Human Relations U3.1

Chapter 1 A Framework for Interpersonal Skill Development

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Learning Objectives

After reading and studying this chapter and completing the exercises, you should be able to

1. Explain how interpersonal skills are learned.

2. Explain the model for interpersonal skills improvement, including how to set goals effectively.

3. Pinpoint your needs for improvement in interpersonal relations.

4. Describe potential opportunities for developing interpersonal skills on the job.

When Marissa Mayer was 24 years old, she joined Google as employee number 20. While at Google, she ran the company’s search group and worked on successful products such as Gmail. Her last position with the company was vice president, local, maps, and location services, placing her just below Google’s top-executives suite. At age 37, Mayer joined Yahoo! as chief executive and president, the company’s seventh CEO. Her mission was to turn around a company that had lost ground as perhaps the best-known search and content company on the Internet.

At once, the vivacious, glamorous, and super-intelligent Mayer became a celebrity CEO, receiving worldwide publicity. At Stanford University, Mayer majored in symbolic systems, a course of studies that includes psychology, linguistics, philosophy, and computer science. The aim of the program is to understand how people learn and reason, and to endow computers with human-like behavior. A dorm-mate of Mayer’s who later became an information technology executive said that although Mayer was shy, she was not a loner. He claims that Mayer stood out because she had unusual balance along with a deep understanding of people and how to relate to them effectively.

Mayer was a standout at high school, too being captain of the debate club and the pom-pom team. She was known for scheduling long pom-pom practices to make sure that everyone was synchronized. She was also recognized for her exceptional talent in choreography as well as her fairness; she made sure the best dancers made the team.

At Google, Mayer was obsessively driven, working 90 hours per week when necessary to complete a key project. She developed a reputation for being brusque with people and quick to criticize team members when she disagreed with their ideas. Yet at the same time, Mayer respected others‘ talents and had many positive personal qualities that helped her attain popularity. At Google, Mayer became a leader who motivated individuals because she nurtured talent.

Part of Mayer’s leadership style is to empower employees and urge them to make constructive changes. In her first few months at Yahoo!, she personally approved every new hire to help assure that talented and well-motivated people were joining the company. One of her first moves at the company to please employees was to provide free food in the company cafeteria and free smartphones for all employees.

Mayer’s interest in employees also includes establishing a connection with Yahoo!’s programmers by engaging them in regular e-mail exchanges with software engineers who report to other managers in the company. She also initiated weekly “FYI” meetings every Friday in which employees are able to ask her questions, and new hires are announced. [1]

One of the several themes in this story about the famous Internet executive is that even at the highest level in an organization, skill in human relations facilitates success. Mayer may be work-obsessed and technology-obsessed, but at the same time she relates well to many people and has a deep concern for the welfare and development of others. The Dale Carnegie organization explains that because the workplace today emphasizes collaboration, motivation, and leadership, outstanding interpersonal skills are quite important. [2]

Effective interpersonal relations must be combined with technical knowledge and good work habits to achieve success in any job involving interaction with people. Workers at all levels are expected not only to solve problems and improve processes (how work is performed), but also to interact effectively with other employees. [3]  Two employment specialists found that being enjoyable to work with is the most important indicator of employability. Joyce Hogan and Kimberly Brinkmeyer analyzed the content of employment ads across the United States. Of the total positions advertised, 47 percent required strong interpersonal skills. The same skills were identified as essential for 71 percent of the positions involving client contact and 78 percent of the positions requiring coworker interaction. [4]

The viewpoint of Bob McJury, the vice president for sales of a graphics company, places the importance of interpersonal skills on a more personal and less statistical basis. He observes that the basics of being courteous to people are very important for the success of his company. [5]

Furthermore, the lack of good interpersonal skills can adversely affect a person’s career. A study found that 90 percent of firings result from poor attitudes, inappropriate behavior, and problems in interpersonal relationships, rather than substandard technical skills. [6]  An example of poor interpersonal relations that led to job loss was a receptionist at a boat dealer who told several potential customers something to this effect: “Are you just here to look? You don’t look like you could afford one of our speedboats.”

Another way of looking at the importance of interpersonal skills is that they enable you to connect with others, thereby being more successful in business. Author Susan Scott observes that the next frontier for growth in business lies in the area of human connectivity. [7]

This chapter explains how people develop interpersonal skills and presents a model that can serve as a foundation for improving your interpersonal skills. In addition, the chapter explains how the workplace can be a natural setting for developing interpersonal skills.

Plan of The Book

1. Learning Objective 1

This entire book is devoted to many different ways of improving interpersonal relations in organizations. A three-part strategy is presented for achieving the high level of effectiveness in interpersonal relations required in today’s workplace.

First, each chapter presents key concepts required for understanding a particular aspect of interpersonal relations, such as resolving conflict. Second, the chapter provides specific suggestions or behavioral guidelines for improvement in the aspect of interpersonal relations under consideration. Third, a variety of exercises give you the opportunity to work on and improve your skills. Among these exercises are self-assessment quizzes, skill-building exercises, and cases for analysis. In addition, the questions at the end of each chapter give you an opportunity to think through and apply the key ideas in the chapter.  Figure 1-1  illustrates the plan of the book.

Much of this book is concerned with  interpersonal skills training , the teaching of skills for dealing with others so they can be put into practice.

interpersonal skills training

The teaching of skills for dealing with others so that they can be put into practice.

Interpersonal skills training is referred to as soft-skills training to differentiate it from technical training. (Technical skill training is referred to as hard-skills training.) Soft-skills training builds interpersonal skills, including communication, listening, group problem solving, cross-cultural relations, and customer service. In recent years, business schools have pushed the teaching of soft skills such as accepting feedback with grace and speaking

Figure 1-1 Plan for Achieving Effectiveness in Interpersonal Relations

with respect to subordinates. The reason is that many corporate executives think that these skills are essential for future business leaders. [8]  Several other specific competencies related to soft skills are as follows:

· Effectively translating and conveying information

· Being able to accurately interpret other people’s emotions

· Being sensitive to other people’s feelings

· Calmly arriving at resolutions to conflicts

· Avoiding negative gossip

· Being polite [9]

· Being able to cooperate with others to meet objectives (teamwork)

· Providing leadership to others in terms of the relationship aspects of leadership

Soft-skills training is more important than ever as organizations realize that a combination of human effort and technology is needed to produce results. Multiple studies have shown that soft skills can compensate somewhat for not having superior cognitive (or analytical) intelligence. For example, a supervisor with good interpersonal skills might perform well even if he or she is not outstandingly intelligent.

Soft skills are often the differentiating factor between adequate and outstanding performance because dealing with people is part of so many jobs. [10]  Assume that a company establishes an elaborate social networking site to enable employees to exchange work-related information with each other. The system will not achieve its potential unless employees are motivated to use it properly and develop a spirit of cooperation. The employees must also be willing to share some of their best ideas with each other. Consider this example:

Sonya, a newly hired intake receptionist in a cardiac clinic, notices that too often the patients present incomplete or inaccurate information, such as omitting data about their next of kin. Sonya spends considerable amounts of time reworking forms with the patients, until she begins using soft skills more effectively. With coaching from her supervisor, Sonya learns that if she attempts to calm down a patient first, the patient is more likely to complete the intake form accurately.

Well-known executive coach Marshall Goldsmith reminds us that building relationships with people is important for workers at every level in the organization, including the CEO. An example of an interpersonal skill that can help build relationships is demanding good results from others and showing them respect at the same time. [11]

The following Job-Oriented Interpersonal Skills in Action box can jumpstart a person’s career.

A Model for Improving Interpersonal Skills

1. Learning Objective 2

Acquiring and improving interpersonal skills is facilitated by following a basic model of learning as it applies to changing your behavior. Learning is a complex subject, yet its fundamentals follow a five-part sequence, as shown in  Figure 1-2 . To change your behavior,

Figure 1-2 A Model for Improving Interpersonal Skills

Job-Oriented Interpersonal Skills in Action Jeremy Gets Rewarded for His Interpersonal Skills

Jeremy works as an electronics technician for Event Planners, a company that specializes in setting up exhibits for companies and trade associations at business meetings and conventions. Jeremy’s work is highly specialized and requires installing and uninstalling electronics in compressed periods of time. All of the electronics have to work well, including panel displays, television sets, and computers. The planned events usually take place over a three-day to one-week time period, leaving little time to make repairs if the displays are set up incorrectly.

While returning home from a convention in Chicago, Jeremy received a text message from Katie, his manager: “Can you make a Monday 9 a.m. meeting in my cubicle? Have good news for you.” Jeremy thought, “If Pamela wants to meet with me in person rather than virtually, this must be big.” Jeremy sent back a text message immediately that he would make the meeting.

At the meeting, Pamela offered Jeremy a promotion to the position of team leader. The present team leader was moving to another position in the company, creating the vacancy. Jeremy would still have some responsibility for installing the electronic parts of exhibit booths, but his primary role would be as a team leader (also known as a crew supervisor). Jeremy’s salary would be immediately increased by 10 percent.

With a big smile on his face, Jeremy said, “Wow, Pamela, that’s a great offer, and I accept immediately. I love Event Planners, and I really want more responsibility. But why did you choose me? A few of the other members of the team have more experience than me, and they are very good workers.”

Pamela replied, “My boss and I both chose you for the same reason. In addition to your good technical qualifications, you work great with people. You are polite and friendly, and from what I hear, you give your coworkers encouragement when they need it the most. When the pressure is enormous, you help others stay calm.”

“Thank you for your encouragement, Pamela,” said Jeremy. “I can’t wait for our next exhibit installation.”

Questions

1. To what extent is Pamela justified in promoting Jeremy to team leader over other, more experienced workers just because he has good people skills?

