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Chapter 14: Relationships in the Workplace
Instructor Resources
Objectives
• Describe how workplace relationships compare with other types of interpersonal
relationships.
• Identify tactics for building healthy peer relationships at work.
• Develop strategies for communicating effectively with supervisors and subordinates.
• Identify ways of coping with challenges to workplace relationships.
Discussion Questions
1. What kind of job do you have? If you’re not currently employed, think of a recent job
you had or work you may have done with an organization like a volunteer program or a
religious institution. How would you describe your position in terms of the
organizational hierarchy?
consider bringing in an organizational chart of the college to share with students,
demonstrating the network of workplace relationships among school employees.
2. Let’s consider a couple of restaurants or department stores with which we all have had
experience. From your perspective as a customer, how would you compare these
businesses in terms of the organizational culture?
• Depending on your geographic location, you should be able to select two restaurants
or department stores that are distinctly different from each other in terms of décor,
organizational networks. It is important for newcomers to understand the flow of
information, the nature of the media/channels used, and the network density.
4. How many of you have experienced a formal performance appraisal at work? Describe
what the experience was like in terms of the concepts of supportive and defensive
organizational climates.
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5. According to the text, what kinds of peers exist in the workplace? Which of the
maintenance strategies do you already employ in your peer relationships? What are
actual examples of what you do?
6. Some companies have explicit policies prohibiting workplace romance or dating. What
are the advantages of such policies? What are the drawbacks?
7. What experiences have you had using advocacy to change a workplace practice or
policy? How well do the six principles help you in thinking about how to approach such
communication with your superior?
8. What are the two suggestions for maintaining effective mixed-status relationships? Now,
think of the best boss you’ve worked for. How well did this person practice these
strategies? What else did the person do that led to such a favorable impression?
9. How many of you have worked for a boss whom you would describe as a difficult
personality? Let’s examine the list of workplace bullying that was provided in the
chapter. Would you go as far as to say that this boss that you have in mind was abusive?
What is the dividing line between a difficult personality and a bully?
5. How many of your work peers do you consider friends, rather than simply coworkers?
Would you consider any to be best friends? How do these peer relationships affect your
job satisfaction?
6. Which type(s) of workplace bullying have you encountered in the workplace, and how
did you deal with them? If you do not feel you have ever experienced workplace
bullying, how would you deal with it if you did?
Experiential Activities
Exercise: Qualities of an Effective Boss
Objective: To recognize how roles affect satisfaction with work team dynamics and work
team outcomes.
Directions:
1. Divide the class into small groups of five to six persons.
2. Give each group the Qualities of an Effective Boss Instruction Sheet.
3. Provide one member in each group with the Super-Agreeable Member Instruction Sheet,
give one member in each group the Argumentative Member Instruction Sheet, and provide
the remaining group members with the Member Instruction Sheet. Instruct these students
to play their respective “roles” during group discussion.
4. After 20 minutes of discussion, have groups report their prioritized listings.
5. Debrief with the following questions:
• How would you describe your general satisfaction with your team? How effective
was your communication? What difficulties did you have? What kind of
communication supported your work? What detracted from your work?
• How would you describe your general satisfaction with the prioritized listing?
Does it represent your best thinking as a team? Why or why not?
• What insights does this experience provide you regarding effective work team
relations?
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Qualities of an Effective Boss Instruction Sheet
Your team is responsible for building a prioritized listing of the top five qualities of an
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Super-Agreeable Member Instruction Sheet (do not share with others)
Your role during this discussion is to be super-agreeable. Generate your own list, but avoid
sharing it during the team discussion. Instead, cheerfully agree with everything that others
say. For example, say:
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Member Instruction Sheet
Your role is to offer your ideas thoughtfully during the team discussion, with a brief
justification for each. Work hard to involve others and to get their ideas out on the table. Ask
questions and listen. Be collaborative instead of trying to “lead.”
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Argumentative Member Instruction Sheet (Do not share with others.)
