ASSESSMENT 1- Complete the following:

• Choose a communication situation you recently experienced within your workplace or another organization with which you are affiliated.

• Use the materials provided in the Resources or other resources from the Capella library or the Internet to research David Berlo's model of communication or the information theory of human communication process as described by Shannon and Weaver to use as starting points to analyze the communication situation you experienced.

• Summarize your experience and write an analysis of it that includes the following:

o Identify the source (sender or transmitter) and the receiver (destination) in the situation.

o Describe the message and what type of message function was it serving.

o Explain how the message was encoded. For example, what symbols, words, or ideas were used to create the message?

o Explain how the message was decoded.

o Explain how a channel or channels were used to transmit the message.

o Describe the type of noise that was experienced. You may wish to review the materials in the Resources for a description of noise in a communication situation, since noise is more than auditory sounds.

o Describe the communication context of the situation. Context includes where and when the communication took place as well as important aspects of the situation that impacted the communication, such as the mood or climate of the organization at the time of the communication.

o Compare the intended effect to the actual effect of the message. That is, what did the sender hope would be understood and what did the receivers actually understand?

o Assess whether a shared meaning or shared reality was constructed. For example, even if a message is understood, the sender and receiver may not be in agreement. If a shared meaning was not reached, what needed to change?

Additional Requirements

• Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.

• APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to APA (6th ed.) style and formatting. Include a properly formatted title page and references page.

• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.

ASSESSMENT 2- Focus on the organization for which you work or with which you are otherwise involved. Examine this company's communications related to ethical behavior within the company as well as its corporate social responsibility. Research and document the organization's internal and external communication, such as mission statements, credos, et cetera, in regard to its values and ethics. Then complete the following:

• Analyze how the company's internal communications help support ethical behavior within the company. Examples of ethical behavior include embracing diversity and protecting confidential corporate data and private data.

• Analyze how the company's external communications reflect its commitment to social responsibility. Examples of social responsibility include indicators such as dedication to community service, compassion for the disadvantaged, commitment to charitable giving, and concern for the environment.

• Propose potential improvements to internal communications that would help increase ethical behavior in the company.

• Propose potential improvements to the external communications that would help bolster the company's public perception as a socially responsible company.

Additional Requirements

• Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.

• APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to APA (6th ed.) style and formatting. Include a properly formatted title page and references page.

• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.

ASSESSMENT 3- Complete the following:

• Choose a group in which you are currently involved or have been involved in the past. A group or team associated with a current employer often works the best, but you may also use group experiences from previous employers or community activities. If possible, choose a group that may be experiencing communication difficulties.

• Prepare an investigative paper that applies group-related communication theories to your selected group. Include the following in your paper:

o Describe the characteristics of the group using all of the criteria below:

- Describe whether the team is ongoing (permanent) or ad hoc (temporary).

- Is the group a short-term group that will only exist for 1-12 months or is the group a long-standing group that has or will exist for more than one year?

- Is the group formal or informal? For example, is the group an official (that is, formal) department or committee at a company or is the group an informal collection of people such as a book club.

- Is the group self-managing or does the group have a clear consistent leader?

- Is the group best described as a primary work team or a project team? A primary work team generally takes on a variety of tasks (for example, a Human Resources Department or a Maintenance Department). Project teams typically engage in a narrow set of activities such as organizing a specific event or a taking on a single project.

o Using the 2007 Benne and Sheats article, "Functional Roles of Group Members," linked in the Resources under the Required Resources heading, analyze the formal roles and communication roles of group members:

- Group members' task roles.
- Group members' maintenance roles.
- Group members' individual roles.

o Using Bruce Tuckman's (1965) team stages model or Backlund's 2001 article, "Team Effectiveness," linked in the Resources under the Required Resources heading, describe the group stages experienced by the group.

o Analyze the group norms. Norms are the formal and informal rules groups develop. Many norms are never written down and many are not discussed openly but are still learned by group members.

o Describe positive and negative participation behaviors.

o Describe the group's use of technology for communication, such as e-mail, texting, or the Internet.

Additional Requirements

• Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.

• APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to APA (6th ed.) style and formatting. Include a properly formatted title page and references page.

• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.

ASSESSMENT 4- Complete the following:

• Choose an individual who you know personally and consider to be an effective leader. This person may be someone you have worked for or with or have been in contact with through organizations in the community.

• Research the various leadership theories and methods referenced in the assessment instructions below using the Capella library and other sources. The suggested materials in the Resources for this assessment is a good place to start.

• Write an essay detailing the selected individual's leadership style and approaches in relationship to his or her communication through the following:

o Use Charles Handy's six methods of influence to analyze how the leader influences others.

o Apply different theories related to leadership styles to describe the leader's communication.

- Describe which of Goleman's six leadership styles best fits the leader.
- Identify the leader's position on the Tannenbaum-Schmidt leadership continuum.
- Analyze the leader's place in the Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid.

o Analyze the leader's communication using Hersey and Blanchard's situational leadership theory.
o Using French and Raven's description of five leadership power types, explain how the leader communicates.

Additional Requirements

• Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.

• APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to APA (6th ed.) style and formatting. Include a properly formatted title page and references page.

• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.

ASSESSMENT 5- Complete the following:

1. Choose an organizational communication problem you have experienced in your workplace or other organization with which you are involved. Examples of organizational communication problems are as follows:

o The leaders of an organization know they have to downsize (that is, fire) a large number of employees but do not effectively communicate the situation.

o Policies at a company are not followed in different departments or at different locations because the policies are not communicated well by a central office.

o Employees with inappropriate skill sets are hired because individuals familiar with the requirements do not communicate with the individuals hiring for the position.

o Two leaders within an organization provide different directions on how employees should conduct their work.

Use any of the suggested materials listed in the Resources or search for other resources from the Capella library to examine decision-making models, and select one to apply to the organizational communication problem you have chosen.

Write a paper in which you address the following:

o Describe the organizational communication problem
o Explain the decision-making model you chose that applies to the problem.
o Use the selected decision-making model to describe solutions to the problem.

Additional Requirements

• Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.

• APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to APA (6th ed.) style and formatting. Include a properly formatted title page and references page.

• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.