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Passive
The passive listener receives information as though being talked to rather than as being an equal partner
in the speaking-listening exchange. While assuming that the responsibility for the success of the
communication is the speakers, this listener is usually inattentive, disinterested, and may be restless,
bored, or easily distracted. This persons noticeable lack of enthusiasm may be marked by a slumped or
very relaxed posture and by avoiding direct eye contact.
Detached
The detached listener withdraws from the speaking-listening exchange and becomes the object of the
Things to Consider
The listening inventory gives you a general idea of your preferred listening style, in other words, the way
in which you typically listen to others. The scores indicating styles are approximations and should be
regarded as such. Also know that you may change your listening style when responding to a certain
situation or to your interests, intentions, or objectives. In other words, listening styles are not necessarily
constant and absolute. Still, you may train yourself to be a better listener in a variety of situations by
following these simple guidelines:
Defer judgment and listen for feelings and facts.
Pay attention to content.
Listen completely first, make people feel valued.
Listen for the main idea, disregard minor points.
Avoid sidetracking and sarcastic remarks.
Management Workplace
Management Workplace videos can support several in-class uses. In most cases you can build an entire
50-minute class around them. Alternatively, they can provide a springboard into a group lesson plan. The
Management Workplace video for Chapter 13 would be a nice companion to your introduction to the
course on the first day of classes.
VIDEO: PLANT FANTASIES
Managing Communication
Summary:
In a day when companies use Twitter and Facebook to communicate, Teresa Carleo of Plant Fantasies is a
Chapter 13: Communication P a g e | 15
Discussion Questions:
1. Why would Teresa Carleo and Steve Martucci favor face-to-face communication over email when
dealing with customers?
2. Why would Carleo and Martucci prefer to use electronic communication methods for certain types
of communication within the company.
3. In the video, Carleo says that she worries that at times she communicates too much. What steps
could she take to confirm that her messages are being heard and understood by others?
As mentioned in the text, there a number of things that Carelo can do to do a better job of managing
one-on-one communication. First, she can choose the right communication medium. She should
Workplace Video Quiz
Students are able to take the following video quiz on CourseMate. The video is broken into segments, and
each segment has related questions to make sure students understand how the clip connects to the chapter
concepts.
Video Segment 1
Video segment title Managing Communication
Start time (in sec) 1:01
Stop time (in sec) 2:57
Quiz Question 1 Coordinating tasks, projects, employees, and equipment at Plant Fantasies
is official business that is directed through:
a. Formal communication
Chapter 13: Communication P a g e | 16
approved messages and information.
Quiz Question 2 Sales director Steve Martucci states that he and Plant Fantasies owner
Teresa Carleo will often go to the same business meeting yet come away
with very different understandings of what was said. This occurs because:
a. Steve and Teresa are hearing different messages from different senders.
Quiz Question 3 Ongoing confusion and miscommunication between the flower department
and the landscape design department at Plant Fantasies should be resolved
through:
a. The grapevine
b. Effective horizontal communication
c. Effective crisis communication
Video Segment 2
Video segment title Managing Communication
Start time (in sec) 2:57
Stop time (in sec) 4:39
Quiz Question 1 Messages sent from Plant Fantasies owner Teresa Carleo and sales director
Steve Martucci to subordinates are examples of:
a. Upward communication
b. Downward communication
c. Horizontal communication
d. All of these
Correct option b: Downward communication
Feedback Downward communication flows from higher to lower levels in an
organization.
Quiz Question 2 To ensure that their communication is effective and appropriate to the
situation, leaders at Plant Fantasies tend to limit the use of digital
communication technologies to:
a. Routine information and tasks
Chapter 13: Communication P a g e | 17
delivering straightforward messages and information.
Quiz Question 3 When engaging in back-and-forth dialogue, Plant Fantasies sales director
Steve Martucci prefers phone calls to email. However, phone
communication has the following disadvantage when compared with
email:
a. It offers fast feedback and two-way communication.
b. It is more personal.
c. It allows verbal cues.
Video Segment 3
Video segment title Managing Communication
Start time (in sec) 4:39
Stop time (in sec) 7:06
Quiz Question 1 Which of the following statements from the segment shows a preference
for communication that is high in richness?
a. When I first started, I used to send out brochures.
b. I am handwriting a note to each of my clients.
c. When theres time, I think its a great idea to always try to talk face to
face.
d. Somebody sent me a letterit wasnt just some mass mailing; it was
personal.
Correct option c: When theres time, I think its a great idea to always try to talk face to
face.
Feedback A rich communication medium, like oral communication, combines verbal
and nonverbal messages.
Quiz Question 2 Which form of written communication does Plant Fantasies owner Teresa
Carleo say is the most effective for communicating with her customers and
clients?
a. Memos
b. Reports
Quiz Question 3 The communication objective that leaders of Plant Fantasies prize most
throughout the segment is:
a. Disseminate information to the largest number of people
b. Provide highly detailed information to people
c. Get feedback from people
d. Make a personal connection with people
Correct option c: Make a personal connection with people
Feedback Teresa Carleo writes letters to customers to form a personal connection
with customers.
Additional Assignments and Activities
Review Questions
1. Describe the perception process.
Perception is the process by which people attend to, organize, interpret, and retain information from
their environments. The stages of the perception process are: 1) attention; 2) organization; 3)
2. What role do perceptions (of oneself and others) play in the communication process?
3. Outline the communication process.
The communication process begins when the sender thinks of a message to convey, encodes the
message (putting a message into a written, verbal, or symbolic form), and then transmits the message
Chapter 13: Communication P a g e | 19
4. Compare formal and informal communication channels.
Formal communication is the communication of organizationally approved messages and
information. The three formal communication channels are downward, upward, and horizontal
communication.