2. From the few statements made by Jeremy above, which good interpersonal skills are you able to detect?

and therefore improve, you need a goal and a way to measure your current reality against this goal. You also need a way to assess that reality and a way to obtain feedback on the impact of your new actions. [12]

Goal or Desired State of Affairs

Changing your behavior, including enhancing your interpersonal relations, requires a clear goal or desired state of affairs. Your goal can also be regarded as what you want to accomplish as a result of your effort. A major reason having a specific goal is important is that it improves performance and increases personal satisfaction. With a goal in mind, you keep plugging away until you attain it, thereby increasing personal satisfaction and improving your performance. Goals are also important because if people perceive that they have not attained their goal, they typically increase their effort or modify their strategy for reaching the goal. [13]

Having a goal helps provide motivation and makes it possible to exercise the self-discipline necessary to follow through on your plans. In short, the goal focuses your effort on acquiring the improvements in behavior you seek.

Here we turn to Sean, a credit analyst who is being blocked from promotion because his manager perceives him as having poor interpersonal skills. After a discussion with his manager, Sean recognizes that he must improve his interpersonal relations if he wants to become a team leader.

Sean’s goal is to be considered worthy of promotion to a leadership position. To achieve his goal, he will have to achieve the general goal of improving his interpersonal relations. By conferring with the human resources director, Sean learns that his broad goal of “improving my interpersonal relations” will have to be supported by more specific goals. Having poor interpersonal relations or “rubbing people the wrong way” is reflected in many different behaviors. To begin, Sean selects one counterproductive behavior to improve: He is exceptionally intolerant of others and does not hide his intolerance. Sean’s goal is to become less intolerant and more patient in his dealings with others on the job.

1. State each goal as a positive statement.

2. Formulate specific goals.

3. Formulate concise goals.

4. Set realistic goals as well as stretch goals.

5. Set goals for different time periods.

Figure 1-3 Guidelines for Goal Setting

Fine Points about Goal Setting

So far, we have made goal setting seem easy. A truer description of goal setting is that it involves several fine points to increase the probability that the goal will be achieved. Key points about setting effective goals are outlined in  Figure 1-3  and described next.

1. State Each Goal as a Positive Statement: To express your goals in positive statements is likely to be more energizing than focusing on the negative. [14]  An example of a positive statement would be, “During the next year when I am attending networking events, I will create a positive, professional impression with everybody I meet.” The negative counterpart would be, “During the next year, I will avoid making a fool of myself when I am attending networking events.” Despite this suggestion, there are times when a negative goal is useful, such as in reducing errors.

2. Formulate Specific Goals: A goal such as “attain success” is too vague to serve as a guide to daily action. A more useful goal would be to state specifically what you mean by success and when you expect to achieve it. For example, “I want to be the manager of patient services at a large medical clinic by January 1, 2018, and receive above-average performance reviews.”

3. Formulate Concise Goals: A useful goal can usually be expressed in a short, punchy statement; for example: “Decrease input errors in bank statements so that customer complaints are decreased by 25 percent by September 30 of this year.” People new to goal setting typically commit the error of formulating lengthy, rambling goal statements. These lengthy goals involve so many different activities that they fail to serve as specific guides to action.

4. Set Realistic as Well as Stretch Goals: A realistic goal is one that represents the right amount of challenge for the person pursuing the goal. On the one hand, easy goals are not very motivational; they may not spring you into action. On the other hand, goals that are too far beyond your capabilities may lead to frustration and despair because there is a good chance you will fail to reach them. The extent to which a goal is realistic depends on a person’s capabilities.

An easy goal for an experienced person might be a realistic goal for a beginner.  Self-efficacy  is also a factor in deciding whether a goal is realistic. (The term refers to the confidence in your ability to carry out a specific task.) The higher your self-efficacy, the more likely you are to think that a particular goal is realistic. A person with high self-efficacy for learning Chinese might say, “I think learning two new Chinese words a day is realistic.”

self-efficacy

The confidence in your ability to carry out a specific task.

Several goals that stretch your capability might be included in your list of goals. An extreme stretch goal might be for a store manager trainee to become the vice president of merchandising for Target within four years. Another type of stretch goal is striving for a noble cause. A Home Depot supervisor might not get excited about having the store associates load lumber onto the steel shelves, but she might get excited about the lumber being used to build homes, schools, and hospitals.

5. Set Goals for Different Time Periods: Goals are best set for different time periods, such as daily, short range, medium range, and long range. Daily goals are essentially a to-do list. Short-range goals cover the period from approximately one week to one year into the future. Finding a new job, for example, is typically a short-range goal. Medium-range goals relate to events that will take place within approximately two to five years. They concern such things as the type of education or training you plan to undertake and the next step in your career.

Long-range goals refer to events taking place five years into the future and beyond. As such, they relate to the overall lifestyle you wish to achieve, including the type of work and family situation you hope to have. Although every person should have a general idea of a desirable lifestyle, long-range goals should be flexible. You might, for example, plan to stay single until age 40. But while on vacation next summer, you might just happen to meet the right partner for you.

Short-range goals make an important contribution to attaining goals of longer duration. If a one-year career goal is to add 25 worthwhile contacts to your social network, a good way to motivate yourself is to search for two contacts per month for 11 months, and search for three in the remaining month. Progress toward a larger goal is self-rewarding.

Assessing Reality

The second major requirement for a method of changing behavior is to assess reality. Sean needs a way to assess how far he is from his goal of being eligible for promotion and how intolerant he is perceived to be. Sean has already heard from his manager, Alison, that he is not eligible for promotion right now. Sean might want to dig for more information by finding answers to the following questions:

· “If I were more tolerant, would I be promoted now?”

· “How bad are my interpersonal relations in the office?”

· “How many people in the office think I rub them the wrong way?”

· “How many deficiencies do my manager and coworkers perceive me to have?”

A starting point in answering these questions might be for Sean to confer with Alison about his behavior. To be more thorough, however, Sean might ask a friend in the office to help him answer the questions. A coworker is sometimes in an excellent position to provide feedback on how one is perceived by others in the office. Sean could also ask a confidant outside the office about his intolerance. Sean could ask a parent, a significant other, or both about the extent of his intolerance.

An Action Plan

The learning model needs some mechanism to change the relationship between the person and the environment. An  action plan  is a series of steps to achieve a goal. Without an action plan, a personal goal will be elusive. The person who sets the goal may not initiate steps to make his or her dream (a high-level goal) come true. If your goal is to someday become a self-employed business owner, your action plan should include saving money, establishing a good credit rating, and developing dozens of contacts.

action plan

A series of steps to achieve a goal.

Sean has to take some actions to improve his interpersonal relations, especially by reducing his intolerance. The change should ultimately lead to the promotion he desires. Sean’s action plan for becoming more tolerant includes the following:

· Pausing to attempt to understand why a person is acting the way he or she does. An example is attempting to understand why a sales representative wants to extend credit to a customer with a poor credit rating.

· Learning to control his own behavior so that he does not make intolerant statements just because he is experiencing pressure.

· Taking a course in interpersonal skills or human relations.

· Asking Alison to give him a quick reminder whenever she directly observes or hears of him being intolerant toward customers or workmates.

A fundamental reason that action plans often lead to constructive changes is the “do good, be good” method. It capitalizes on the well-established principle that our attitudes and beliefs often stem from our behaviors rather than precede them. [15]  If Sean, or anybody else, starts being tolerant of and accepting toward people, he will soon believe that tolerance is important.

In addition to formulating these action plans, Sean must have the self-discipline to implement them. For example, he should keep a log of situations in which he was intolerant and those in which he was tolerant. He might also make a mental note to attempt to be cooperative and flexible in most of his dealings at work. When a customer does not provide all of the information that Sean needs to assess his or her creditworthiness, Sean should remind himself to say, “I want to process your credit application as quickly as possible. To do this, I need some important additional information.” Sean’s previous reflex in the same situation had been to snap, “I can’t read your mind. If you want to do business with us, you’ve got to stop hiding the truth.”

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Feedback on Actions

The fourth step in the learning model is to measure the effects of one’s actions against reality. You obtain feedback on the consequences of your actions. When your skill-improvement goal is complex, such as becoming more effective at resolving conflict, you will usually have to measure your progress in several ways. You will also need both short- and long-term measures of the effectiveness of your actions. Long-term measures are important because skill-development activities of major consequence have long-range implications.

To obtain short-range feedback, Sean can consult with Alison to see whether she has observed any changes in his tolerance. Alison can also collect any feedback she hears from others in the office. Furthermore, Sean will profit from feedback over a prolonged period of time, perhaps one or two years. He will be looking to see whether his image has changed from an intolerant person who rubs people the wrong way to a tolerant person who has cordial interactions with others.

You will often need to be persistent and encouraging to obtain useful feedback from others. Many people are hesitant to give negative feedback because of a conscious or preconsicious recognition that the recipient of the negative feedback might become hostile and retaliate. [16]  The recipient of the negative feedback might appear hurt and respond with a statement such as, “I’m not perfect, and neither are you.”

Frequent Practice

The final step in the learning model makes true skill development possible. Implementing the new behavior and using feedback for fine-tuning is an excellent start in acquiring a new interpersonal skill. For the skill to be long lasting, however, it must be integrated into your usual way of conducting yourself.

In Sean’s case, he will have to practice being tolerant regularly until it becomes a positive habit. After a skill is programmed into your repertoire, it becomes a habit. This is important because a skill involves many habits. For example, good customer service skills include the habits of smiling and listening carefully. After you attempt the new interpersonal skills described in this book, you will need to practice them frequently to make a noticeable difference in your behavior. Changes may appear unnnatural at first, but with practice they become ingrained behavioral tendencies and a means of relating to other people. [17]

A sports analogy is appropriate here. Assume that Ashley, a tennis player, takes a lesson to learn how to hit the ball with greater force. The instructor points out that the reason she is not hitting with much force is that she is relying too much on her arm and not enough on her leg and body strength. To hit the ball with more force, Ashley is told that she must put one foot out in front of her when she strikes the ball (she must “step into” the ball).

Skill-Building Exercise 1-1

1.

