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Q:
Throw light on the advantages of using the collaboration style of managing conflict.
Q:
When is it appropriate to use the compromising style of managing conflict?
Q:
Managers who ignore or fail to manage conflict are likely to incur the disadvantages of conflict without enjoying any of the advantages. Argue against this statement.
Q:
What are the key points to be kept in mind in order to use the competitive approach effectively?
A few tips to use the competitive approach effectively are:
Be direct: Use declarative and precise statements, and keep them simple. Make sure people know exactly what you want them to do. This is not the time for ambiguity or showing others you are unsure.
Explain later: To avoid having to use this technique often, take a minute to explain your rationale to the other person once the emotions or stress of the conflict situation have diminished.
Q:
Define the five factors that come into play and give rise to conflicts in an organization.
Q:
List down three positive and three negative effects of conflict in an organization.
Q:
Draw the differences between task and relationship conflicts.
Q:
To help parties involved trust a mediator, the mediator should:
A. dominate the conversation.
B. stay neutral and not pick sides.
C. schedule considerably long meetings.
D. maintain a low reputation on task.
E. follow the parties' words and actions.
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:
The negotiation process begins with:
A. understanding the needs of other parties.
B. negotiation preparation.
C. evaluation of processes employed.
D. employing process tactics.
E. listing and discussing the possible options.
Q:
Research shows that people in conflict with an employee are least likely to:
A. try to convince.
B. listen carefully.
C. discuss with outsiders.
D. discuss the issue.
E. discuss with a co-worker.
Q:
Research shows that people in conflict with a co-worker are most likely to:
A. try to convince.
B. listen carefully.
C. discuss with outsiders.
D. discuss the issue.
E. discuss with a co-worker.
Q:
Research shows that people in conflict with a boss are least likely to:
A. try to convince.
B. listen carefully.
C. discuss with outsiders.
D. discuss the issue.
E. discuss with a co-worker.
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:
Dan decided that the conflict situation he is facing with his boss is low in issue importance. He needs to resolve this conflict fairly quickly and stay on the boss's good side. What conflict management style should he use?
A. Avoidance
B. Accommodation
C. Competition
D. Compromise
E. Collaboration
Q:
Mick decided that the conflict situation with his junior staff members is high in issue importance and low in relationship importance. He needs to resolve this conflict fairly quickly. What conflict management style should he use?
A. Avoidance
B. Accommodation
C. Competition
D. Compromise
E. Collaboration
Q:
According to research conducted, choice of conflict management style is based most often on:
A. the importance of the issue concerned.
B. the importance of relationship.
C. time constraints.
D. the dominant conflict management style of the person.
E. fact certainty.
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:
_____ value the insight they gain from learning about other parties' interests and perspectives during the conflict resolution process.
A. Avoiders
B. Competitors
C. Accommodators
D. Collaborators
E. Compromisers
Q:
Due to budget restrictions, a business school could afford to hire only one new faculty member for the next academic year. However, the school needed additional faculty members in both finance and marketing. After a lengthy discussion, it was decided that the budget would be shared and part-time instructors would be hired for the next year. What kind of conflict management strategy was used?
A. Avoidance
B. Accommodation
C. Compromise
D. Competition
E. Collaboration
Q:
For which of the following situations would avoidance be an appropriate conflict management strategy?
A. When delaying an issue presents imminent danger
B. When the issue can be addressed at a specific but later time.
C. There are no other important concerns pressing beyond this current conflict.
D. The parties have all the information concerning the conflict.
E. The parties involved in the conflict work directly for you and effects of the conflict are affecting the work environment.
Q:
Due to budget restrictions, a business school could afford to hire only one new faculty member for the next academic year. However, the school needed additional faculty members in both finance and marketing. Two hours into a heated meeting with the department chairpersons, the dean excused herself saying she had another meeting to attend to. What conflict management style did the dean use?
A. Avoidance
B. Compromise
C. Collaboration
D. Competition
E. Accommodation
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:
Mabel, a sales manager, just received new rules and regulations from her company's headquarters about the use of expense accounts. Dan and Trey, two of her best salespeople, have ignored other corporate directives with impunity. Law, however, requires these changes. Mabel knows there will be objections to the changes. What conflict resolution strategy must Mabel use?
