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© 2019 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized
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APPENDIX III
Problem-Solving Communication
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About Appendix III
Problem-solving skills are necessary in the workplace. We encounter a variety of problems daily, but
some are more complex than others. Because of the intricacy of such problems, employees are often
tasked with working with others to analyze the situation and identify potential solutions. Most often,
Discussion Launchers
1. What is the difference between problem-solving and decision making?
2. How do you know how to make decisions? Was decision-making taught to you? Explain.
3. What do you do when you have a problem to solve? How do you arrive at a solution?
4. Discuss a current problem experienced by a group you belong to. Try to identify at least 3 reasons
why this problem may have occurred.
5. Explain some of the reasons why it is advantageous to work with a team to solve problems.
6. What are some of the most challenging aspects of working in a group to solve a problem?
7. What are some ways that a team member might create challenges for the decision-making
process?
8. Describe a time when you felt good about a decision that you made as a team. Why did you feel
this way?
9. Describe a time when you felt like a team you were part of did not make the best decision. What
Classroom Activities
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1. Stages of Problem Solving/Systematic Problem Solving
Objectives: Students will observe the stages of group problem solving; Students will apply the reflective-
thinking sequence to solve a problem.
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Procedure: Design or purchase a mystery kit (see Additional Resources section) to guide this activity.
Allot 1-1.5 hours of time for this activity. This activity should follow a discussion of problem-solving in
groups.
Each student should receive a worksheet that contains a table with 4 columns (such as: name, motive,
alibi, evidence). Each student in the group should receive a card with key information about the mystery
on it. They should be told to read the card and act the part. Some cards will be required (they contain
pertinent information for solving the case), and others will be supplemental (they contain details that do
Class Discussion: After each group has decided on their “final answer,” the activity can be debriefed.
Possible questions to discuss include:
• Who did you all choose as the perpetrator, and why?
• What are some of the reasons you felt this person was the perpetrator?
• How did the reflective-thinking sequence help you arrive at an effective decision?
• How similar is the reflective-thinking sequence to the ways you make decisions in your daily
2. Stages of Problem Solving
Objective: Students will observe the stages of group problem solving.
Procedure: Form small groups of 3 to 5 students and instruct each group to identify a need in their
community that can be addressed with a community service activity. Let students know that they will be
3. Stages of Problem Solving
Objective: Students will identify each of the stages of the group problem solving process.
Procedure: Form small groups of 3 to 5 students and provide each group with the following scenario,
and ask them to work together to identify a solution for the customer’s problem:
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“Imagine you are the social media manager for a small locally-owned restaurant. You receive the
following Facebook review from a customer, which is receiving quite a few ‘likes’ and affirming
comments from fans of your page:
Went with my husband today for lunch and sat at the table for more than 15 minutes before our drink
order was taken. The waiter said he would return with a menu and chips, but returned 10 minutes later
without either. He grabbed the menus and walked away so we could review them. Ten more minutes
Class Discussion: First, have each group share their solutions and written responses. Then, engage the
class in a larger discussion about the role of orientation, conflict, emergence, and reinforcement in group
problem solving.
4. Systematic Problem Solving
Objective: Students will apply each of the stages of the reflective-thinking sequence.
Procedure: One week before this unit is taught, come together as a class to identify a problem that is
occurring on campus or in the local community. It is important that this problem be something that
students feel somewhat knowledgeable about. Form small groups of 3 to 5 students, and instruct each
group to discuss the problem and create a probative question to encourage exploratory thinking about the
Class Discussion: Once each group has selected a solution to the problem, facilitate a larger class
discussion. Encourage each group to summarize the process, and discuss the solution they have chosen.
Ask students to reflect on how they felt about this group problem-solving experience compared to other
work groups that they have worked with.
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5. Systematic Problem Solving
Objective: Students will apply each of the stages of the reflective-thinking sequence.
Procedure: This activity can be used to create a larger lesson on teamwork and group problem-solving
by incorporating lessons learned in Appendix 3 and Chapter 7. For a class of 24 students or less: supply
one 60-piece puzzle and one 100-piece puzzle. For classes 25 students or larger, you may consider
breaking students into 4 groups, thus having two 60-piece puzzles and two 100-piece puzzles. Assign
students to an even number of groups of no more than 12 students each. Each group should get one
puzzle.
After the groups have completed their puzzles, ask students to reveal their roles to each other, and discuss
questions like:
• What strategy did your group use to put the puzzle together?
• In what ways did your group act as a system when putting the puzzle together?
• What problem-solving concepts emerged during your group?
• How did withholding information (such as remaining silent or hiding puzzle pieces) affect the
group during the problem-solving process? What lessons can be learned from this?
• How did communication barriers impact the group’s ability to solve the puzzle? Timeliness?
• Did the group attempt to engage members who were not participating (texting, etc.)?
