1) Managing people is not easy. Our personality and sense of control both contribute significantly to how we relate to others. Complete the Manager's Tool Kit 2.1 on page 46 and the Manager's Tool Kit 2.2 on page 48.
After you have reviewed your results from each Tool Kit, explain how your results relate to the type of manager you are or intend to be in the future. Please complete in a maximum of three paragraphs.
In other words, how does your personality type and locus of control fit with your managerial style or the style you hope to have when you become a manager?
2) In our careers as managers, we will undoubtedly be faced with making ethical decisions.
Although you may or may not be faced with one of the situations given in this assignment, it is good practice to think about ethics in the workplace and how those relate to you, your colleagues, your family and your friends.
Read "Manage What", #1, on page 120 and answer the questions at the end of the scenario. At least one-two paragraphs per question.
3) Read Management Live 5.5 on page 181. This Management Live discusses the importance of picking the right communication channel to convey different information.
Importantly, technology is not always the answer to sending messages. As evidenced at Google, where technology dominates, posters taped to doors was an effective way to draw attention. If the audience is being overloaded in one channel, presenters might want to try to send their message through another channel. Or, presenters can alter the channel in a creative way to attract attention.
Read the section in Chapter Five about communication channels as they relate to information richness and topic complexity. Consider the following messages and discuss which communication channel would be most effective in each scenario and why. You must explain your choice.
Managers at a shipping facility are concerned by the number of back injuries employees are suffering due to improper lifting techniques. Workers have already been trained on proper lifting, so how can management get the message to "stick"?
A college professor wants her students to participate in a research project in the evening. How should she send this message so students will notice it and participate?
An employee is frustrated by his job. He feels like his boss doesn't give him enough direction about the goals and expectations of the job. How can he best communicate this message to his boss?
As a manager during a company reorganization, you must tell nine workers that their employment is being terminated.