ESSAY QUESTIONS ON COMMUNICATION

Outlined below are FOUR different essay questions that must be answered.

Please answer each question separately.

Each question must be 250 words. No plagarizing.

1. Identify all the ways you have communicated, using media or technology, in the past week to collaborate virtually with someone. Identify how the presence of anonymity, physical appearance, distance, and time have had an effect on your virtual communication.

2. Identify a team that you are currently participating in, or a team with which you have worked in the past. Identify norms and any explicit ground rules that were developed for the team. Even if the team did not have an explicit mission statement, as you reflect on the team goals and objectives, develop a team mission statement for the team using the guidelines presented below.

(Mission statement is a concise description of a team's goals or desired outcomes. A clearly worded mission statement helps a team know not only whether it's on task or off task but also when it has completed the task. A good team mission statement should pass the SMARTS test. It should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-bund, and should stretch the team).

SMART:

Specific: It should clearly describe what the team should accomplish
Measurable: The team must be able to assess whether the mission was achieved.
Attainable: The mission statement should be realistic given the time and resources of the teams.
Relevant: The mission should be appropriate to what the team has been assigned to do.
Time-bound: Teams should set a deadline or time frame for achieving the mission.
Stretch: The goal should be a bit of a challenge so as to stretch the team.

Here are examples of team mission statements that pass the SMART'S test:

• Our team will make 10 percent more widgets by the end of the month.
• Our team will sell more life insurance policies than any other sales team in our sales area.
• Our team will attract two new businesses to our community, which will result in an increased tax base by the end of the year.

3. Of the roles listed below, which role or roles do you typically assume in groups, teams, and meetings? Identify two task and two social roles you usually do not assume. Why don't you assume these roles?

ROLES:

Task Roles-Initiator/contributor, information seeker, opinion seeker, information giver, opinion giver, elaborator, coordinator, orienteer, evaluator/critic, energizer, procedural technician, recorder

Social Roles - Encourager, harmonizer, compromiser, gatekeeper, follower, emotion expresser, group observer, tension reliever

Individual Roles - Aggressor, blocker, recognition seeker, self-confessor, joker, dominator, special-interest pleader, help seeker.

4. Develop a meeting agenda for an upcoming meeting. Develop a meeting goal or goals, and identify the sequence of agenda items. After you have written your agenda, write a brief explanation of why you structured your agenda as you did. Use the information outlined below as a basis for your rationale.

• Identify meeting issues and questions
• Group issues and questions according to meeting goals
• Estimate how much time to budget for each question or issue
• Strategically sequence agenda items

SAMPLE AGENDA:

Meeting Place: The Centennial Building, Abernathy Conference Room
Meeting Time: Tuesday, September 19, 2015 at 3:00 pm
Meeting Goals: At the end of the meeting, meeting participants should be able to

1. Identify positive and negative reactions to the finance report.
2. Describe how the new employment policy will influence hiring practices.
3. Identify strategies to increase sales.

I. DISCUSSION ITEMS

A. Are there any other agenda items we need to discuss today?
B. What are positive and negative reactions to the finance report distributed before the meeting?
C. How will the new employment policy influence hiring practices?

II. ACTION ITEM

What can be done to improve our sales figures during the next sales period?

III. INFORMATION ITEMS

Announcements.