Applying the Model for Improving Interpersonal Skills

The model for improving interpersonal skills is aimed at developing skills. At the same time, becoming effective in applying the model is a valuable skill in itself. You will need to apply the model perhaps a few times before you can become effective at developing an interpersonal skill when you want to. To get started with the model, attempt to develop an important, yet basic, interpersonal skill. For illustrative purposes, begin with enhancing your ability to give recognition to others for actions and words you consider meritorious. If you are already good at giving recognition, you can enhance your skill even further. For additional information, you might want to refer to the discussion about giving recognition in  Chapter 11 . The exercise under discussion should take a few minutes here and there to spread out over several weeks.

1. Step 1.Goal or Desired State of Affairs

Your goal here is to learn how to give recognition or to enhance further your skill in giving recognition. You want to recognize others in such a way that they are encouraged to keep up the good work. (Or perhaps you have another related goal.)

2. Step 2.Assessing Reality

Ask a few confidants how good you already are in giving recognition. Ask questions such as, “How good have I been in saying thank you?” “When you have done something nice for me, how did I react to you?” “How many thank-you e-mails and text messages have I sent you since you’ve known me?” Also, reflect on your own behavior in such matters as giving a server a big tip for exceptional service or explaining to a tech specialist how much he or she has helped you. Ask yourself whether you have ever thanked a teacher for an outstanding course or explained to a coach how much his or her advice helped you.

3. Step 3.Action Plan

What are you going to do in the next few weeks to recognize the meritorious behavior of others? Will you be sending thank-you e-mails, text messages, and warmly worded postal cards; offering smiles and handshakes to people who help you; or giving larger-than-usual tips for excellent service with an explanation of why the tip is so large? Part of the action plan will be who are you going to recognize, where you are going to recognize them, when you will be giving recognition, and how (what form of recognition) you will be giving it.

4. Step 4.Feedback on Actions

Observe carefully how people react to your recognition. Do they smile? Do they shrug off your form of recognition? It is especially important to observe how the person reacts to you during your next interaction. For example, does the server who you tipped so generously give you a big welcome? Does the bank teller who you thanked so sincerely seem eager to cash your next check? If you do not get the intended result from your recognition efforts, you might need to fine-tune your sincerity. Maybe when you sent a recognition e-mail or text message, you did not mention the person’s name, and just wrote “Hey.” Maybe you did not combine a thank you with a smile. Analyze carefully the feedback you receive.

5. Step 5.Frequent Practice

For this exercise, perhaps you can only practice giving recognition in one or two settings. Yet if this exercise appears promising, you might continue to practice in the future. Should you continue to practice, you will be taking a personal step to make the world a better place.

Under the watchful eye of the coach, Ashley does put a foot out in front when she strikes the ball. Ashley is excited about the good results. But if Ashley fails to make the same maneuver with her feet during her tennis matches, she will persist in hitting weakly. If Ashley makes the effort to use her legs more effectively on almost every shot, she will soon integrate the new movement into her game.

In summary, the basics of a model for learning skills comprise five steps: goal or desired state of affairs → assessing reality → an action plan → feedback on actions → frequent practice. You must exercise self-discipline to complete each step. If you skip a step, you will be disappointed with the results of your interpersonal skill-development program.

Identification of Developmental Needs

1. Learning Objective 3

An important concept in skill development is that people are most likely to develop new skills when they feel the need for change. A person might reflect, “Hardly anybody ever takes my suggestions seriously, in either face-to-face or electronic meetings. I wonder what I’m doing wrong?” This person is probably ready to learn how to become a more persuasive communicator.

As you read this book and complete the experiential exercises, you will probably be more highly motivated to follow through with skill development in areas in which you think you need development. A specific area in which a person needs to change is referred to as a  developmental need . For instance, some people may be too shy, too abrasive, or too intolerant, and some may not give others the encouragement they need.

developmental need

A specific area in which a person needs to change or improve.

To improve interpersonal skills, we must be aware of how we are perceived by people who interact with us. Developmental needs related to interpersonal skills can be identified in several ways. First, if you are candid with yourself you can probably point to areas in which you recognize that change is needed. You might reflect on your experiences and realize that you have had repeated difficulty in resolving conflict. Second, a related approach is to think of feedback you have received. If there has been consistency in asking you to improve in a particular area, you could hypothesize that the feedback has merit. Perhaps five different people have told you that you are not a good team player. “Becoming a better team player” might therefore be one of your developmental needs.

A third approach to assessing developmental needs is to solicit feedback. Ask the opinion of people who know you well to help you identify needs for improvement with respect to interpersonal skills. Present and previous managers are a valuable source of this type of feedback. (As mentioned earlier, you may have to be persistent to obtain feedback because many people are hesistant to provide negative feedback.)

A fourth approach to pinpointing developmental needs is closely related to the previous three: feedback from performance evaluations. If you have worked for a firm that uses performance evaluations to help people develop, you may have received constructive suggestions during the evaluation. For example, one manager told his assistant, “You need to project more self-confidence when you answer the phone. You sound so unsure and vague when you talk on the telephone. I have noticed this, and several customers have joked about it.” The recipient of this feedback was prompted to participate in assertiveness training in which she learned how to express herself more positively.

Self-Assessment Quiz 1-1  gives you the opportunity to identify your developmental needs. The same exercise is a first step in improving your interpersonal relations on the job because identification of a problem is the first–and most important–step toward change. For example, if you cite improving your relationships with people from cultures different from your own, you have planted the seeds for change. You are then more likely to seek out people from other cultures in the workplace or at school and cultivate their friendship.

Now that you (and perhaps another person) have identified specific behaviors that may require change, you need to draw up an action plan. Proceed with your action plan even though you have just begun studying this text, but peek ahead to relevant chapters if you wish. Describe briefly a plan of attack for bringing about the change you hope to achieve for each statement that is checked. Ideas for your action plan can come from information presented anywhere in this text, from outside reading, or from talking to a person experienced in dealing with people. A basic example would be to study materials about customer service and observe an effective model if you checked “I feel awkward dealing with a customer.”

Universal Needs for Improving Interpersonal Relations

We have just described how understanding your unique developmental needs facilitates improving your interpersonal skills. There are also areas for skill improvement in interpersonal relationships that are shared by most managerial, professional, technical, and sales personnel. These common areas for improvement are referred to as  universal training needs . Almost any professional person, for example, could profit from enhancing his or her negotiation and listening skills.

universal training need

An area for improvement common to most people.

This book provides the opportunity for skill development in a number of universal training needs. In working through these universal training needs, be aware that many of them will also fit your specific developmental needs. A given universal training need can be an individual’s developmental need at the same time. It is reasonable to expect that you will be more strongly motivated to improve skills that relate closely to your developmental needs.

Self-Assessment Quiz 1-1

1.

What Are Your Developmental Needs?

This exercise is designed to heighten your self-awareness of areas in which you could profit from personal improvement. It is not a test, and there is no score; yet your answers to the checklist may prove helpful to you in mapping out a program of improvement in your interpersonal relations.

Directions:

Following are many specific aspects of behavior that suggest a person needs improvement in interpersonal skills. Check each statement that is generally true for you. You can add to the validity of this exercise by having one or two other people who know you well answer this form as they think it describes you. Then compare your self-analyses with their analyses of you.

	Place check mark in this column.
1. I’m too shy.
2. I’m too overbearing and obnoxious.
3. I intimidate too many people.
4. I have trouble expressing my feelings.
5. I make negative comments about people too readily.
6. I have a difficult time solving problems when working in a group.
7. I’m a poor team player.
8. Very few people listen to me.
9. It is difficult for me to relate well to people from different cultures.
10. When I’m in conflict with another person, I usually lose.
11. I hog too much time in meetings or in class.
12. I’m very poor at office politics.
13. People find me boring.
14. It is difficult for me to criticize others.
15. I’m too serious most of the time.
16. My temper is too often out of control.
17. I avoid controversy in dealing with others.
18. It is difficult for me to find things to talk about with others.
19. I don’t get my point across well.
20. I feel awkward dealing with a customer.
21. I am a poor listener.
22. I don’t get the importance of ethics in business.
23. My attempts to lead others have failed.
24. I rarely smile when I am with other people.
25. I don’t get along well with people who are from a different ethnic or racial group than mine.
26. I multitask when people are talking to me.
27. I insult too many people on social networking sites.
28.                               (Fill in your own statement.)

The major universal training needs covered in this text are as follows:

1. Understanding individual differences: To deal effectively with others in the workplace, it is necessary to recognize that people have different capabilities, needs, and interests.

2. Self-esteem and self-confidence: To function effectively with people in most work and personal situations, people need to feel good about themselves and believe that they can accomplish important tasks. Although self-esteem and self-confidence are essentially attitudes about the self, they also involve skills such as attaining legitimate accomplishments and using positive self-talk.

3. Interpersonal communication: Effective communication with people is essential for carrying out more than 50 percent of the work conducted by most professional and managerial workers.

4. Behaving appropriately when using digital devices: Digital devices are integrated into most facets of our work and personal lives. Knowing how to use various electronic devices and systems, including e-mail, cell phones, and smartphones, in a positive and constructive way instead of being uncivil and unproductive can be a major contributor to building your interpersonal relationships.

5. Developing teamwork skills: The most sweeping change in the organization of work in the last 40 years has been a shift to teams and away from traditional departments. Knowing how to be an effective team player therefore enhances your chances for success in the modern organization.

6. Group problem solving and decision making: As part of the same movement that emphasizes work teams, organizations now rely heavily on group problem solving. As a consequence, being an above-average contributor to group problem solving is a key part of effective interpersonal relations on the job. In addition to solving the problem, a decision must be made.

7. Cross-cultural relations: The modern workplace has greater cultural diversity than ever before. Being able to deal effectively with people from different cultures, from within and outside your own country, is therefore an important requirement for success.

8. Resolving conflicts with others: Conflict in the workplace is almost inevitable as people compete for limited resources. Effective interpersonal relations are therefore dependent upon knowing how to resolve conflict successfully.

9. Becoming an effective leader: In today’s organizations, a large number of people have the opportunity to practice leadership, even if on temporary assignment. Enhancing one’s leadership skills is therefore almost a universal requirement.

10. Motivating others: Whether you have the title of manager or leader or are working alone, you have to know how to motivate the people who you depend on to get your work accomplished. Given that few people are gifted motivators, most people can profit from skill development in motivation.

