Q&A Hero

Q: Throw light on the advantages of using the collaboration style of managing conflict.

Q: List down three positive and three negative effects of conflict in an organization.

Q: Which of the following indicators shows that a party will be competitive, rather than cooperative, during negotiations? A. Negotiating issues are primarily financial. B. They have a pattern of being cooperative in past negotiations. C. They want to maintain a good relationship with the other party. D. This negotiation is part of a long-term ongoing negotiation process. E. They trust the other parties involved and freely share information.

Q: Carl decided that the conflict situation he faces with his fellow department heads at a remote location is not that important. The issue is trivial, and he rarely works with anyone from that location. The issue should be resolved soon. What conflict management style should he use? A. Avoidance B. Accommodation C. Competition D. Compromise E. Collaboration

Q: Which of the following is a disadvantage of employing the collaborative conflict management style? A. It does not take relationships into account. B. It does not save time. C. There is no commitment to reach a solution under which everyone benefits. D. Perspectives from different groups cannot be merged. E. People do not feel committed to the agreed upon solution.

Q: One of Haley's best workers wants to work from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. instead of the regular 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. shift for the next two weeks while her son plays in the championship series at a school across town. This arrangement will not hinder the employee's work. What should Haley do? A. Avoid B. Compromise C. Collaborate D. Compete E. Accommodate

Q: Which of the following is an example of conflict caused by environmental factors? A. Conflicts caused when people have developed their point of views on the basis of a different set of facts. B. Conflicts stemming from incomparable personal values of employees. C. Conflicts over trivial problems when work procedures in a company are changed with little notice to the employees. D. Conflicts that occur when division managers believe they have to fight for their work unit in budget allocation meetings. E. Conflicts caused when people have different images or interpretations of the same data.

Q: Paola, a corporate trainer, was sent to the Michigan plant as a last-minute replacement to train a batch of new employees on work behaviors. Paola's brother-in-law Ramon, a machinist in the Michigan plant, happened to be part of the batch Paola was to train. On the first day of class, before she could realize, Ramon was hugging her in front of the whole class. Paola could not help but frown and said, "Either settle down or leave. I have to teach these people proper work behaviors! I'll talk to you during the break." What factor caused this conflict? A. Personality B. Perceptual C. Environmental D. Role E. Informational

Q: Gary, the project leader of a team of software engineers, wanted to improve team performance. He gave each team member a checklist to complete about the project they just finished. Each team member answered these questions: "What do you think were the failures of the project? If there were failures, how can we avoid them? What are the areas that were good and what are the areas that can improve?" What kind of team intervention did Gary conduct? A. Understanding member profiles B. Building team cohesion C. Conducting AARs and process checks D. Developing survey research techniques E. Dealing with a free-rider

Q: The single most important factor for effective teams is that they have a(n): A. sense of cohesion. B. expectation of recognition. C. adequate resource allocation. D. clear, compelling performance challenge. E. generous reward structure.

Q: Nathan is one of six real estate agents assigned to a local office. He is not especially good at planning or problem solving, but whenever someone needs a sounding board or has an issue to vent, Nathan is there to pay attention, nod his head, refrain from giving biased advice, and be supportive. Nathan is demonstrating the teamwork KSA of: A. conflict resolution. B. collaborative problem solving. C. communication. D. goal setting and performance management. E. planning and task coordination.

Q: Frank is a cook at a nonprofit shelter, a part of a seven-member crew. The crew prepares meals from donated items, often improvising or "improving" standard recipes based on availability. The credit of this transformation goes to Frank who taught the other members of the crew to not only improvise from routine but also to cook nutritious meals with the available items. Frank is demonstrating the teamwork KSA of: A. conflict resolution. B. collaborative problem solving. C. communication. D. goal setting and performance management. E. planning and task coordination.

Q: Why is the term "disciplines" used to describe high-performance team characteristics? A. It is important to identify high-performance team characteristics. B. It is important to understand high-performance team characteristics. C. Penalties are important to achieve conformance to high-performance team characteristics. D. These characteristics must be consistently applied to get high-performance results. E. It signifies that great teams do not have productive failures.

