are more
impatient waiting even a nanosecond for a response from
machines or from people. Gathering data (information overload)
often becomes more important than allocating time for reflection,
critical analysis of the information, even for sorting through the
gigaheaps of information, much of it useless and irrelevant.
4. You can’t expect computers to go slower. That contradicts their
technological bias. You could merely tap a nail with a hammer, but it
would make the hammer a relatively ineffective tool in most
instances. There’s no “putting the Genie back in the bottle.” Group
discussion may seem interminably slow by today’s fast-paced
standards. Nevertheless, careful, thoughtful consideration of
problems and their solutions is critical. Learning to cope with
information overload is a vital task for groups.
5. So with this inherent bias of each technology, what complications does
this make for working in all types of virtual groups? Discuss with class
and list the complications on the board.
V. Show TED talk by Sherry Turkle on the effects of social media on
Communication, available at:
http://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_together?language=en
CASE STUDY #TWO
The Problem
A primary school teacher (3rd grade) has had some discipline problems in the classroom.
Several students have been chronically disruptive. The teacher has disciplined them in
various ways (e.g., verbal reprimand, extra homework, detention after school) with little
success. The students' clownish antics threaten to turn the classroom into a zoo.
As a "last resort" the teacher sends the disruptive students to the principal whose policy is
that a little corporal punishment (spanking) will solve most problems of disruption ("Spare
the rod, spoil the child"). The teacher is uncomfortable with this policy, abhorring violence,
but desperate people do desperate things. The spankings temporarily reduce the disruption
but it is beginning to increase once again. To make matters worse, now the entire class
sees the teacher as an insensitive ogre. In addition, some parents have verbally accosted the
teacher over the phone for sending their kids to the principal to be spanked. When the
teacher retorts that the parents should instruct their children to "toe the line," the teacher is
told to "lighten up" and learn to accept a little "harmless playfulness."
The teacher is beginning to lose motivation to continue teaching. The classroom has
become a battlefield and large amounts of time are spent disciplining students. Little
learning is taking place. Parents are upset with the teacher, the students are upset with the
teacher, and the teacher hasn't a clue how to proceed.
All right, you brilliant conflict managers, help this poor beleaguered teacher.
What should the teacher do?
The Analysis
A. The only communication style used by the teacher has been
competing/forcing. As is typical of such a strategy, competition breeds
conflict and exacerbates the disruption. The teacher has turned
discipline problems into a contest of wills.
B. Confrontation needs to take place between the teacher and the disruptive students'
parents. The parents, if made to see that their children are preventing learning from
taking place in the classroom by their disruptive antics, may lend assistance to
the teacher. If not, nothing is lost. Confrontation also needs to occur between the
teacher and the disruptive students. A clear and consistently applied discipline plan
should be instituted, one that the students help formulate. Experts on "assertive
discipline" argue that when students participate in constructing a discipline plan
they see it as their own and are more willing to have it enforced by the teacher than
if it is imposed on them by the authority figure. In the spirit of principled
negotiation, such a plan should be pursued as a problem to be solved (i.e.,
disruption), but not as an opportunity to humiliate individual students
(separate the people from the problem).
C. There needs to be greater emphasis on positive reinforcement of admirable behavior
than has taken place. In addition, the class should be made more interesting. In
terms of principled negotiation strategies, the interest of the teacher is to make
order out of what has become chaos. The interest of the students is almost
assuredly to have a more exciting, stimulating class. Boredom breeds discontent
and disruption. Emphasizing the positive accomplishments of students and
striving to make the class more exciting would help meet the
interests of both parties in this conflict.
IV. Excerpt from the movie, Ordinary People
A. Show clip about mid-film where Conrad (Timothy Hutton) and his dad
(Donald Sutherland) bring a Christmas tree home. Conrad’s mom (Mary
Tyler Moore) enters the living room while Conrad and his dad trim the
tree. End the segment when Conrad’s dad leaves Conrad’s room after a
terrible fight has ensued. Give class brief background on what has
occurred prior to this scene, namely, that Buck, Conrad’s older brother
died in a sail boating accident. Conrad blames himself, even though he
did nothing wrong but managed to survive during a storm that
swamped their sailboat. Conrad is deeply disturbed by his older brother’s
death. He requires psychiatric therapy after trying to kill himself.
B. This is a powerful, disturbing excerpt that illustrates well several
communication styles of conflict management and their likely results.
Most students have never seen this movie so it will be a fresh
experience.
1. Conrad’s mom confronts Conrad about quitting the swim team, but
she doesn’t confront as a collaboration (descriptive first-person
singular language). Instead, she seems to be attacking him
(competitive/power-forcing).
2. At first, Conrad plays dumb, trying to avoid an ugly conflict with his
mother. It doesn’t work. Conrad’s dad, ever the peacemaker, tries to
smooth things, but ends up looking like an ineffectual referee
separating mother and son from coming to blows. Conrad explodes at
his mother unleashing vitriol and obscenities. His mom strikes back.
Power-forcing is the primary style used at this point.
3. Conrad retreats to his bedroom. Conrad’s dad asks his wife to join
him to talk to their son about what had just transpired. She refuses,
attacking him as over-protective. Conrad’s dad explodes at his wife,
then tries to smooth things (“Let’s not fight.”). Too late. Power-
forcing styles have corroded the atmosphere making smoothing
ineffectual. Conrad’s dad sits down with Conrad, who is lying on his
bed with his face covered. Conrad’s dad confronts his son in an
empathic, collaborating way. Conrad finally opens up (“Can’t you see
she hates me?”). Conrad’s dad contradicts his son (“She doesn’t hate
you, Conrad”). He seems to take sides from Conrad’s perspective
(competing style) so he clams up once again.