11. Helping others develop and grow: As power is shared in organizations among managers and individual contributors (nonmanagers) alike, more people are required to help each other develop and grow. To carry out this role, most of us need skill development in coaching and mentoring.

12. Positive political skills: Whether you work in a small or large firm, part of having effective interpersonal relationships is being able to influence others in such a way that your interests are satisfied. Positive political skills help you satisfy your interests without being unethical or devious.

13. Customer service skills: The current emphasis on customer satisfaction dictates that every worker should know how to provide good service to customers. Most people can benefit from strengthening their skills in serving both external

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and internal customers. (Internal customers are the people with whom you interact on the job.)

14. Enhancing ethical behavior: Although most workers know right from wrong in their hearts, we can all sharpen our ability to make ethical decisions. By consistently making highly ethical decisions, people can improve their interpersonal relations.

15. Stress management and personal productivity: Having your stress under control and having good work habits and time-management skills contributes to relating well to others, even though they are not interpersonal skills themselves. By having your stress under control and being efficient and productive, you are in a better position to relate comfortably to others. Coworkers enjoy relating to a person who is not visibly stressed and who does not procrastinate.

16. Job search and career-management skills: Finding an outstanding job for yourself, holding onto the job, and moving ahead are not specifically interpersonal skills. However, both finding the right job for yourself and managing your career rely heavily on good interpersonal skills. Two basic examples are conducting yourself well in an interview and developing a network of contacts that can help you advance.

Developing Interpersonal Skills on the Job

1. Learning Objective 4

The primary thrust of this book is to teach interpersonal skills that can be applied to the job. As part of enhancing your skills, it is essential to recognize that opportunities also exist in the workplace for developing interpersonal skills. This dual opportunity for learning soft skills is similar to the way hard skills are learned both inside and outside the classroom. Studying a text and doing laboratory exercises, for example, will help you learn useful information technology skills. On the job, one day you might be asked to optimize your company’s presence on the Internet. (“Optimize” in this sense means that your company’s Web site appears higher on Internet searches.) Having never performed this task before, you may search appropriate Web sites, ask questions of coworkers, telephone tech support, and use trial and error. Within a few days, you have acquired a valuable new skill. The information technology skills you learned in the course facilitated learning new computer tasks, yet the actual work of learning how to optimize your company’s URL in Web site searches was done on the job.

Here we look at two related aspects of learning interpersonal skills on the job: informal learning and specific developmental experiences.

Informal Learning

Business firms, as well as nonprofit organizations, invest an enormous amount of money and time into teaching interpersonal skills. Teaching methods include paying for employees to take outside courses, conducting training on company premises, using videoconferencing or Web-based courses, and reimbursing for distance learning courses on the Internet. Workers also develop interpersonal skills by interacting with work associates and observing how other people deal with interpersonal challenges.

Informal learning  is the acquisition of knowledge and skills that takes place naturally outside a structured learning environment. In the context of the workplace, informal learning takes place without being designed by the organization. Learning can take place informally in ways such as speaking to the person in the next cubicle, asking a question of a coworker while in the hall, or calling the tech support center.

informal learning

The acquisition of knowledge and skills that takes place naturally outside of a structured learning environment.

A study conducted by the American Society for Training Directors found that informal learning is part of how employees learn. Nearly one-half of the 1,104 respondents said that informal learning is occurring to a high or very high extent in their organizations. E-mail emerged as the top-ranked informal learning tool, with accessing information from an Intranet a close second. [18]

Learning interpersonal skills informally can take place through such means as observing a coworker, manager, or team leader deal with a situation. A newly hired assistant store manager couldn’t help seeing and overhearing a customer screaming at the store manager about a defective space heater. The manager said calmly, “It appears you are pretty upset about your heater that caused a short circuit in your house. What can I do to help you?” The customer calmed down as quickly as air is released from a balloon. The assistant store manager thought to herself, “Now I know how to handle a customer who has gone ballistic. I’ll state what the customer is probably feeling, and then offer to help.”

Informal learning can also occur when another person coaches you about how to handle a situation. The store manager might have said to the new assistant manager, “Let me tell you what to do in case you encounter a customer who goes ballistic. Summarize in a few words what he or she is probably feeling, and then offer to help. The effect can be remarkable.” (This incident is classified as informal learning because it takes place outside a classroom.)

Formal and informal learning of interpersonal skills are useful supplements to each other. If you are formally learning interpersonal skills, your level of awareness for enhancing your interpersonal skills will increase. By formally studying interpersonal skills, you are likely to develop the attitude, “What hints about dealing more effectively with people can I pick up on the job?” You may have noticed that if you are taking lessons in a sport, you become much more observant about watching the techniques of outstanding athletes in person or on television.

Specific Developmental Experiences

Another perspective on developing interpersonal skills in the workplace is that certain experiences are particularly suited to such development. Coping with a difficult customer, as previously suggested, would be one such scenario. Morgan W. McCall Jr. has for many years studied ways in which leaders develop on the job. Contending with certain challenges is at the heart of these key learning experiences. Several of the powerful learning experiences McCall has identified are particularly geared toward developing better interpersonal skills. [19]

· Unfamiliar responsibilities: The person has to handle responsibilities that are new, very different, or much broader than previous ones. Dealing with these unfamiliar responsibilities necessitates asking others for help and gaining their cooperation. For example, being assigned to supervise a group doing work unfamiliar to you would put you in a position of gaining the cooperation of group members who knew more about the work than you.

· Proving yourself: If you feel added pressure to show others that you can deal effectively with responsibilities, you are likely to develop skills in projecting self-confidence and persuading others.

· Problems with employees: If you supervise employees or have coworkers who lack adequate experience, are incompetent, or are poorly motivated, you need to practice skills such as effective listening and conflict resolution in order to work smoothly with them.

· Influencing without authority: An excellent opportunity for practicing influence skills is being forced to influence coworkers, higher management, company outsiders, and other key people over whom you have no formal control. Team leaders typically face the challenge of needing to influence workers over whom they lack the authority to discipline or grant raises. (The reason is that a team leader usually does not have as much formal authority as a traditional manager.)

· Difficult manager: If you and your manager have different opinions on how to approach problems, or if your manager has serious shortcomings, you will have to use your best human relations skills to survive. You will need to develop subtle skills such as using diplomacy to explain to your manager that his or her suggestion is completely unworkable.

The general point to be derived from these scenarios is that certain on-the-job challenges require a high level of interpersonal skill. Faced with such challenges, you will be prompted to use the best interpersonal skills you have. Formal training can be a big help because you might remember a skill that should be effective in a particular situation. Assume that you are faced with an overbearing manager who belittles you in front of others. You might be prompted to try a conflict-resolution technique you acquired in class.

Concept Review and Reinforcement

Key Terms

1. interpersonal skill training   4

2. self-efficacy   7

3. action plan   8

4. developmental need   10

5. universal training need   11

6. informal learning   14

Summary

Effective interpersonal relations must be combined with technical knowledge to achieve success in any job involving interactions with people. This book presents a three-part strategy for achieving a high level of interpersonal skill. Each chapter presents concepts related to an area of interpersonal skill, behavioral guidelines, and experiential exercises. Interpersonal skill training is also referred to as soft-skills training to differentiate it from technical training.

A five-part model of learning can be applied to improving interpersonal skills. First, state a goal or desired state of affairs. Second, assess the reality of how far you are from your goal. Third, develop an action plan to change the relationship between the person and the environment. Self-discipline is required to implement the action plan. Fourth, solicit feedback on actions to measure the effects of your actions against reality. Fifth, continue to practice your newly learned skill.

To use the learning model effectively, it is useful to understand the goal-setting process. The guidelines offered here for goal setting are to (1) state each goal as a positive statement, (2) formulate specific goals, (3) formulate concise goals, (4) set realistic as well as stretch goals, and (5) set goals for different time periods.

People are most likely to develop new skills when they feel the need for change. A developmental need is the specific area in which a person needs to change. Identifying your developmental needs in relation to interpersonal relations can be achieved through self-analysis and feedback from others. You can also solicit feedback and make use of the feedback you have received in performance appraisals.

Universal training needs are those areas for improvement that are common to most people. The major topics in this text reflect universal training needs because they are necessary for success in most positions involving interaction with people.

Opportunities exist in the workplace to develop interpersonal skills. A general approach to developing these skills is informal learning, whereby you acquire skills naturally outside of a structured work environment. Informal learning of interpersonal skills often takes place through means such as observing a coworker, manager, or team leader cope with a situation. Certain workplace experiences are particularly well suited to developing interpersonal skills. These include unfamiliar responsibilities, proving yourself, having problems with employees, influencing without authority, and having a difficult manager.

Questions for Discussion and Review

1. Your friend says, “I’m such a great techie that I don’t have to worry about interpersonal skills.” What advice do you have for your techie friend?

2. In your opinion, do supervisors of entry-level workers rely more on soft skills or hard skills to accomplish their work?

3. Identify a developmental need related to interpersonal relations of the current president of the United States. How did you reach this conclusion about the president?

4. Why are interpersonal skills very important for job seekers when there is a shortage of good jobs open in their field?

5. How does a person know whether or not the feedback he or she receives from another person is accurate?

6. How could doing a thorough job on  Self-Assessment Quiz 1-1  have a major impact on a person’s career?

7. A statement frequently made in business is, “If you are obnoxious, you need to be very talented to succeed.” How does this conclusion relate to the learning of interpersonal skills?

8. Based on what you have learned so far in this book, and your own intuition, how would you respond to the statement, “You can’t learn how to get along with people from reading a book”?