Q: Which of the following is a discipline of high-performing teams? A. Individual goal attainment B. Large size C. Specialized and noncomplementary skill sets D. Productive team norms E. Individual production objectives

Q: A team with a high score for continued cooperation: A. is generally big in size. B. continually strives to learn from mistakes. C. has individual working approaches. D. exhausts all its resources for a particular project. E. consists of high achievers.

Q: A team is a group of people: A. who work for the same manager. B. whose workspaces are located near one another. C. who have lots of personal contact with each other in the workplace. D. who share responsibility for producing something together. E. who are all individually accountable for definable outcomes.

Q: Convergent thinking involves recognizing links among remotely associated issues, and transforming information into unexpected forms.

Q: A climate of trust, open communication, and risk taking is a critical success factor that promotes more creativity in teams.

Q: The more difficult it is to get into a group, the more cohesive the group typically becomes.

Q: Technical expertise is the most important team skill.

Q: A high-performance scorecard includes dimensions of production output, member satisfaction, and capacity for continued cooperation.

Q: The trial balloon tactic presents a question designed to assess your negotiating counterpart's position without giving away your plans.

Q: Your friend Jim works for the biggest automobile manufacturer of the country. He is part of the sports car design team. During a baseball game last weekend, you asked him, "How's work?" He replied, "Great. I have been part of this team for over a year now. Our team is the most cohesive team in the entire company, and we are always happy and respect each other. The only flaw is that just one out of the four cars we designed has been successful in the marketplace. I wonder why." Which of the pitfalls of teams is Jim's team demonstrating? Give Jim good advice. It is clear that Jim's team is highly cohesive, so much so that it is stifling honest criticisms. This illustrates the effect of social conformity on team members. Social conformity involves social pressures to conform to the perceived wishes of the group. Jim's team members strive so hard to maintain harmony and cohesion that they end up avoiding the discomforts of disagreement. This groupthink is leading to poor decision making, which is showing up as failure of their car designs in the marketplace. You can suggest the following strategies to overcome social conformity: Ask each team member to be a critical evaluator. Encourage a sharing of objections. Do not let the leader become partial to one course of action. Create subgroups with different leaders to work on the same problem.

Q: Your friend, Lee, a team coaching expert, told you that she believes a key feature of a high-performing team is that they start performing as soon as the team members meet the first time. Do you agree? Elaborate.

Q: In a five-member team that you need to set up, you have selected four members. You are debating whether Steve or Pete would be the best fifth member. They both have the skill sets required for the success of the team. What are the five dimensions of teamwork that you will base your judgment on?

Q: You have been assigned a new project with high visibility. Your boss has given you the option of either dividing the work between five highly skilled and talented employees, or making a team of those five and giving them shared responsibility for the project. On what criteria will you base your decision to form a team or not? The first team skill is the ability to assess whether or not a team is even appropriate. You will decide forming a team is appropriate if at least one of the following three conditions exist: Teams are better when no individual "expert" exists. Is there one single expert around who will be able to handle whole of the project? Or, can you envision a way to divide the work so that a few experts will be able to worked out a solution gradually and finish it? If yes, then forming a team is not required. Teams are often superior in stimulating innovation and creativity. Also, teams are better when risk is desirable. Does your project require a high level of creativity or risky decision making? If yes, then forming a team will be appropriate.

Q: Identify a few myths about teamwork.

