Criticism, Diversity, and Communications at Work
Make sure answer the questions using the text book “Communicating at work” 11th edition.
Graded on -
Introduction:
This essay examination is intended to give students the opportunity to demonstrate the principles of management communications from their unique perspectives. This includes demonstrating understanding of key communication theories/practices, using terminology from the textbook, incorporating personal awareness and applying lessons to personal experience. This is an open book and open notes web-based exam.
Formatting:
Although this is not a research paper, students should properly cite any sources that they use. To ensure that answers are complete but not overly lengthy, students should aim for 250-400 words in their response to each of the five essay questions.
Grading:
Final exams will be graded based on how well the student:
1. Applies communication concepts and terminology (accurately) from the textbook.
2. States their position and provides support.
3. Demonstrates critical thinking, self-awareness and insight in developing and supporting points.
4. Moves beyond general statements and goes into depth, providing specifics such as examples and detailed commentary.
5. Uses proper writing mechanics in their use of English grammar (spelling, tense, and punctuation).
Answer the following questions below write your answer below the question, make sure the questions below are included on the paper and you write the answers below the question.
Questions that need to be answered-
Q1: What does "agree with the criticism" mean as a strategy for responding to criticism? What would it look like to use this strategy for the following scenario: A co-worker comes into your office and starts criticizing you. In an angerful voice, he says that he saw you on your cell-phone during this morning's important team meeting with the client and that it was not respectful to the presenter, that it demonstrated poor customer service to the client and that you might have hurt client repeat business. For good measure, he adds, "And then you had to leave to take a call, so we had to answer one of the questions you should have handled. You're always disruptive! You are not a team player!"
As it turns out, what really happened is that the Senior VP of the company, who is out on a critical sales call, sent you an urgent text message, which you felt compelled to answer. When you saw that it required a phone call, you slipped out of the meeting. You kept the phone call as short as possible and then returned to the meeting.
Back to the scene...
After dusting yourself off -- Phew! -- how could you respond to the person criticizing you, using the "Agree with the criticism" strategy?
What would the impact be of using this approach?
Q2: Describe at least two benefits of having diversity on a team or in an organization. Next, give an example of communication challenges (different language doesn’t count for this essay question) that you might face when working in a diverse workforce. How can you minimize these challenges or bridge the differences?
Q3: Page 26 of the textbook lists seven guidelines for judging ethical communication. Using at least two of these seven, explain how you would handle the following situation, and why. (Note that the bottom of page 26 gives you useful questions to ask as you decide on your course of action. Show how these affect your decision). Here is the situation:
A coworker tells you he’s about to buy an expensive car that will strain his budget to the maximum. You recently learned he is slated to be laid off at the end of the month but were told to keep this information in strictest confidence. What would you do and why?
Q4: In a team environment, what makes a “good” communicator good? Describe three or more specific aspects of a manager’s communication that lead to success. Explain why these three qualities are important. This can be from your experience, from the textbook, or from class discussions. Just be sure to support (explain the reasons for) your assertions.
Q5: You are faced with the following scenario:
You are faced with the following situation:
You are the manager of a six-person work team. One team member likes to dominate team conversations and expresses their opinion rather aggressively with an air of "I'm always right!" Another team member, who is smart and completes their tasks, nevertheless is very shy and rarely speaks up or offers an opinion. Another member of the team has "checked out," and is failing to complete their assignments, leaving others to pick up the slack. The remaining members of your team are still invested but are losing energy and motivation as they feel weighed down by the conflicts and challenges of the team.
What might you say or do to get this team on track? Also describe the impact of your proposed actions.
Communications at Work
Institution
Course Number and Name
Instructor’s Name
Date
Student’s Name
Communications at Work
Can you imagine working in an organization where effective communication seldom takes place? Such an environment is undesirable and would ultimately impact the organization negatively. Effective communication is an integral part of an organization since it motivates employees. It is one factor that fundamentally contributes to job success (Adler et al., 2013). It also plays an instrumental role in relaying an organization’s objectives and conflict resolution. Several principles and theories shape communication in an organization. One prominent principle of communication is that it is strategic and aims at achieving the desired objective. In addition, communication comprises such aspects as organizational culture and personality traits.
Question 1
“Agree with Criticism” Strategy
Without a doubt, such criticism won't catch me unawares since it is unwarranted and destructive. However, in the spirit of teamwork, which I have been accused of lacking, I will endeavor to respond with utmost restraint and decorum. This will inevitably lessen the possibility of escalating the already volatile situation. Therefore, instead of fleeing or fighting back, I will politely ask my colleague to calm down. Then, I will implore him to furnish me with more information regarding his accusations (Adler et al., 2013). This will indicate that I take criticism seriously but do not necessarily accept blame. In this regard, I will ask my colleague to clarify some of his accusations. For instance, he has accused me of not being a team player; I will ask him to cite incidents where I demonstrated this deficiency. In addition, I will agree with the criticism by acknowledging the critic's right to his perceptions. Finally, I will venture to work for a cooperative solution. To achieve this, I will explain to the critic why I had to walk out of the meeting. I will also try to acquit myself from the accusation of being disrespectful and selfish. Once I present my perception, I will focus on not faulting his misjudgment but finding a workable solution.
Impact of the Strategy
Agreeing with criticism is critical because it helps defuse tension significantly and reach an amicable solution. In addition, the strategy would provide me with valuable insights into how some of my colleagues view me. This would help me conduct a thorough introspection and make appropriate adjustments where necessary.
Further, the strategy will enable me to respect my critic’s right to his perceptions. In addition, it will allow me to explain my conduct to the critic, which, in turn, will inevitably lead to an amicable conclusion. In a word, the strategy will help consolidate our working relationship instead of wrecking it.
Question 2
Diversity in an organization, which refers to providing equal opportunities to all employees regardless of their gender, race, or sexual orientation, is a crucial component. It has many benefits accrued to it. First, organizations that promote diversity improve their overall reputation. People perceive them as favorable employers who attract talented women and minority employees (Noe, 2020). As such, the employees feel valued, which increases their engagement and commitment. This ultimately gives their organizations a competitive edge. Second, diversity significantly reduces employee turnover because it embraces different individual perspectives and characteristics. Therefore, employees working in such an environment feel valued and appreciated, which enhances their satisfaction.
One communication challenge that one is likely to encounter when working with a diverse workforce is understanding how different races and ethnicities opt to express themselves. The amount of talk varies from one race or ethnic group to another. For example, Native American cultures incline more toward silence than mainstream U.S. culture, which espouses openness and frankness (Adler et al., 2013). This means that employees from conservative races and ethnic groups will reveal relatively little personal information, which may jeopardize efforts to nurture robust relationships. In addition, they tend to avoid open confrontations, which might complicate matters during conflict resolution.
One mechanism that can significantly reduce communication challenges in a diverse workforce is by being accommodating. This refers to accepting the different ethnic practices and integrating them into the organizational culture. This would require one to become culturally literate to understand how people from different cultures communicate. In addition, cultivating constructive attitudes can play a central role in overcoming communication challenges.
Question 3
Undoubtedly, such a situation would leave me in a huge dilemma. This is because I wish to save my colleague from making a purchase that could leave him in an unprecedented financial mess. On the other hand, I want to abide by the confidentiality that I was solemnly asked to maintain by my seniors. However, since I must make...