9. Give an example of a skill you might have learned informally at any point in your life.

10. Give an example of how a small-business owner needs good interpersonal skills to survive.

The Web Corner

1. www.interpersonalskillsonline.com/about

2. www.wikihow.com/Develop-interpersonal-skills

3. (Interpersonal skill development)

4. www.infed.org

5. (Informal learning)

Internet Skill Builder: The Importance of Interpersonal Skills

One of the themes of this chapter and the entire book is that interpersonal skills are important for success in business. But what do employers really think? To find out, visit the Web sites of five of your favorite companies, such as  Starbucks.com  or  Apple.com . Go to the employment section, and search for a job that you might qualify for now or in the future. Investigate which interpersonal or human relations skills the employer mentions as a requirement, such as, “Must have superior spoken communication skills.” Make up a list of the interpersonal skills you find mentioned. What conclusion or conclusions do you reach from this exercise?

Developing Your Human Relations Skills

Interpersonal Relations Case 1.1

Tyler Likes Tyler

Tyler is an inventory control specialist at a company that manufactures fiber-optic cables for the telecommunications industry. Among the users of fiber-optic cables are telephone companies and cable television companies. Tyler enjoys his position within the company and believes that he has a promising future in an industry that will most likely continue to grow.

During his lunch break one day, Tyler sat down next to Isabella, another inventory specialist. “Wow, I have some very exciting news to tell you,” said Tyler. “I dented my SUV a week ago, and I thought I would have about a $700 repair bill not covered by insurance. Instead, I tried one of these paint-free dent specialists. The guy took out the dent for $150, and my SUV looks as good as new.”

Isabella replied, “Oh yes.” Tyler, then said, “Everything is good with you isn’t it?” Before Isabella responded, Tyler continued, “You will be very excited to know that this summer I am going on a four-day hike in the Colorado Rockies. Isn’t that really something?”

Isabella glanced up briefly at Tyler, and said, “See you later. I have an appointment.”

Later that day, Tyler sat down next to Noah, a sales representative during the afternoon break. Noah began the conversation by saying, “Hey, Tyler, you might be interested in knowing about a big sale I have pending with a regional telephone company.”

Tyler said in response, “I have even bigger news. My supervisor Mindy said that I am doing an outstanding job of controlling the inventory and that I might be eligible for an above-average salary increase.”

Noah said, “Tyler, I’ll see you later. I just remembered that I have a couple of important calls to make back at my cubicle.”

Tyler began to wonder what was going on with his coworkers. He thought, “That’s twice today that my coworkers have been acting a little bit uninterested in me. I wonder if they are under too much pressure.”

Case Questions

1. What developmental needs does Tyler appear to have?

2. To what extent do you think Isabella and Noah were being rude toward Tyler?

3. What would you recommend that Tyler do to obtain feedback on his needs for development?

Interpersonal Skills Role-Play

Tyler Wants to Improve His Interpersonal Skills

Tyler, in the case just presented, comes to recognize that perhaps he has some problems in the way he conducts conversations, and that if he focused more on his coworkers and less on himself, he might get along better with his coworkers. This role-play is divided into two parts. In the first part, one student plays the role of Tyler, who meets up with Isabella on another day to engage her in conversation. Isabella thinks that Tyler met with her again for the purpose of talking more about himself. In the second part, one student plays the role of Tyler, who meets up with Noah again. Noah is a little discouraged with Tyler because he thinks that Tyler is looking for another opportunity to brag about his own accomplishments.

Run the role-play for about six minutes, while other class members observe the interactions and later provide feedback about the interpersonal skills displayed by Tyler in relation to his interaction with both Isabella and Noah. Also, rate Isabella and Noah. Observers rate the role players on two dimensions, using a 1-to-5 scale from very poor (1) to very good (5). One dimension is “effective use of human relations techniques.” The second dimension is “acting ability.” A few observers might voluntarily provide feedback to the role players in terms of sharing their ratings and observations. The course instructor might also provide feedback.

Interpersonal Relations Case 1.2

Betty Lou Sets Some Goals

Betty Lou is a marketing specialist at Pasta Mucho, the biggest pasta maker in her region. Over two years in the position, she contributed to the success of the Pasta Mucho product line. Although Betty Lou admits that a recession has contributed to the upswing in pasta sales nationwide, she believes that more than luck is involved. “After all,” she says, “I contributed to the marketing campaign that showed that preparing pasta at home makes you cool.”

Betty Lou’s boss, Garth, is pleased with her job performance; but as part of the performance evaluation process, he has encouraged Betty Lou to prepare a goal sheet, mapping out her plans for the upcoming year. “Make it impressive,” said Garth, “because my boss will be reviewing your goals also.” Three days later, Betty Lou sent Garth an e-mail laying out her goals as follows:

1. Help make Pasta Mucho one of the great brands on the planet, much like Coca-Cola, Mercedes, and Microsoft.

2. Become the best marketing executive I can be.

3. Help the company develop some other wildly successful brands.

4. Get in good with more buyers at supermarket chains.

5. Get Pasta Mucho all over Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr.

After reading the set of goals, Garth thought to himself, “What can I tell Betty Lou without hurting her feelings?”

Case Questions

1. If you were Garth, what would you tell Betty Lou about her goals without hurting her feelings?

2. What suggestions can you offer Betty Lou to improve her goal statement?

3. How might interpersonal skills contribute to Betty Lou attaining her goals?

References

1. Original story created from facts and observations in the following sources: Amir Efrati and Jessica E. Vascellaro, “Yahoo’s Profit Lags: New CEO Faces Scores of Problems as Financial Woes Mount,” The Wall Street Journal, July 18, 2012, p. B7; Michelle V. Rafter, “Yahoo’s Recruiter-in-Chief,” Workforce Management, November 2012, pp. 20–22; Amir Efrati and Jon Letzing, “Google’s Mayer Takes Over as Yahoo Chief,” The Wall Street Journal, July 17, 2012, pp. B1, B2; Patricia Sellers, “Marissa Mayer: Ready to Rumble at Yahoo,” Fortune, October 29, 2012, pp. 118–128; Brad Stone, “Reading the Mind of Marissa Mayer,” Bloomberg Businessweek, July 23–July 29, 2012, pp. 30–31; Gianpiero Petrigilieri, “Marissa Mayer Is Not the Exception—She Is the Norm,”  http://www.forbes.com/sites/insead , July 20, 2012, pp. 1–3; Joann S. Lublin and Leslie Kwoh, “For Yahoo CEO, Two New Roles,” The Wall Street Journal, July 18, 2012, pp. B1, B6; Amir Efrati, “A Makeover Made in Google’s Image,” The Wall Street Journal, August 9, 2012, pp. B1, B6.

2. Dale Carnegie Training Brochure, Spring–Summer 2005, p. 12.

3. Joanne Lozar Glenn, “Lessons in Human Relations,” Business Education Forum, October 2003, p. 10.

4. “Unleashing the Power of the New Workforce: Interpersonal Skills in the Modern Workplace,” Hogan Assessment Systems. (Printed in Workforce Management, November 2011, p. S3).

5. Cited in Diana Louise Carter, “A Picture of Success: Graphics Company Has Shown Steady Growth,” Democrat and Chronicle (Roc Business), July 9, 2012, p. 6B.

6. Cited in Donna Nebenzahl, “Turning the Page on Corporate Leadership,”  thestar.com  (The Toronto Star), September 19, 2009, p. 2,  http://www.thestar.com .

7. Based on Susan Scott, Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work & In Life, One Conversation at a Time (New York: Random House, 2009).

8. Melissa Korn and Joe Light, “On the Lesson Plan: Feelings,” The Wall Street Journal, May 5, 2011, p. B6.

9. George B. Yancey, Chante P. Clarkson, Julie D. Baxa, and Rachel N. Clarkson, “Example of Good and Bad Interpersonal Skills at Work,” http://www.psichi.org/pubs/articles/article_368.asp, p. 2, accessed February 2, 2004.

10. Edward Muzio, Deborah J. Fisher, Err R. Thomas, and Valerie Peters, “Soft Skill Quantification (SSQ) for Project Manager Competencies,” Project Management Journal, June 2007, pp. 30–31.

11. Marshall Goldsmith, “How Not to Lose the Top Job,” Harvard Business Review, January 2009, p. 77.

12. The model presented here is an extension and modernization of the one presented in Thomas V. Bonoma and Gerald Zaltman, Psychology for Management (Boston: Kent, 1981), pp. 88–92.

13. Gary P. Latham, “The Motivational Benefits of Goal-Setting,” Academy of Management Executive, November 2004, pp. 126–127.

14. Susan B. Wilson and Michael S. Dobson, Goal Setting: How to Create an Action Plan and Achieve Your Goals, 2nd ed. (New York: American Management Association, 2008).

15. Kirsten Weir, “Revising Your Story,” Monitor on Psychology, March 2012, p. 28.

16. Karen Wright, “A Chic Critique,” Psychology Today, March/April 2011, p. 56.

17. “Unleashing the Power of the New Workforce,” p. S3.

18. Andrew Paradise, “Informal Learning Overlooked or Overhyped?” http://www.astdf.org/Publications, July 1, 2002, pp. 1–2.

19. Morgan W. McCall Jr., High Flyers: Developing the Next Generation of Leaders (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1998).

Chapter 2 Understanding Individual Differences

wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock

Learning Objectives

After reading and studying this chapter and completing the exercises, you should be able to

1. Make adjustments for the individual differences among people in dealing with them on the job.

2. Develop insight into how your personality, mental ability, emotional intelligence, and values differ from others.

3. Respond to personality differences among people.

4. Respond to mental ability differences among people.

5. Respond to differences in values among people.

US Airways Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III, the hero of the January 2009 airline ditching in the Hudson River, told investigators that he determined in a matter of seconds that only the river was “long enough, wide enough, and smooth enough” to put down the crippled jetliner. Testifying before the National Transformation Safety Board, Sullenberger said that when both engines of his Airbus 320 lost power at about 2,700 feet after sucking in birds, he quickly decided that the plane was losing speed and altitude, and that returning to New York’s LaGuardia Airport was “problematic.” After spotting a flock of birds that were very large and filled the entire windscreen of the jet, Sullenberger noticed a dramatic drop in thrust. Disregarding air traffic controller suggestions to return to LaGuardia or try to swoop into another nearby airport, he set his sights on the surface of the Hudson. With the plane’s flaps out, speed dwindling fast, and splashdown barely seconds away, Sullenberger asked his first officer, “Got any ideas?” Copilot Jeff Skiles instantly replied, “Actually not.”