A. Avoidance
B. Compromise
C. Collaboration
D. Competition
E. Accommodation
Q:
Which of the following statements apply when using competition as a conflict resolution strategy?
A. Discomfort should be communicated nonverbally.
B. Hold conflict management conversations in public areas.
C. Express displeasure over the conflict being experienced.
D. Discourage the expression of emotion.
E. Make sure people know exactly what they are required to do.
Q:
When selecting a conflict management style to resolve a conflict where the need is for justice rather than mercy, choose to:
A. compete rather than accommodate.
B. avoid the conflict.
C. accommodate rather than compete.
D. compromise.
E. accommodate rather than collaborate.
Q:
Which of the following is part of the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Resolution Grid?
A. Inform
B. Compromise
C. Consolidate
D. Combine
E. Alternate
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:
_____ factors exert their influence and give rise to conflicts when people have different images or interpretations of the same thing.
A. Informational
B. Perceptual
C. Environmental
D. Role
E. Personal
Q:
Billy's department is in an uproar. His most senior workers, Greta and Libby, are at the point of refusing to be in the same room at the same time. Billy investigated the problem and found that Greta established new procedures based on a corporate memo written in October last year. Libby refused to follow the procedures because of the follow-up memo written two weeks later. When Billy showed Greta and Libby both documents, the conflict ended. What was the source of the conflict?
A. Personality factors
B. Environmental factors
C. Informational factors
D. Perceptual factors
E. Role factors
Q:
Which of the following statements is a negative effect of conflict?
A. People are forced to challenge their thinking and assumptions.
B. Conflict discourages people from voicing new ideas, thus reducing the chances of innovation.
C. Conflict brings problems into the open.
D. Quality of decisions made reduces.
E. Leaders tend to rely on authoritarian decisions.
Q:
Which of the following statements is a positive effect of conflict?
A. People are motivated to understand others' positions and ideas.
B. Conflict removes negative emotions and stress.
C. Conflict increases communication between participants and improves work coordination.
D. Leaders are motivated toward participative leadership.
E. Workgroup divisions reduce significantly.
Q:
Which of the following statements is true about task conflict?
A. It causes managers significant stress.
B. It is seen as the bad conflict in an organization.
C. It results in less constructive criticism.
D. It stimulates evidence-based discussions.
E. It is more beneficial for non-top management teams than for top management.
Q:
Which of the following statements is true about relationship conflict?
A. It threatens productivity and interferes with the effort people put in a task,
B. It occurs over ideas and issues.
C. It is seen as the good conflict in an organization.
D. It hikes personal power for many individuals.
E. It engenders a healthy level of constructive criticism.
Q:
In organizations, the two kinds of conflicts that generally occur are:
A. time and money.
B. resource and relationship.
C. task and relationship.
D. task and idea.
E. idea and issue.
Q:
From a skills perspective, which of the following serves as a key point for managers while negotiating and mediating conflict?
A. All conflicts are of the same kind and arise from the same source.
B. There is a significant body of evidence regarding different styles of conflict resolution.
C. A manager must never interfere in a conflict and negotiate.
D. A manager must be ready with solutions to every conflict.
E. It is not a manager's duty to diagnose the conflict.
Q:
An effective mediator seeks to understand the underlying interests of each party.
Q:
To help the parties involved trust the mediator, he/she must pick sides and support one party.
Q:
Outrageous behavior can be categorized as any form of socially unacceptable conduct intended to force the other side to make a move.
Q:
The trial balloon tactic presents a question designed to assess your negotiating counterpart's position without giving away your plans.
Q:
The trial balloon tactic should be avoided because it is inherently dishonest, but this does not mean that others will not try it when you are negotiating with them.
Q:
Wincing at the right time can save you a great deal of money and gain you much better terms in some cases.
Q:
The basic idea behind using the wince tactic is to let your counterpart put on their show, while you stay focused on your own interests.
Q:
Silence is a common tactic used when a party does not like what his counterpart has said/offered.
Q:
Gaining an opportunity to consult with others is an advantage while employing the leverage of timing.
Q:
Making a deal look nonnegotiable is a lesson under the leverage of limited authority.