V. Excerpt from the movie, Saving Private Ryan
A. Following a discussion of anger management, show a 5-minute clip
from the movie Saving Private Ryan. The clip is approximately 70
minutes into the film. Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) has just released a
German hostage. His unit is deeply divided about this action. One of his
platoon members (Edward Burns) decides to desert. A sergeant (Tom
Sizemore) pulls out a weapon and threatens to kill the private if he
leaves. Until this moment, Captain Miller’s unit has known nothing
about their leader’s personal life. In fact, they’ve become so obsessed with
finding out about Miller that they’ve started a betting pool to see who
can get him to talk about himself. Begin the clip when the private says,
“I’m done with this mission.” End with the team digging a grave at
sunset. A scene change immediately follows.
B. This scene depicts an extremely intense situation that is masterfully
diffused by Captain Miller. As men under his command erupt into rage,
he remains completely calm (asymmetrical). He diverts attention from
the increasingly chaotic situation by asking “What is the pool up to
now?” He shifts the focus away from the almost unbearable and
potentially disastrous pickle his troops have created for themselves.
Captain Miller validates the private’s frustration by recognizing that they
are on a mission that seems to make no sense. By talking about who he
is and how he feels about being in the war, Miller validates what all of
the men are feeling.
VI. Excerpt from movie, The Negotiator.
A. Choose any scene in movie where either Samuel L. Jackson (beginning
of movie) or Kevin Spacey (later in movie) act as negotiators trying to
defuse a hostage situation.
B. Each negotiator works hard at being asymmetrical, trying to divert
attention, validating, probing, and problem solving. Shows that we can
train ourselves to respond to the anger of others without also “losing it.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Technology and Virtual Groups
I. Theory and practice
A. Discuss media richness and media synchronicity theories with class.
B. Break class into 4 groups of about equal size.
C. Ask each group to choose a single, specific group for analysis (jury, work group,
etc.). Apply both theories to a face-to-face and to a virtual version of the chosen
group. Consider pros and cons of each version of the chosen group using the two
theories for analysis.
D. Report group conclusions to the entire class. Make a list on the board of group
conclusions.
II. Text-messaging: Pros and cons
A. Break class into groups of 5-7 members.
B. Have each group discuss the advantages and disadvantages of text-messaging
communication.
C. What difficulties emerge when more than two individuals are involved in a text-
message conversation?
D. Report group conclusions to entire class and discuss.
III. Text-messaging, audio conferencing, and videoconferencing activity
A. Discuss text material on text-messaging, audioconferencing, and
videoconferencing. with the class.
B. Break class into groups of 5-7 members. Have each group discuss individual
experiences that either support or contradict the research findings about these
three versions of virtual groups.
IV. The inherent limitations of technology demonstration/discussion
A. Purpose: To explain the bias of technologies and how electronic
technologies have an inherent bias for speed of information transmission,
contributing to information overload.
B. Time required: Approximately 5-10 minutes plus discussion
C. Instructions
1. Bring a box to class filled with these items: a hammer, a screwdriver,
a fork, a pencil, a pocket calculator, a pager, a Palm Pilot (if available),
and a cell phone (borrow one from a student if necessary–someone surely
has one).
2. As you show each item to the class, ask what function it has (i.e., a
hammer is meant to do what? Pound nails.)
3. Ask if it can do other things. Ask if it can be used for communication
(typically participants will say “tap out Morse code”). Ask if a
hammer is an efficient communication technology. Why or why not?
4. Do the same with each item shown to the class (a pager, for example,
can leave simple messages such as “911” to indicate urgent message,
but it is a relatively simple beeper, a signaling device). Ask if two or
more of the items could be used in combination to communicate
messages (e.g., the hammer and screwdriver could chisel a message
on stone). Again ask if this would be an efficient and effective way to
communicate messages.
D. Processing
1. Every technology, simple (hammer) or complex (Palm Pilot) has a
technological bias. Hammers are meant to pound nails, screwdrivers
are meant to twist screws, a pencil is made to write, a pager is meant
to signal, a cell phone is meant for verbal communication, etc.). Each
technology, or tool, can do other things but not very well. Thus, each
technology has an inherent bias–it is preordained for a specific
function.
2. Electronic technology (cell phones, faxes, ATMs, television and
computers in particular) have a bias for SPEED–instant transmission
of information and data. Transmitting enormous amounts of
information and data at the speed of light is what computers do best.
3. Electronic technologies have increased the pace of life (see Closer
Look, “Technology and the Bias of Speed,” p. 216). We are more
impatient waiting even a nanosecond for a response from
machines or from people. Gathering data (information overload)
often becomes more important than allocating time for reflection,
critical analysis of the information, even for sorting through the
gigaheaps of information, much of it useless and irrelevant.
4. You can’t expect computers to go slower. That contradicts their
technological bias. You could merely tap a nail with a hammer, but it
would make the hammer a relatively ineffective tool in most
instances. There’s no “putting the Genie back in the bottle.” Group
discussion may seem interminably slow by today’s fast-paced
standards. Nevertheless, careful, thoughtful consideration of
problems and their solutions is critical. Learning to cope with
information overload is a vital task for groups.
5. So with this inherent bias of each technology, what complications does
this make for working in all types of virtual groups? Discuss with class
and list the complications on the board.
V. Show TED talk by Sherry Turkle on the effects of social media on
Communication, available at:
http://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_together?language=en