Q: Blues Services, a large print publishing house, added two new employees to one of its work group teams (Blue Lightning) last year to replace a retiree and a promotion. The Blue Lightning team was responsible for global marketing and advertising for several monthly print pieces: a travel journal, an eco-tourism monthly, a food and restaurant guide with recipes, and an in-flight magazine for a well-known commercial air carrier. Pat, a 40-something Hispanic female, headed the team and had primary responsibility for the travel journal. Dave, a 60ish white male, had primary responsibility for the food and restaurant guide and general long-term account management. Amanda, a new college graduate with marketing major, was hired to replace Clyde, the retiree who was responsible for the in-flight magazine. Nathan, an ex-army sergeant who did much of his college work while on active duty, had responsibility for the eco-tourism monthly. Pat had called a staff meeting to work on team productivity. Numbers were down from a year ago. Expenses were doubled. Pat had talked to the senior human resources consultant, Toby, before the meeting about this team intervention. She told Toby, "I can't believe Nate is only two years older than Amanda. He is so reliable and responsible. They both have great technical skills. Remember? We didn't have to train either one of them at all in any of the computer support. Mobiles, tablets, spreadsheets, they knew all of it. Amanda is like my high school aged daughter in so many ways! She talks all day on the phone or to someone. She does her work while she talks and it has to be checked and fixed most of the time. On the days she is out of the office, more work gets done more smoothly. I let her travel as much as possible, but it is eating up my budget." Toby commented, "You have to keep this team intact, as I recall. You can't replace Amanda?" Pat shook her head. "We are it. Thank you for agreeing to facilitate our session. We have to change something. What are you going to do?" Toby said, "I'll do a deliberate team intervention. We should get a long way this afternoon. I assume Dave is the same steady contributor he has always been for you." Pat nodded, "See you at 1:30." Pat and Dave waited in the conference room for the younger employees. Pat looked at her watch and said, "I can't believe Nate is only two years older than Amanda." Dave commented, "It's that military thing. Grows them up quick." Pat shrugged, "Maybe, but neither one of them is here and we are supposed to start in 1 minute." Dave looked at his watch and said, "I'll buy you coffee if Amanda shows up first. You buy for me if it's Nate." Pat laughed, "I'll buy you coffee, but no deal" just as the door swung open and Nate slid into a seat. "Hey, did you see those playoffs! I was down at Clancy's and caught the slow elevator back. Just barely on time! What's going on, Ma'am? Sir?" He put his notebook down and pulled out the budget reports and goals statements that had been requested for the meeting. Dave asked Nate about the game and started telling him about an earlier year's series that he had witnessed in person. Nate said, "So that's how you did the terrific Sports, bars, stars, and restaurants in Baltimore' series! That was so great. My mom's sister sent me magazines every month I was in country. All the guys loved that one." Pat interjected, "That was great work, Dave. We got national recognition for that." The two men continued to chat and Pat continued to look at her watch. At 1:10, she buzzed her secretary to find Amanda. Ten minutes later, Amanda walked into the room, frowning, "I so forgot about the meeting today. Why didn't anyone remind me? I was working really hard at getting frequent traveler miles from the airline to use for my vacation next year. Then, Sandy (Pat's secretary) interrupted me to come up here. Will this take long? I have a massage scheduled at 5:30 across town and the last time I was late, Paul took someone else in front of me! Can you believe that?" Pat began talking. "I have asked Toby, the consultant who works with groups to spend the afternoon with us. He will be here shortly. As you have seen from the projections and reports from last year, Blue Lightning is no longer in first place in the Blue Team rankings. Our production figures have slipped significantly. Our expenses are nearly double what they were last year. Customer complaints about our lack of concern are an embarrassment. We are in this together. 30 percent of our regular income and 50 percent of our bonuses come from our combined efforts. We have to figure out how to stop double efforts on some clients and missing others altogether. When we call the same person on the same day with approximately the same questions or information, we look disorganized and unprofessional. Travel expenses show we are going to the same cities on consecutive weeks to do the same business. Don't we share account information with each other? All of these products have similar client demographics, similar market niches, and similar competitive profiles. We have to share. We have to figure this out together. Now, we have to change something. Now. any questions before Toby arrives?" Amanda fished through her purse, "Oh, Pat, I nearly forgot! Daddy (the CEO of Blues Services) said Thanks' for that report you rushed to him yesterday. What projections and reports?" Nate flashed her the packet of information. She said, "Oh, that looked too boring and too historical for me to look through. Tell me what I need to know." Nate ignored her as he checked the scores on his mobile. Amanda gave him a pitying look and said, "You men, concerned about ball game scores at work! How just, un. . ." Pat smiled bleakly and said, "Hello, Toby, I think you know everyone here." Toby shook hands all around, except with Amanda who was busy putting on the hand lotion she had finally found in her purse. Toby started, "Thanks for taking the time to complete the questionnaires I sent you. I think Blue Lightning has a lot going for it, and some areas to work on. I will show you what you told me, and then we will work on this together." Toby's first slide showed four stick figures with "What we think about _____" arrayed around them. Figure 1 had curly hair and a big smile and data that indicated that the rest of the team thought Figure 1 did not show up for meetings on time, did not contribute a fair share to the group workload, did not receive feedback well, did encourage innovation among team members, and was fun and energetic. Figure 2, with a flattop haircut, was surrounded by data that indicated Figure 2 showed up on time, prepared work assignments on time, showed respect for all group members, and did not change his or her opinion easily, even when appropriate. Figures 3 and 4 provided similar information. Toby also had results combined from the four Blue Lightning members in response to questions such as "How satisfied are you that your ideas are heard by the team?" "How well does the team resolve differences of opinion? How well does the team follow its own ground rules?" Please refer to this scenario for the following question. Which of the following is the biggest threat to performance for Blue Lightning? A. Risky shift B. Cautious shift C. Social facilitation D. Choking E. Social loafing