Q:
Once the list of options for processing is ready, the evaluation of processes follows next.
Q:
Using hypotheticals allows a manager in the generation of new solutions and opportunities.
Q:
A sheep's clothing negotiator appears to be reasonable while making impossible demands.
Q:
The mocker unnerves others by making nasty comments about their previous performance or other remarks to belittle the opponent.
Q:
You are an HR manager at a retail stationery giant. To assess how future hires will fare in teamwork, you have been recently asked to introduce leaderless group discussions as part of the hiring process. What team member behaviors will you use to assess teamwork performance of the job candidates?
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:
What is the Ringelmann effect? What is the best strategy for avoiding it?
Q:
Martha is a conscientious, highly capable, and risk-averse primary school teacher. She has been asked to be a part of a team of experienced school teachers. The purpose of this team is to make recommendations for improving teaching methods and syllabi for their school district. What kind of changes might her behavior undergo in the team setting?
Q:
What are the five stages of team development?
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:
Explain in brief the five disciplines of high-performing teams.
Q:
To execute a complex accounting project for a retail giant, an accountancy firm created a five-member team. The team members were all highly experienced and had complementary skill sets. The team was given a month's deadline to finish the project. Despite facing many hurdles, the team finished the project in three weeks. Though the team's work met the quality standards, two resenting members (Paul and Julia) thought that the quality of their work suffered due to tight deadline. Others in the team disagreed which made Paul and Julia decide never to work with this team again. Evaluate the performance of this team.
Q:
How do teams that recommend things differ from teams that make or do things?
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.
Would you have chosen the same intervention that Toby used with Team Lightning? Explain your answer and develop at least one alternative intervention.
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.
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.
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:
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 disciplines of high-performance teams is met best by the team of Blue Lightning?
A. Skills
B. Purpose
C. Norms
D. Size
E. Results
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 part of the high-performance team scorecard triggered Pat's request for an intervention?
A. Production output
B. Member satisfaction
C. Capacity for cooperation
D. Customer input
E. Peer evaluations
Q:
A team should meet face-to-face when:
A. generating new ideas.
B. conflicts must be resolved.
C. dealing with the least sensitive issues.
D. solving problems that have one right answer.
E. attempting to reduce groupthink.
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.
Q:
Is virtual team management different from traditional team management?
A. Yes. People work in remote locations and have no sense of mutual accountability for team outcomes.
B. No. The five fundamental disciplines of high team performance remain the same.
C. Yes. Because virtual teams accommodate personal lives, no team norms are established.
D. No. Goals and roles remain the only important parts of team management.
E. Yes. There is no emotion, no enthusiasm, or eagerness in a virtual team.
Q:
ATMs and open grills were conceived through which method for generating creative thought?
A. Divergent thinking
B. Subdivision
C. Deductive reasoning
D. Analogies
E. Problem reversal
Q:
_____ is a common phrase in a team that is known for creativity.
A. "We tried it before."
B. "Who else can build on that?"
C. "That's not our job."
D. "What we have is good enough."
E. "Our customers would never go for that."
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:
Judy, a team coaching expert, worked with a group of attorneys in an urban office. She administered the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to the entire staff. She subsequently facilitated discussions around such topics as communication misunderstandings, decision making, and conflict resolution. Judy conducted which of the following team interventions?
A. Dealing with free riders
B. Conducting an AAR
C. Performing a process check
D. Understanding member profiles
E. Building team cohesion
Q:
What is the best strategy to address social loafing?
A. Identifiability
B. Dispensability of effort
C. Sucker aversion
D. Choking
E. Diffusion of responsibility
Q:
Which of the following is the Ringelmann experiment that identified the social loafing tendency?
A. Rope pulling
B. Box stacking
C. Chicken plucking
D. Calf roping
E. Language learning
Q:
Randy's race car was repeatedly having mechanical failures. His team had worked with the car for months, fine-tuning the engine and upgrading all faulty components, but it still continued to develop snags. Two weeks before a big race, the owner suggested starting with a new car. The team, to a man, promised to fix the old car and failed, as it went out in the second lap. This incident illustrates the group dynamic of:
A. risky shift.
B. escalation of commitment.
C. innocent bystander.
D. choking.
E. diffusion of responsibility.