Once the plane settled in the water, and the crew realized the fuselage remained intact, Sullenberger turned to his first officer and both instinctively blurted out at the same instant, “That wasn’t as bad as I thought.” Responding to questions about the lessons to be learned from the landing, Capt. Sullenberger mentioned training to help pilots work together as a team and additional efforts to improve emergency evacuations. His comments repeatedly swung back to the notion of an airline culture that stresses safety and respects the judgment of experienced pilots. “The captain’s authority is a precious commodity that cannot be denigrated,” he said. The captain’s testimony also highlighted the importance of relying on experience and memory, rather than rigidly using checklists to deal with unexpected emergencies. With both pilots in the cockpit clocking an impressive 20,000 hours of total flight time, Captain Sullenberger said, “Teamwork and experience allowed us to focus on the high priorities without referring to written checklists.” [1]

The story about the hero pilot “Sully” illustrates several of the key topics about differences among people that will be described in this chapter. Native intelligence, including the capacity to memorize details, practical intelligence (wisdom and common sense), and emotional control all play an important role in job performance. The major theme of this chapter deals with how people vary in a wide range of personal factors.  Individual differences  exert a profound effect on job performance and behavior. Such differences refer to variations in how people respond to the same situation based on personal characteristics. One of hundreds of possible examples is that some people can concentrate longer and harder on their work, thereby producing more and higher quality work, than others.

individual differences

Variations in how people respond to the same situation based on personal characteristics. Mental processes used to perceive and make judgments from situations.

This chapter describes several of the major sources of individual differences on the job. It also gives you the chance to measure your standing on several key dimensions of behavior and helps you develop skills in responding to individual differences. Knowing how to respond to such differences is the cornerstone of effective interpersonal relations. To be effective in human relations, you cannot treat everybody the same.

Personality

1. Learning Objective 1

1. Learning Objective 2

“We’re not going to promote you to department head,” said the manager to the analyst. “Although you are a great troubleshooter, you’ve alienated too many people in the company. You’re too blunt and insensitive.” As just implied, most successes and failures in people-contact jobs are attributed largely to interpersonal skills. And personality traits are major contributors to interpersonal, or human relations, skills.

Personality  refers to those persistent and enduring behavior patterns that tend to be expressed in a wide variety of situations. A person who is brash and insensitive in one situation is likely to behave similarly in many other situations. Your personality is what makes you unique. Your walk, your talk, your appearance, your speech, and your inner values and conflicts all contribute to your personality.

personality

Persistent and enduring behavior patterns that tend to be expressed in a wide variety of situations.

Here, we illustrate the importance of personality to interpersonal relations in organizations by describing eight key personality traits and personality types related to cognitive styles. In addition, you will be given guidelines for dealing effectively with different personality types.

Eight Major Personality Factors and Traits

Many psychologists believe that the basic structure of human personality is represented by five broad factors, known as the Big Five: neuroticism, extraversion (the scientific spelling of extroversion), openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Three more key personality factors—self-monitoring of behavior, risk taking and thrill seeking, and optimism—are also so important for human relations that they are considered here.

All eight factors have a substantial impact on interpersonal relations and job performance. The interpretations and meanings of these factors provide useful information because they help you pinpoint important areas for personal development. Although these

Figure 2-1 Eight Personality Factors Related to Interpersonal Skills

factors are partially inherited, most people can improve them provided they exert much conscious effort over a period of time. For example, it usually takes at least three months of effort before a person is perceived to be more agreeable. The eight factors, shown in  Figure 2-1 , are described in the following list.

1. Neuroticism reflects emotional instability and identifies people who are prone to psychological distress and to coping with problems in unproductive ways. Traits associated with this personality factor include being anxious, insecure, angry, embarrassed, emotional, and worried. A person of low neuroticism—or high emotional stability—is calm and confident, and usually in control.

2. Extraversion reflects the quantity or intensity of social interactions, the need for social stimulation, self-confidence, and competition. Traits associated with extraversion include being sociable, gregarious, assertive, talkative, and active. An outgoing person is often described as extraverted, whereas introverted persons are described as reserved, timid, and quiet. Introverts tend to prefer the inner world of their own mind, whereas extraverts tend to prefer the outer world of sociability. [2]  A study conducted with more than 4,700 people found a positive relationship between extraversion and the tendency to be an entrepreneur. [3]  This finding makes sense, because being an entrepreneur requires considerable reaching out to people to start the business, including fund raising.

3. Openness reflects the proactive seeking of experience for its own sake. Traits associated with openness include being creative, cultured, intellectually curious, broadminded, and artistically sensitive. People who score low on this personality factor are practical, with narrow interests.

4. Agreeableness reflects the quality of one’s interpersonal orientation. Traits associated with the agreeableness factor include being courteous, flexible, trusting, good-natured, cooperative, forgiving, softhearted, and tolerant. The other end of the continuum includes disagreeable, cold, and antagonistic people.

5. Conscientiousness reflects organization, self-restraint, persistence, and motivation toward attaining goals. Traits associated with conscientiousness include being hardworking, dependable, well organized, and thorough. The person low in conscientiousness is lazy, disorganized, and unreliable.

6. Self-monitoring of behavior refers to the process of observing and controlling how we are perceived by others. Self-monitoring involves three major and somewhat distinct tendencies: (1) the willingness to be the center of attention, (2) sensitivity to the reactions of others, and (3) ability and willingness to adjust behavior to induce positive reactions in others. High self-monitors are pragmatic and even chameleonlike actors in social groups. They often say what others want to hear. Low self-monitors avoid situations that require them to adapt to outer images. In this way, their outer behavior adheres to their inner values. Low self-monitoring can often lead to inflexibility. Take  Self-Assessment Quiz 2-1  to measure your self-monitoring tendencies.

7. Risk taking and thrill seeking refers to the propensity to take risks and pursue thrills. Persons with high standing on this personality trait are sensation seekers who pursue novel, intense, and complex sensations. They are willing to take risks for the sake of such experiences. The search for giant payoffs and daily thrills motivates people with an intense need for risk taking and thrill seeking. [4]  Taking prudent risks can be important for the success of a business. Jim Donald, CEO of Extended Stay of America, encouraged employees to take risks, because the company had emerged from bankruptcy, and employees were still in the survival mode. They avoided decisions that might cost the company money, such as repairing the property or accommodating an angry guest with a free night’s stay. Donald’s solution was to hand out about 9,000 miniature “Get Out of Jail Free” cards to employees. When employees took a big risk for the company, they could use a card free, with no questions asked. [5]

Take  Self-Assessment Quiz 2-2  to measure your propensity for risk taking and thrill seeking.

8. Optimism refers to a tendency to experience positive emotional states and to typically believe that positive outcomes will be forthcoming from most activities. The other end of the scale is pessimism—a tendency to experience negative emotional states and to typically believe that negative outcomes will be forthcoming from most activities. Optimism versus pessimism is also referred to in more technical terms as positive affectivity versus negative affectivity and is considered a major personality trait.

A person’s tendency toward having positive affectivity (optimism) versus negative affectivity (pessimism) also influences job satisfaction. Being optimistic, as you would suspect, tends to enhance job satisfaction. [6]

A potential downside of optimism is that it can lead a person to not fear risks, such as the possibility of being fired for poor performance. Also, being a little pessimistic about the future can sometimes help us reduce anxiety about potential worst-case scenarios. [7]  For example, a job seeker might land a position with a start-up company that has earned hardly any revenue. Thinking about the problems of working for a company that never gets off the ground, such as not getting paid, may help that person be less anxious about the prospects of failure.

Martin Seligman, director of the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania, places the need for balance between optimism and pessimism in these words: “The idea that optimism is always good is a caricature. It misses realism, it misses appropriateness, it misses the importance of negative emotion.” [8]

A high standing on a given trait is not always an advantage, and a low standing is not always a disadvantage. [9]  For example, a person who is highly extraverted might spend so much time interacting with coworkers that he or she does not spend enough time on analytical work. Also, a person who is a low self-monitor might give people such honest feedback—rather than telling them what they want to hear—that he or she helps others to grow and develop.

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Self-Assessment Quiz 2-1

1.  

The Self-Monitoring Scale

Directions:

The statements ahead concern your personal reactions to a number of different situations. No two statements are exactly alike, so consider each statement carefully before answering. If a statement is TRUE or MOSTLY TRUE as applied to you, circle the “T” next to the question. If a statement is FALSE or NOT USUALLY TRUE as applied to you, circle the “F” next to the question.

	True	False
1. I find it hard to imitate the behavior of other people.	□	□
2. My behavior is usually an expression of my true inner feelings, attitudes, and beliefs.	□	□
3. At parties and social gatherings, I do not attempt to do or say things that others will like.	□	□
4. I can only argue for ideas in which I already believe.	□	□
5. I can make impromptu speeches even on topics about which I have almost no information.	□	□
6. I guess I put on a show to impress or entertain people.	□	□
7. When I am uncertain how to act in a social situation, I look to the behavior of others for cues.	□	□
8. I would probably make a good actor.	□	□
9. I rarely seek the advice of my friends to choose movies, books, or music.	□	□
10. I sometimes appear to others to be experiencing deeper emotions than I actually am.	□	□
11. I laugh more when I watch a comedy with others than when alone.	□	□
12. In groups of people, I am rarely the center of attention.	□	□
13. In different situations and with different people, I often act like very different persons.	□	□
14. I am not particularly good at making other people like me.	□	□
15. Even if I am not enjoying myself, I often pretend to be having a good time.	□	□
16. I’m not always the person I appear to be.	□	□
17. I would not change my opinions (or the way I do things) in order to please someone else or win their favor.	□	□
18. I have considered being an entertainer.	□	□
19. In order to get along and be liked, I tend to be what people expect me to be rather than anything else.	□	□
20. I have never been good at games like charades or improvisational acting.	□	□
21. I have trouble changing my behavior to suit different people and different situations.	□	□
22. At a party, I let others keep the jokes and stories going.	□	□
23. I feel a bit awkward in company and do not show up quite as well as I should.	□	□
24. I can look anyone in the eye and tell a lie with a straight face (if for a good cause).	□	□
25. I may deceive people by being friendly when I really dislike them.	□	□

Scoring and Interpretation:

Give yourself one point each time your answer agrees with the key. A score that is between 0–12 would indicate that you are a relatively low self-monitor; a score that is between 13–25 would indicate that you are a relatively high self-monitor.