Q: Blues Services, a large print publishing house, added two new employees to one of its work group teams (Blue Lightning) last year to replace a retiree and a promotion. The Blue Lightning team was responsible for global marketing and advertising for several monthly print pieces: a travel journal, an eco-tourism monthly, a food and restaurant guide with recipes, and an in-flight magazine for a well-known commercial air carrier. Pat, a 40-something Hispanic female, headed the team and had primary responsibility for the travel journal. Dave, a 60ish white male, had primary responsibility for the food and restaurant guide and general long-term account management. Amanda, a new college graduate with marketing major, was hired to replace Clyde, the retiree who was responsible for the in-flight magazine. Nathan, an ex-army sergeant who did much of his college work while on active duty, had responsibility for the eco-tourism monthly. Pat had called a staff meeting to work on team productivity. Numbers were down from a year ago. Expenses were doubled. Pat had talked to the senior human resources consultant, Toby, before the meeting about this team intervention. She told Toby, "I can't believe Nate is only two years older than Amanda. He is so reliable and responsible. They both have great technical skills. Remember? We didn't have to train either one of them at all in any of the computer support. Mobiles, tablets, spreadsheets, they knew all of it. Amanda is like my high school aged daughter in so many ways! She talks all day on the phone or to someone. She does her work while she talks and it has to be checked and fixed most of the time. On the days she is out of the office, more work gets done more smoothly. I let her travel as much as possible, but it is eating up my budget." Toby commented, "You have to keep this team intact, as I recall. You can't replace Amanda?" Pat shook her head. "We are it. Thank you for agreeing to facilitate our session. We have to change something. What are you going to do?" Toby said, "I'll do a deliberate team intervention. We should get a long way this afternoon. I assume Dave is the same steady contributor he has always been for you." Pat nodded, "See you at 1:30." Pat and Dave waited in the conference room for the younger employees. Pat looked at her watch and said, "I can't believe Nate is only two years older than Amanda." Dave commented, "It's that military thing. Grows them up quick." Pat shrugged, "Maybe, but neither one of them is here and we are supposed to start in 1 minute." Dave looked at his watch and said, "I'll buy you coffee if Amanda shows up first. You buy for me if it's Nate." Pat laughed, "I'll buy you coffee, but no deal" just as the door swung open and Nate slid into a seat. "Hey, did you see those playoffs! I was down at Clancy's and caught the slow elevator back. Just barely on time! What's going on, Ma'am? Sir?" He put his notebook down and pulled out the budget reports and goals statements that had been requested for the meeting. Dave asked Nate about the game and started telling him about an earlier year's series that he had witnessed in person. Nate said, "So that's how you did the terrific Sports, bars, stars, and restaurants in Baltimore' series! That was so great. My mom's sister sent me magazines every month I was in country. All the guys loved that one." Pat interjected, "That was great work, Dave. We got national recognition for that." The two men continued to chat and Pat continued to look at her watch. At 1:10, she buzzed her secretary to find Amanda. Ten minutes later, Amanda walked into the room, frowning, "I so forgot about the meeting today. Why didn't anyone remind me? I was working really hard at getting frequent traveler miles from the airline to use for my vacation next year. Then, Sandy (Pat's secretary) interrupted me to come up here. Will this take long? I have a massage scheduled at 5:30 across town and the last time I was late, Paul took someone else in front of me! Can you believe that?" Pat began talking. "I have asked Toby, the consultant who works with groups to spend the afternoon with us. He will be here shortly. As you have seen from the projections and reports from last year, Blue Lightning is no longer in first place in the Blue Team rankings. Our production figures have slipped significantly. Our expenses are nearly double what they were last year. Customer complaints about our lack of concern are an embarrassment. We are in this together. 