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CHAPTER 2
Zooming In Critical Thinking Answers
What is meant by the term culture fit, and why is it beneficial for both
employer and employee?
A company culture, or its personality, includes its corporate values, ethics,
mission, and work environment. For employers, a good culture fit is an
What individual behaviors lead to effective teams?
Highly effective team members are committed to a common outcome and attain it by adopting a
What factors unique to virtual teams contribute to their success?
Virtual teams must coordinate their work and complete their tasks across time and geographic zones.
Ethics Check Answers
Members Riding Team’s Coattails
Nonparticipating team members tend to be the most common complaint among students about teamwork.
Establish clear ground rules for dealing with flaky group members, but leave the handling of such
situations to the team members themselves, so that they learn how to deal with difficult participants. A
gradual approach should be encouraged ranging from warnings to action that is more serious. For
instance, a smart policy is to allow the team to “fire” a noncompliant member who then has to work on
another project by himself or herself. Gauging the state of the collaboration by asking students to fill out a
confidential teamwork evaluation form is also helpful. Finally, the larger the student team, the greater the
likelihood that someone will ride on the group’s coattails. Hence, it’s a good idea to limit team size to three
or four members. From the beginning, emphasize to students who form teams of three, for example, that
each person’s responsibility for the final document is 300 percent, not 33.3 percent.
Unresponsive Team Member
Students should enjoy this discussion because it is a common problem when students work as part of a
small team in a classroom to complete a problem. Have them brainstorm about this problem in small
groups and report their conclusions to the entire class. Having this discussion early in the semester can
help to avoid similar problems during the remainder of the semester.
Impressing Your Instructor
Even if told repeatedly, students often don’t make the connection between behavioral guidelines they read
about in their textbooks and their own practice in the classroom. They also tend to forget that they are
being watched and evaluated as they will be in the workplace. Although the classroom is a training ground
simulating the workplace, it ought to be taken seriously as a professional environment. Naturally, this
means that you need to lead by example.
Critical Thinking Answers
1. Have you ever been surprised at how you came across to others or misread another person’s
feelings?
It is very likely and, indeed, human that students have experienced moments when they had no idea they
ruffled someone’s feathers, came across in a way that didn’t mesh with their self-image, or felt wronged
because someone else misread their intentions. Andrea Kay, author and career expert, advises workers
2. Evaluate the humorous analogy between the murder of a famous Roman emperor and the
deadening effect of meetings.
The author of this article critical of meetings uses humor to mock meetings, which are almost universally
disliked. He opens his article with this rather incongruous comparison between a momentous historical
3. Why do executives and managers spend more time listening than do workers?
Before they can make decisions, executives must listen to feedback from supervisors, specialists, and
others. They also listen to their bosses—boards of directors and owners—and they might also need to
4. What arguments could you give for or against the idea that body language is a science with
principles that specialists can interpret accurately?
Although few would argue that body language does send silent messages, no scientific principles have
evolved explaining exactly what those messages mean. Most researchers agree that nonverbal cues
contain much information, but specifically what those cues mean is unknown. Authors Hickson and Stacks
5. Ethical Issue: Should you (a) keep your mouth shut, (b) try to persuade the team to adopt Plan
A, (c) explain why you believe Plan A is a better plan, (d) tell the VP and all present that Plan B
is not your idea, or (e) discuss one or two points you can agree on in Plan B?
Here is the answer provided in the Ferguson book Professional Ethics and Etiquette, 2nd edition: Option
(e) is the answer most acceptable to professionals with team experience: As a team player, you are
Zooming In Solution
Your Turn: Applying Your Skills at Lyft
Student responses should include the components that make face-to-face meetings productive:
determining a purpose, selecting participants, using a digital calendar app for scheduling, and distributing
an agenda and other information. As for the element of fun, students might mention having hot pink drinks
or snacks, wearing various Lyft branded items, or bringing in a pet. You may be surprised at how creative
your students are!
Activities Solutions
2.1 Reaching Group Decisions: Majority, Consensus, or What?
More than one strategy may be appropriate for these situations. Following are recommendations:
a. Minority (committee decision)
b. Majority would work, but consensus would be better.