Your role is to be argumentative during the team discussion. Disagree with almost everything
that is proposed. Don’t be loud, mean, or overly aggressive, however. Present your ideas with
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Exercise: Supportive and Defensive Climate Reflection
Objective: To explore attitudes and feelings related to communication climate.
Directions:
1. Provide students with the Supportive and Defensive Climate Reflection Worksheet.
2.. Have students work privately to complete the reflection.
3. Encourage sharing of results in pairs or small groups.
4.. During debriefing, have the pairs or small groups review the six contrasting dimensions of
communication climate:
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Supportive and Defensive Climate Reflection Worksheet
Directions: Identify a work relationship with a coworker or boss. Examine the word list
below and place an M (= me) next to five words that best describe the attitudes and feelings
evident in your behavior toward this person. Next, place an O (= other person) next to five
words that best describe your perception of the attitudes and feelings evident in the other
person’s behavior toward you.
Supportive Climate
____ Accepting
____ Fair
____ Relaxed
____ Approachable
____ Friendly
____ Sociable
____ Caring
____ Funny
____ Tactful
____ Concerned
____ Honest
____ Trustworthy
____ Cooperative
____ Observant
____ Yielding
Defensive Climate
____ Aloof
____ Controlling
____ Inflexible
____ Arrogant
____ Critical
____ Manipulative
____ Blaming
____ Demanding
____ Phony
____ Closed-minded
____ Forceful
____ Unconcerned
____ Cold
____ Inattentive
____ Unpredictable
1. What does this reflection suggest about the communication climate in the
relationship?
2. What specific communication behaviors support items that you’ve identified?
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Video Recommendations
The Intern (2015, 121 minutes) is a story about a recently widowed man who becomes an
intern for a much younger, career-driven woman. The pair form an offbeat friendship that no
one would have expected. The movie offers several opportunities to examine peer
relationships and the movement from information, to collegial, and finally to special peer
friendships, as well as mixed-status relationships and sexual politics.
Office Christmas Party (2016, 111 minutes) stars Jennifer Aniston as a CEO trying to close
her brother’s branch of their company after a dismal quarterly performance. Her brother (T.J.
Miller) and his Chief Technical Officer (Jason Bateman) throw a Christmas party to impress
a client and hopefully save their company from closing. The movie depicts workplace
cliques, romances, and friendships, while also focusing on sexual politics, downward
communication, and workplace bullying.
Second Act (2018, 93 minutes) follows 40-year-old Maya (Jennifer Lopez) as she reinvents
her life and starts a new career. She proves that “street smarts” are just as valuable as “book
smarts” to be successful in the workplace. The movie explores issues of peer relationships
and mixed-status relationships, as well as workplace challenges.
The Devil Wears Prada (2006, 109 minutes) depicts workplace artifacts, cliques, and an
intensely defensive climate playing out forcefully in the offices of a New York fashion
magazine, supervised by its tyrannical editor, Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep).
Erin Brockovich (2000, 130 minutes) stars Julia Roberts as Erin Brockovich, a single mother
of three desperate for work. She manages to get a job as a file clerk for her attorney, Ed
Masry (played by Albert Finney), and begins to investigate a cover-up of industrial
poisoning. As Erin joins the office staff, she wrestles with the workplace’s norms, values, and
artifacts, and deals with workplace cliques and a defensive organizational climate.
Horrible Bosses (2011, 98 minutes) is a comedy about three frustrated employees who devise
a plan to kill their bosses, all of whom demonstrate extreme examples of workplace bullying,
only to discover their murderous plot snowballing into disaster. This film also addresses
defensive communication climates, coping with sexual harassment, and conflict management.
In Good Company (2004, 110 minutes). A middle-aged print media salesman (Dennis Quaid)
gets a new 26-year-old boss (Topher Grace) and has to adjust to restructuring, a new
corporate culture, and a changing advertising landscape. This movie is useful for examining
organizational climate, upward and downward communication, and workplace challenges.
Mad Men (2007–2015 TV Series) is a drama about one of New York’s most prestigious
advertising agencies from the beginning of the 1960s through the early 1970s. It focuses on
one of the firm’s mysterious but talented ad executives, Don Draper (John Hamm). This