30 percent of our regular income and 50 percent of our bonuses come from our combined efforts. We have to figure out how to stop double efforts on some clients and missing others altogether. When we call the same person on the same day with approximately the same questions or information, we look disorganized and unprofessional. Travel expenses show we are going to the same cities on consecutive weeks to do the same business. Don't we share account information with each other? All of these products have similar client demographics, similar market niches, and similar competitive profiles. We have to share. We have to figure this out together. Now, we have to change something. Now. any questions before Toby arrives?" Amanda fished through her purse, "Oh, Pat, I nearly forgot! Daddy (the CEO of Blues Services) said Thanks' for that report you rushed to him yesterday. What projections and reports?" Nate flashed her the packet of information. She said, "Oh, that looked too boring and too historical for me to look through. Tell me what I need to know." Nate ignored her as he checked the scores on his mobile. Amanda gave him a pitying look and said, "You men, concerned about ball game scores at work! How just, un. . ." Pat smiled bleakly and said, "Hello, Toby, I think you know everyone here." Toby shook hands all around, except with Amanda who was busy putting on the hand lotion she had finally found in her purse. Toby started, "Thanks for taking the time to complete the questionnaires I sent you. I think Blue Lightning has a lot going for it, and some areas to work on. I will show you what you told me, and then we will work on this together." Toby's first slide showed four stick figures with "What we think about _____" arrayed around them. Figure 1 had curly hair and a big smile and data that indicated that the rest of the team thought Figure 1 did not show up for meetings on time, did not contribute a fair share to the group workload, did not receive feedback well, did encourage innovation among team members, and was fun and energetic. Figure 2, with a flattop haircut, was surrounded by data that indicated Figure 2 showed up on time, prepared work assignments on time, showed respect for all group members, and did not change his or her opinion easily, even when appropriate. Figures 3 and 4 provided similar information. Toby also had results combined from the four Blue Lightning members in response to questions such as "How satisfied are you that your ideas are heard by the team?" "How well does the team resolve differences of opinion? How well does the team follow its own ground rules?" Please refer to this scenario for the following question. Which team KSA does Pat illustrate in her introductory comments to Blue Lightning before Toby showed up for the meeting? A. Conflict resolution when she did not say anything to Amanda about being late. B. Collaborative problem solving when she said the team had to figure out how to get better numbers on budget and output. C. Communication when she talked to Dave about the two new employees being late. D. Encouragement when she let Amanda explain why she got late for the meeting. E. Encouragement when she let Dave and Nate talk about sports.

Q: Electronic meetings are good for: A. establishing relationships. B. dealing with sensitive issues. C. persuading a team to fully commit to a course of action. D. allowing opportunities for mentoring. E. generating innovative, high-quality ideas.