Class Discussion: After individual groups discuss these issues, the instructor should bring this together as
a larger class discussion. This is the time to point out specific course concepts and the lessons you would
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Assignments
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Interview Assignment
Case Study Paper #1
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Interview Assignment
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The purpose of this assignment is to allow students to communicate with a member of their future
profession to learn firsthand how small group problem solving functions in the workplace.
Students should locate a business professional in the industry in which they wish to work. Students should
request a 30 to 45-minute interview. It is preferred that this interview occur face-to-face, but phone
conversations or video conferencing is acceptable.
Interview Guidelines:
• Ask for permission to voice record the interview. If permission is not granted, be prepared to take
extensive handwritten notes.
• Ask at least 5 interview questions that pertain to group problem solving in this environment.*
Essay Guidelines:
After the interview, write a 3-5-page (typed, double-spaced) paper that applies course concepts to the
information the professional provided during the interview. We will discuss our findings as a class to gain
Evaluation:
Your grade (suggested: 100 points) will be determined by the following criteria:
• Interview questions (suggested: 10 points)
• Interview verification (suggested: 5 points)
• Detailed notes or interview audio (suggested: 10 points)
• 3-5-page paper applying course concepts to the interview findings (suggested: 50 points)
o Your paper should meet the page and formatting requirements.
o Your paper be free of spelling, grammar, and other typographical errors.
! problem-solving
! types of problems
! types of group members
! delegating duties
! decision-making
• Presentation of interview findings to class (suggested: 25 points)
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Case Study Paper #1
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The purpose of this assignment is to allow students to observe group problem-solving in a natural setting.
General Guidelines:
Team up with 3-5 classmates, and select a small group outside of class that you wish to observe. Using
the provided prompts, observe this group for at least 2 hours. You may split the required hours into
multiple sessions, but (a) ALL members of your group must be present for each observation, (b) the group
you are observing should be stable, and (c) the group must be in their natural setting (in other words, you
cannot watch a video of the team or ask someone about their team). You should obtain permission to
Prompts:
Your group is required to answer prompt #1. In addition to this question, your group should choose an
additional 2 prompts to address in your essay.
1. What are the communication strengths of this group? What are the group’s communication
weaknesses?
2. Is this group acting ethically? Apply ethical guidelines from the text to support your answer.
3. In what ways did members’ nonverbal communication impact their group? Choose 2-3 examples
of nonverbal behaviors, and describe their impact.
4. Make an argument for whether researchers could use this group as an example of the group
problem-solving process. Explain why you feel this way.
5. Describe the conflict(s) that occurred during your observation(s). How did the group handle the
conflicts? Make an argument for the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of dealing with conflict this
way.
6. Does this group have a leader? If so, who? How do you know that they are the leader? In what
ways did the leader influence the problem-solving process?
7. Describe a problem that you saw the group attempt to solve together. How did the stages of group
problem solving apply to their efforts? Did they achieve a good solution? How do you know?
Evaluation:
Your grade (suggested: 100 points) will be determined by the following criteria:
• Submit valid documentation that shows that you have observed the group (suggested: 10 points).
• Submit each group member’s observation notes (suggested: 15 points).
• 5-page essay applying course concepts to the observation data (suggested: 50 points).
o one paper per group
o Your paper should meet the page and formatting requirements.
o Your paper should be free from spelling, grammatical, and other typographical errors.
• Reports observations/course connections in a 5-10-minute oral presentation (suggested: 25 points)
o The bulk of this presentation should apply course concepts to your observation data.
o Visual aids are optional; creativity is welcome (i.e., re-enactments).
o Critique the group based on what you observed; offer at least one suggestion on how they
might improve, using what you have learned in class.
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*Adapted from an assignment by Michelle M. Maresh-Fuehrer, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
Case Study Paper #2
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This assignment is a semester-long version of Classroom Activity #2.
The purpose of this assignment is to examine a group that you will be working in and come to a mutual
understanding of how the concepts we have discussed in class have occurred in your group.
General Guidelines:
In a small group (3-5 members), work to determine a service activity that you would like to participate in
together. Be sure to have your activity approved by the instructor before beginning the project. You must
follow the reflective-thinking sequence discussed in your text.
• Determine a local or campus problem that is worthy of a solution.
• Conduct research to analyze the problem and its extent.
• Establish criteria for a solution.
The majority of time should be spent implementing the solution (service activity). During the
implementation, observe your group’s interactions as they apply to what we have learned in class.
Paper Guidelines:
In this paper, you will apply course material to your own experiences within the group. You may find that
it is difficult to reach 100% consensus on things that occurred within the group, but you should be able to
find consensus on many issues. When you are unable to reach a consensus, write about the different
viewpoints.
• 10-15 pages
• In-text and reference page citations required in APA format
• Concepts to discuss:
o Justify the problem as being significant (2-3 pages).
o Describe how your group adhered to the steps in the reflective-thinking sequence.
o Reflect on whether this problem-solving method was helpful. Justify with a critique.
Presentation Guidelines:
• 8-10 minutes
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• Discuss 3 or 4 main concepts that you feel best describe your group’s interaction.
Additional Resources
Web
