For this culminating activity, read the following ten communication scenarios and then answer the questions that follow, and submit them to this dropbox. Be sure to be thorough in your responses. Provide detail and examples to support your responses. Brief responses will NOT receive full credit. This project is worth 100 points.10 pts. per scenario.
- Scenario: Ted, the department supervisor, sees one of his employees in the breakroom and asks her to prepare a report with charts and data included for a presentation he’s doing on Friday. The employee responds that she will have no problem getting the report completed by Friday. Unfortunately, Ted did not explain to the employee that he needed the report by Friday morning in order to make his presentation. Friday at 10 a.m., the employee hasn’t started working on it, thinking she could deliver it anytime during the day. Ted has now missed his deadline and is furious with his employee. Discuss the communication issue here and the effect of the issue on the employee.
- Scenario: The following week, Bill sits down with another employee to give him feedback on a recent project he completed for Bill. Bill proceeded to point out the negatives of the report for the next 15 minutes and ended the meeting with two brief positive remarks. Bill’s employee left the office hurt and dejected. Discuss the communication issue here and how it might be improved in the future.
- Scenario: While Jeff was on his way out of the office to go home for the day, he was approached by his administrative assistant, Samantha. Samantha was upset and said to Jeff, “I just received a phone call that my Grandmother is not doing well. She has been admitted to the hospital and it doesn’t look good. My family suggests I take an “unplanned vacation” to go see her before she dies.” Jeff says he’s sorry but he just can’t spare you this week-he needs you for an important project they’re working on. Discuss the communication issue here from the point of view of Samantha and Jeff.
- Scenario: On Tuesday, four employees were gathered in the company breakroom sharing stories about difficulties they were having with a local vendor. Katie came into the room and began sharing that their stories “were nothing compared to what’s happened to her.” The employees politely smiled and quickly returned to their work stations.Discuss the communication issue here. Discuss the point of view of Katie and the employees.
- Scenario: Later that afternoon, one of Bill’s employees overheard him scolding his administrative assistant, “Did you use a ruler to get that line? What, can’t you just close an envelope like a normal person?” “figure it out yourself” “Every day you have to make a mistake?” and finally, “Hey we don’t have any maintenance guys scheduled to come in soon, mind going out and emptying everyone’s trash?” Discuss the communication issue here. Discuss the point of view of the assistant. Discuss ways to fix this issue.
- Scenario: The company CEO asked Matt to hire an unpaid intern, working for class credit and public relations experience who has completed course work and is looking for a job in a tight market. The intern wants public relations experience that will benefit his job search but Matt refuses to give him meaningful tasks that will help him build his skills. He has been answering the phone and filing while Matt has been out of the office in meetings for hours at a time. Now Matt is behind in completing his next project. In order to get caught up, Matt tells you to hire a mailing service or temp to get the work done. You want to assign the job to the intern. Should you do this? Identify the ethical issues and/or conflicts. Make a decision and offer a brief rationale.
- Listening Scenario: You have been employed at a new company for about six months. A co-worker, David, has been repeatedly sexually harassing you. You finally decide you’ve had enough and decide to file a complaint with Human Resources. You meet with the HR Director, Monica. During your meeting, she never takes any notes as you speak. She keeps checking her phone and also her Facebook on her laptop. You notice that she is doodling on her notepad. At the end of the conversation, you wonder if she really understood your concern at all. Has Monica shown active listening behavior? What non-verbal cues has she shown the employee about her level of interest? Discuss how you, the employee, feel after your meeting? Do you feel that your concerns were heard?
- Scenario: You arrive at the grocery store you work at in a bad mood because someone cut you off on the freeway. Your co-worker, Max, reminds you that you are responsible for unloading canned vegetables from a truck this morning. The truck is already there and waiting when you arrive and the driver needs to leave shortly. You yell at Max, telling him you’ll unload it when you’re good and ready to. Your manager, Sasha, sees and hears all of this. Now you are in her office and she wants to address the situation. How could you have handled this differently? What steps can you take to make things right? How do you think Max feels after your conversation? If you were Sasha how would you feel about this employee?
Scenario: You are part of a team that is preparing a presentation for a major conference. The final meeting on the presentation is this morning at 9 a.m. There are four participants: Mia, Julio, James and yourself. You arrive in the meeting room at 8:55 and James is there. Julio arrives at 9:02. You continue to wait for Mia to arrive so you can begin. No one has heard from her. You are getting irritated and feeling anxious. At 9:10 you can feel your muscles tightening and breathing increasing. James and Julio are visibly angry and talking about how stressed they are. You NEED to get this done today. At 9:20, all of you are fidgeting and decide to begin. At 9:23, Mia arrives with no apology or explanation. Discuss the communication issue(s) here. Discuss how this situation might be better handled in the future. Explain how Mia’s lack of concern for the other team members makes them feel.
Scenario: You are selected to present the new advertising campaign your marketing team has worked up for a new client. If you can close the deal, it will mean a huge financial win for the advertising firm. You want the presentation to look great to your marketing director, Scott. However, speaking in front of people is a secret fear of yours. You decide to practice the presentation in front of your team member, Samantha. You talk fast to get it over as soon as possible. You don’t smile or make eye contact. You fold your arms and stay as serious as possible. You have a very long and complicated slide presentation that has no focus. Samantha has a hard time listening to your monotone voice. The practice presentation was a disaster. You don’t have much time until the real thing! What did you do during your practice presentation that was ineffective? If Samantha were the potential client, would she have hired your advertising firm based on your presentation? What should you change and do for the real presentation to make it more effective? How could Scott, as your director, help you improve? What could your other marketing team members do to help the situation?
No more than 2-3 paragraph response for each scenario.