1. F

2. F

3. F

4. F

5. T

6. T

7. T

8. T

9. F

10. T

11. T

12. F

13. T

14. F

15. T

16. T

17. F

18. T

19. T

20. F

21. F

22. F

23. F

24. T

25. T

Source: Mark Snyder, “Self-Monitoring of Expressive Behavior,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 4 (October 1974): 528–537.

Self-Assessment Quiz 2-2

1.  

The Risk-Taking Scale

Directions:

Answer true or false to the following questions to obtain an approximate idea of your tendency to take risks, or your desire to do so:

	True	False
1. I occasionally eat fresh fruit or vegetables without first washing them.	□	□
2. I think that amusement park roller coasters should be abolished.	□	□
3. I don’t like trying foods from other cultures.	□	□
4. I would choose bonds over growth stocks.	□	□
5. I like to challenge people in positions of power.	□	□
6. I don’t always wear a seat belt while driving.	□	□
7. I sometimes talk on my cell phone or send and receive text messages while driving at highway speeds.	□	□
8. I would love to be an entrepreneur (or I love being one).	□	□
9. I would like helping out in a crisis such as a product recall.	□	□
10. I would like to go cave exploring (or already have done so).	□	□
11. I would be willing to have at least one-third of my compensation based on a bonus for good performance.	□	□
12. I would be willing to visit a maximum-security prison on a job assignment.	□	□

Scoring and Interpretation:

Give yourself one point each time your answer agrees with the key. If you score 10–12, you are probably a high risk taker; 6–9, you are a moderate risk taker; 3–5, you are cautious; 0–2, you are a very low risk taker.

1. T

2. F

3. F

4. F

5. T

6. T

7. T

8. T

9. T

10. T

11. T

12. T

Source: The idea of a test about risk-taking comfort, as well as several of the statements on the quiz, comes from psychologist Frank Farley.

The Eight Factors and Traits and Job Performance

Depending on the job, any one of the preceding personality factors can be important for success. The evidence of the contribution of the Big Five traits stems from the self-ratings of the people taking the test, as well as ratings by persons who know the test taker well. An analysis of a large number of studies found that ratings of the Big Five traits were more closely related to the job performance of the people rated than were self-ratings of personality. [10]  One explanation for personality being tied to performance is that a particular personality trait gives us a bias or positive spin toward certain actions. [11]  A person high in conscientiousness, for example, believes that if people are diligent they will accomplish more work and receive just rewards.

Conscientiousness relates to job performance for many different occupations, and has proven to be the personality factor most consistently related to success. As explained in the discussion above, each of the Big Five factors is composed of more narrow or specific traits. With respect to conscientiousness, the specific trait of dependability may be the most important contributor to job performance. [12]

Extraversion

Another important research finding is that extraversion is associated with success for managers and sales representatives. The explanation is that managers and salespeople are required to interact extensively with other people. [13]  When referring to the association between extraversion and sales performance, it is helpful to consider which type of selling is involved. For example, particularly in selling complicated products and services, the sales representative is expected to be a problem solver who quietly reflects on the problem. Such behavior tends more toward introversion than extraversion, even though the sales representative still recognizes the importance of relationship building.

Self-Monitoring

For people who want to advance in their careers, being a high self-monitor is important. An analysis was made of the self-monitoring personality by combining 136 studies involving 23,101 people. A major finding was that high self-monitors tend to receive better performance ratings than low self-monitors. High self-monitors were also more likely to emerge as leaders and work their way into top management positions. [14]  Another advantage to being a high self-monitor is that the individual is more likely to help out other workers, even when not required to do so. An example is helping a worker outside of your department with a currency exchange problem even though this is not your responsibility. Self-monitors are also much more likely to click with other workers and to succeed in the workplace. The “clicking” may lead to good relationships that facilitate performing well. [15]

Organizational Citizenship Behavior

The willingness to go beyond one’s job description without a specific reward apparent is referred to as  organizational citizenship behavior . We mention organizational citizenship behavior here because it is linked to other traits. Agreeableness and conscientiousness are frequently found to be associated with citizenship behavior. Recent evidence indicates that emotional stability, extraversion, and openness to experience are also linked to such behavior. [16]

organizational citizenship behavior

The willingness to go beyond one’s job description without a specific reward apparent.

Organizational citizenship behavior has many components or sub-behaviors. Two particularly important components for human relations are found in the distinction between affiliation-oriented and challenge-oriented citizenship behaviors. Affiliation-oriented behaviors are are interpersonal and cooperative, and tend to solidify or preserve relationships with others. [17]  How about going out of your way to calm down a coworker who has to make a presentation to management in a couple of hours? Challenge-oriented behaviors are change-oriented and come with the risk that that they could hurt relationships with others because they criticize the status quo. How about going out of your way to tell management that in-person meetings should be replaced by video conferences to save time and money?

Good organizational citizens are highly valued by employers. An analysis of studies based on a total of more than 50,000 employees highlights the importance of organizational citizenship behavior in understanding how a willingness to help others contributes to both individual and organizational success. Among the findings were that being a good organizational citizen leads to better performance ratings by supervisors, higher salary increases, and less turnover and absenteeism. Organizational citizenship behavior also contributes to higher productivity, reduced costs, and better customer satisfaction. [18]

Another perspective on organizational citizenship behavior is that an employee will make a short-term sacrifice that leads to long-term benefits to the organization. [19]  An example is an employee voluntarily working from home to deal with customer confusion about a product recall, which can lead to more loyal and appreciative customers.

Self-Assessment Quiz 2-3  gives you an opportunity to think through some of your own tendencies toward organizational citizenship behavior.

Turnover and Personality

A synthesis of studies suggests that personality can be linked to turnover. Employees who are emotionally stable are less likely to plan to quit, or to actually quit. Employees who score higher on the traits of conscientiousness and agreeableness are less likely to leave voluntarily. Another finding of note is that workers who are low on agreeableness and high on openness to experience are likely to quit spontaneously. [20]  (Maybe the grouchy, intellectually curious employee may jump on a sudden opportunity for another job.)

Optimism and Pessimism

Optimism and pessimism also can be linked to job performance. Optimism can be quite helpful when attempting such tasks as selling a product or service or motivating a group of people. Yet psychologist Julie Normen has gathered considerable evidence that pessimism can sometimes enhance job performance. Pessimists usually assume that something will go wrong, and will carefully prepare to prevent botches and bad luck. A pessimist, for example, will carefully back up computer files or plan for emergencies that might shut down operations. [21]

Self-Assessment Quiz 2-3

1.  

My Tendencies toward Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Describe whether each of the statements in the quiz ahead is mostly true or mostly false about you. If you have not experienced the situation, estimate whether it would be most likely true or most likely false about you.

No. Statement about Organizational Citizenship Behavior	Mostly True	Mostly False
1. I have helped a coworker with a work problem without being asked.
2. I pick up litter in the company parking lot or outside of the building, and then dispose of the litter properly.
3. Helping others is an important part of my job, even if I am not a manager.
4. I make a special effort to say thank you and smile when somebody helps me in any way on the job.
5. I volunteer to do a nonglamorous task when nobody in particular has responsibility for the task.
6. If I found an apparently intoxicated person sleeping on the ground outside my workplace, I would call for help rather than leaving him or her lying there.
7. I am pretty good at putting myself in another worker’s place and understanding his or her perspective.
8. I do my best to give effective comforting messages to other workers in distress.
9. I am able to initiate, maintain, and terminate casual conversations with coworkers.
10. During group meetings, I listen carefully to whomever is speaking to the group without performing another task such as looking at a smartphone placed on my lap.
11. If my company faced an emergency such as a flood or hurricane, I would tell my supervisor that I will be on call 24 hours per day to help out.
12. I have covered for workers who were absent or out on a break.
13. I check with others before doing something that would affect their work.
14. Even if I disliked a coworker, I would help him or her with a difficult problem.
15. I help people outside my work group when I have the right knowledge or skill.
16. I am willing to do work not in my job description, even if the effort means that I will have to work a couple of extra hours.
17. I am willing to point out things the work group might be doing wrong, even if others disagree with me.
18. I am willing to risk disapproval in order to do what is best for the company.
19. I challenge work procedures and rules that seem to be nonproductive.
20. I have tried to resolve person-to-person conflicts between workers in my department or unit.
21. I do what I can to raise the spirits of coworkers who are having problems on the job.
22. If I pick up some new job-related knowledge, I will share it with team members for whom the knowledge is useful.
23. When I think of something that will help the entire company, I will share that knowledge with my manager and/or company leadership.
24. I have politely voiced my concerns about something I think the company is doing wrong.
25. If I see a social media comment about our company that seems significant, I will forward that comment to the right person in my company.

Scoring and Interpretation:

Count the number of statements that you indicated are mostly true.

· 18-25 points: You have strong tendencies toward displaying positive organizational citizenship behavior. Your initiative and other proactive behavior will probably be an asset in your career.

· 7-17 points: You have about average tendencies with respect to engaging in positive organizational citizenship behavior. It would be helpful for you in your career to seek out ways to help coworkers and the company besides performing well in your own job.

· 0-7 points: You take very little initiative to work outside the limits of your job description. You run the risk of being perceived as not caring about the welfare of coworkers or the company. Such a negative perception could be a limiting factor in terms of you being regarded as eligible for promotion.