5. Explain the difference between coaching and counseling.
Coaching and counseling are two kinds of one-on-one communication. Coaching is communicating
6. What types of communication media can managers use? When is it appropriate to use each medium?
A communication medium is the method used to deliver a message. The two types of media are oral
and written communication.
Oral communication involves spoken messages that are delivered face-to-face, in-group meetings,
7. What differentiates constructive feedback from destructive feedback?
Constructive feedback is intended to be helpful, corrective, and/or encouraging. Destructive feedback
conveys disapproval without any intention of being helpful and almost always causes a negative or
defensive reaction in the recipient.
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8. How can managers increase their chances for successful cross-cultural communication?
9. How can managers best communicate with people throughout their organization?
Managers can improve organizational communication by getting the message out and improving
reception by finding ways to hear what others think and feel.
10. Explain how managers can encourage broad-based upward communication.
Anonymous company hotlines, survey feedback, frequent informal meetings, and surprise visits help
managers avoid organizational silence and improve reception by hearing what others in the
organization feel and think. Company hotlines are phone numbers that anyone in the company can
Chapter 13: Communication P a g e | 21
Management Decision
A COMMUNICATION POLICY FOR THE INTERNET GENERATION
Purpose
This exercise gives students an opportunity to think about how social media can be used to improve
communication within a company, and the challenges that it might represent.
Setting It Up
This exercise can be used as an individual assignment or an in-class group activity. Ask students how
many of them use Twitter, Facebook, text messaging, or some other form of social media to communicate
with friends and family (no doubt that most of them will say that they do). Then, ask students how they
might use social media to communicate with people in their workplace.
Scenario
In your short tenure as the manager of a restaurant chain, youve come up with some brilliant ideas (like
the Super Bowl parties and unlimited wings nightand who could forget the 1980s Karaoke Flashdance
Source:
Stephanie Raposo, Quick! Tells Us What KUTGW Means, The Wall Street Journal, August 5, 2009,
D1, 3.
Questions
1. Do you think it is appropriate to use tweets or text messages for organization-wide communication?
Why or why not?
Students responses will vary.
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2. In your opinion, what is the ideal way to train people who are unfamiliar with social media on how to
use it for organization-wide communication?
Students responses will vary, but there are a number of important things to keep in consideration
when managers implement new policies in the workplace. First, they should be aware, and make
Develop Your Career Potential
I DON’T AGREE, BUT I’M LISTENING
Purpose
To give students the chance to practice active listening skills.
Setting It Up
This assignment works well as a private journal assignment or as an in-class exercise. Active listening
means assuming half the responsibility for successful communication by actively giving the speaker
nonjudgmental feedback that shows that you’ve accurately heard what he or she said. Active listeners
Chapter 13: Communication P a g e | 23
EXHIBIT 13.4 CLARIFYING, PARAPHRASING, AND SUMMARIZING
RESPONSES FOR ACTIVE LISTENERS
CLARIFYING
RESPONSES
PARAPHRASING
RESPONSES
SUMMARIZING
RESPONSES
Could you explain that again?
I dont understand what you
mean.
Im confused, would you run
though that again?
Im not sure how
What you’re really saying is
If I understand you correctly
So your perspective is that
In other words
Let me summarize
Ok, your main concerns are
Thus far, you’ve discussed
To recap what you’ve said
Tell me if I’m wrong, but
what you’re saying is
Source:
E. Atwater, I Hear You, revised ed. (New York: Walker, 1992).
Active listeners also avoid evaluating the message or being critical until the message is complete.
They recognize that their only responsibility during the transmission of a message is to accurately receive
it and derive the intended meaning from it. Evaluation and criticism can take place after the message is
accurately received. Finally, active listeners also recognize that a large portion of any message is
transmitted nonverbally and thus pay very careful attention to the nonverbal cues transmitted by the
Questions
1. Was this discussion different from the way you normally discuss contentious topics with other
people? Why or why not?
Most people are very poor listeners; so having to restate or paraphrase what others have said before
Chapter 13: Communication P a g e | 24
2. Was it difficult to reflect or paraphrase your listening partner’s perspectives? Explain and give an
example.
This is usually much harder than it looks. I demonstrate this to the class by having one listening
3. Did active listening techniques or empathetic listening techniques lead to more effective listening for
you? Explain.
Additional Activities
Out-of-Class Project: “Communication Channels.” Divide the class into small groups. Each group
should research a particular organizations various communication channels and how it uses each channel.
Topics should include: 1) what channels are used; 2) how frequently each channel is used; 3) the types of
messages sent through each channel; and 4) the advantages and problems that the organization has with
each channel. The best way to conduct this research is through a two-page survey administered by the
students to employees at the organization. Students should present their results to the class.
Out-of-Class Project: “Cross-Cultural Communication.” Divide the class into small groups. Each
In-Class Activity: “Filtering.” The objective of this exercise is to understand how filtering can affect
communication. The exercise will take only 10 minutes and involves an old childrens game called
Chapter 13: Communication P a g e | 25
“Corporate Communication.” Go to the website of any well-known company and evaluate its external
communication on the following attributes:
How user friendly is the website?