2.2 Resolving Workplace Conflicts: Apply a Plan
Students should apply the following six-step procedure: (1) Listen to each person's position. (2)
Understand the other's point of view. Ask questions and paraphrase what you hear. (3) Show a concern
2.3 Soft Skills: Personal Strengths Inventory
Your students should submit a list of four categories of soft skills. Encourage them to frame statements
that will be useful when they prepare a résumé later in the course. For example, under Thinking and
2.4 Soft Skills: Which Competencies Are Most Desirable?
Students should find a range of soft skills mentioned, including oral and written communication skills and
team skills. But they will also find a combination of soft skills and character traits such as must be able to
2.5 Meeting Malaise: Beyond Contempt
Answers will vary, but most will support the advice provided in this book. John Hollon admits that
“structured, tightly focused meetings with a clear purpose and goal can serve a business purpose.” [2007,
November 5. Meeting malaise. Workforce Management, p. 58.] He acknowledges that meetings can be “a
2.6 Stand-Up Meetings: Keeping Business Meetings Short and Sweet
Answers will vary. Students may come up with creative methods to ensure turn-taking and participation by
instituting a system of sanctions and rewards. They may realize that not all companies or industries may
be able or willing to hold supershort daily stand-up meetings. Rather, this type of extremely short meeting
2.7 Virtual Meetings: Improving Distance Meeting Buy-In
a. Setting a more reasonable start time for the Seattle office would have shown courtesy to the West
Coast participants.
b. Asking participants to log on early may have helped to avoid the delay in starting the meeting.
2.8 Virtual Meetings: Connecting by Skype to Clarify an Order
This simulation should proceed smoothly as long as each participating student has created a Skype
account and downloaded the Skype connection software or app. Students could be asked to create or be
given brief scripts, each defining the individual participant’s role and motivation. This should help them
2.9 Listening: An In-Person or Virtual Social Media Interview
The answers will vary. Students could brainstorm and discuss their interview questions in class or prepare
questions at home. Then they could approach their interviewee in person, by phone, by e-mail, or via
2.10 Nonverbal Communication: Body Language
The body movements do not necessarily mean the same thing when used by different individuals.
member that to a certain degree nonverbal communication can be culture or subculture specific, and
context always plays a major role when interpreting this type of communication. Students may have other
interpretations, but these body movements can be construed to mean the following:
a. Whistling, wringing hands: nervous or fearful
b. Bowed posture, twiddling thumbs: bored
2.11 Nonverbal Communication: Signals Sent by Casual Attire
This activity can be expanded into a research paper topic. A variation on this activity relies on student
2.12 The Silent Language of Tattoos: How Much Self-Expression on the Job?
The wisdom of permanent body adornment aside, most people would probably still agree that it is unwise
to risk rejection when applying for a job simply for the sake of showing off a tattoo. Even young people
may agree that it may be opportune sometimes to conceal tattoos and piercings that can be hidden. The
discussion could be interesting if students manifest strong opinions for openly and proudly wearing their
2.13 Nonverbal Communication Around the World
Students should be able to find a number of gestures and their meanings discussed at various websites.
Here is one example: "The fingertip kiss, in which the tips of the thumb and fingers are kissed and quickly
2.14 Business Etiquette: Breaking the Smartphone Habit in Meetings
a. Short policy statement: In using a smartphone or other wireless device, be professional.
Respect others.
b. More complete policy:
Turn your smartphone off or on vibrate. Keep it off the meeting table.
Don’t look at it during a meeting or conversation.
Don’t respond to a call, e-mail, or text during a meeting or conversation.
[Based on Harr, M., n.d. Smart phone etiquette—How smart are you? Ezinearticles.com.]
Another source suggests three general strategies to minimize disruptions from mobile devices in
meetings:
1. Start at the top. When the most important people in the meeting room put their phones
away, others are inclined to do the same.
[O’Brien Coffey, J. 2011, September. How to manage smartphones at meetings. Executive
Travel Magazine.]