Source: Several of the statements in this quiz are based on Scott B. MacKenzie, Philip M. Podaskoff, and Nathan P. Podaskoff, “Challenge-Oriented Organizational Citizenship Behaviors and Organizational Effectiveness: Do Challenge-Oriented Behaviors Really Have an Impact on the Organization’s Bottom Line?” Personnel Psychology, Number 3, 2011, p. 574; Theresa M. Glomb, Devasheesh P. Bhave, Andrew G. Miner, and Melanie Wall, “Doing Good, Feeling Good: Examining the Role of Organizational Citizenship Behaviors in Changing Mood,” Personnel Psychology, 2011, Number 1, p. 204; Nicole M. Dudley and Jose M. Cortina, “Knowledge and Skills that Facilitate the Personal Support Dimension of Citizenship,” Journal of Applied Psychology, November 2008, p. 1253.

Combination of Standing on Several Personality Traits

A combination of personality factors will sometimes be more closely associated with job success than one factor alone. A study about personality and job performance ratings was conducted with diverse occupations, including clerical workers and wholesale appliance sales representatives. A key finding was that conscientious workers who also scored high on agreeableness performed better than conscientious workers who were less agreeable. [22]  (Being agreeable toward your manager helps elevate performance evaluations!)

Personality Types and Cognitive Styles

People go about solving problems in various ways. You may have observed, for example, that some people are more analytical and systematic, while others are more intuitive. Modes of problem solving are referred to as  cognitive styles . According to this method of understanding problem-solving styles, your personality traits influence strongly how you approach problems, such as being introverted pointing you toward dealing with ideas. Knowledge of these cognitive styles can help you relate better to people because you can better appreciate how they make decisions.

cognitive styles

Modes of problem solving.

One of the best-known methods of measuring personality types is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®), a self-report questionnaire designed to make the theory of psychological types developed by psychoanalyst Carl Jung applicable to everyday life. [23]  Another leading method of measuring types is the Golden Personality Type Profiler. [24]  Jung developed the theory of psychological types, but did not develop the two measuring instruments just mentioned.

As measured by the Golden instrument, four separate dichotomies direct the typical use of perception and judgment by an individual. The four dichotomies can also be considered a person’s cognitive style. [25]

1. Energy flow: extraversion versus introversion. Extraverts direct their energy primarily toward the outer world of people and objects. In contrast, introverts direct their energy primarily toward the inner world of experiences and ideas.

2. Information gathering: sensing versus intuition. People who rely on sensing focus primarily on what can be perceived by the five primary senses of touch, sight, sound, smell, and taste. People who rely on intuition focus primarily on perceiving patterns and interrelationships.

3. Decision making: thinking versus feeling. People who rely primarily on thinking base conclusions on logical analysis, and emphasize objectivity and detachment. People who rely on feelings base conclusions on personal or social values, and focus on understanding and harmony.

4. Lifestyle orientation: judging versus perceiving. Individuals high on judging tend to orient their lives in a deliberate and planned manner. Individuals high on perceiving tend to orient their lives in a spontaneous and open-ended manner.

Combining the four types with each other results in 16 personality types, such as the ESFP, or “The Entertainer.” ESFP refers to extraverted/sensing/feeling/perceiving. It is believed that approximately 13 percent of the population can be classified as the ESFP type. People of this type are optimistic and are skilled at living joyfully and entertaining others. ESFPs are effective at communicating their good-natured realism to others.

You might want to take the Golden Personality Type Profiler. Here our concern is with how your personality influences your cognitive style.  Figure 2-2  presents 4 of the 16 personality types, along with the implications for each one with respect to cognitive style.

Far too many people perceive personality types as being definitive indicators of an individual’s personality, and they therefore think they know exactly how to classify that person in terms of personality. The developers of the Golden point out that the instrument is an accurate and dependable measure of the aspects of personality measured. However, it is up to the person taking the Golden to determine if the report’s description of him or her is accurate. [26]  If the results are completely out of line with what you believe to be true about yourself, or what others have told you about your personality type, the results of the Golden (or another type indicator) should not be a cause for concern.

An interpersonal skills application of understanding the Golden personality types is to help people get along better within a work group. All the group or team members would

Personality Type	Highlights of Type
ENFP (The Proponent) Extraverted/ iNtuitive/Feeling/Perceiving	Lives continually in the realm of the possible. When absorbed in their latest project, they think of little else. Filled with energy, they are tireless in their pursuit of goals. Have an almost magnetic quality that enables them to have fun in almost any setting. The combination of Extraversion, Intuition, and Perceiving is well suited for leadership.
ENFJ (The Communicator) Extraverted/ iNtuitive/Feeling/Judging	Chief concern is fostering harmony and cooperation between self and others. Has strong ideals and a potent sense of loyalty, whether to a mate, a school, a hometown, or a favorite cause. Usually good at organizing people to get things done while keeping everyone happy. At work, well armed to deal with both variety and action. Typically patient and conscientious, make a concerted effort of sticking with a job until finished.
INFP (The Advocate) Introverted/iNtuitive/Feeling/Perceiving	Capable of immense sensitivity and has an enormous emotional capacity that is guarded closely. Has to know people well before displaying warmth, letting down the guard, and displaying warmth. Interpersonal relationships are a crucial focus. Has powerful sense of faithfulness, duty, and commitment to the people and causes he or she is attracted to. Able to express emotion and move people through his or her communication. A perfectionist on the job. Prefers a quiet working environment and, despite attraction for human companionship, will often work best alone. Will work at best only in job he or she truly believes in.
INFJ (The Foreseer) Introverted/ iNtuitive/Feeling/Judging	Imaginative, inspired, tenacious, creative, and inward looking. Also stubborn, easily bored by routine work, and often pays little attention to obstacles. Makes decisions easily. Lives in a world of ideas, and will have a unique vision. Pours all own energy into achieving his or her goal. Trusts own intuition. Can express emotion and move people through written communication. Although cherishes the companionship of people, prefers a quiet working environment, and working alone. Perfectionist about quality. Creativity is his or her hallmark.
Code: E = Extraverted, N = iNtuitive, F = Feeling, P = Perceiving, I = Introverted, J = Judging

Figure 2-2 Four Cognitive Styles of the Golden Personality Types

Source: Karen A. Deitz and John P. Golden, Boundless Diversity: An Introduction to the Golden Personality Type Profiler (San Antonio, Texas: Pearson TalentLens, 2004).

have their types assessed using the Golden instrument, and all members would be made aware of each other’s type or working style. Knowing your type among the 16 types and the type of the other group members would give you some clues for working together smoothly.

To illustrate, I will use a couple of the types shown in  Figure 2-2 . Visualize yourself as a member of a work group. You know that Nick is a forseer (INFJ). The group has an assignment that calls for creating something new, so you consult with Nick to capitalize on his imaginative thinking, determination to attain goals, and fine written communication skills. Yet you know that you and Margot are proponents (ENFP), so you two will play a heavy role in helping translate Nick’s plan into action. And you, Nick, and Margot know that Jason is an advocate (INFP), so you will have to work slowly with him to get him to believe in the new project so that he can make good use of his tendencies toward perfectionism. You will also not discourage Jason from spending some time working alone, so that he can be at his best.

Guidelines for Dealing with Different Personality Types

1. Learning Objective 3

A key purpose in presenting information about a sampling of various personality types is to provide guidelines for individualizing your approach to people. As a basic example, if you wanted to score points with an introvert, you would approach that person in a restrained, laid-back fashion. In contrast, a more gregarious, lighthearted approach might be more effective with an extravert. The purpose of individualizing your approach is to build a better working relationship or to establish rapport with the other person. To match your approach to dealing with a given personality type, you must first arrive at an approximate diagnosis of the individual’s personality. The following suggestions are therefore restricted to readily observable aspects of personality:

1. When relating to a person who appears to be emotionally unstable, based on symptoms of worry and tension, be laid back and reassuring. Attempt not to project your own anxiety and fears. Be a good listener. If possible, minimize the emphasis on deadlines and the dire consequences of a project’s failing. Show concern and interest in the person’s welfare.

2. When relating to an extraverted individual, emphasize friendliness, warmth, and a stream of chatter. Talk about people more than ideas, things, or data. Express an interest in a continuing working relationship.

3. When relating to an introverted individual, move slowly in forming a working relationship. Do not confuse quietness with a lack of interest. Tolerate moments of silence. Emphasize ideas, things, and data more heavily than people.

4. When relating to a person who is open to experience, emphasize information sharing, idea generation, and creative approaches to problems. Appeal to his or her intellect by discussing topics of substance rather than ordinary chatter and gossip.

5. When relating to a person who is closed to experience, stick closely to the facts of the situation at hand. Recognize that the person prefers to think small and deal with the here and now.

6. When relating to an agreeable person, just relax and be yourself. Reciprocate with kindness to sustain a potentially excellent working relationship.

7. When relating to a disagreeable person, be patient and tolerant. At the same time, set limits on how much mistreatment you will take. Disagreeable people sometimes secretly want others to put brakes on their antisocial behavior.

8. When relating to a conscientious person, give him or her freedom and do not nag. The person will probably honor commitments without prompting. Conscientious people are often taken for granted, so remember to acknowledge the person’s dependability.

9. When relating to a person of low conscientiousness, keep close tabs on him or her, especially if you need the person’s output to do your job. Do not assume that because the person has an honest face and a pleasing smile, he or she will deliver as promised. Frequently follow up on your requests, and impose deadlines if you have the authority. Express deep appreciation when the person does follow through.

Skill-Building Exercise 2-1

1.  

Personality Role-Plays

The Extravert:

One student assumes the role of a successful outside sales representative who has just signed a $3 million order for the company. The sales rep comes back to the office elated. The other student assumes the role of a member of the office support staff. He or she decides this is a splendid opportunity to build a good relationship with the triumphant sales rep. Run the role-play for about seven minutes. The people not involved in the role-play will observe and then provide feedback when the role-play is completed. (These directions regarding time, observation, and feedback also apply to the two other role-plays in this exercise and throughout the book.)

Openness:

One student plays the role of an experienced worker in the department who is told to spend some time orienting a new co-op student or intern. It appears that this new person is open to experience. Another student plays the role of the co-op student who is open to experience and eager to be successful in this new position.

Organizational Citizenship Behavior:

One student plays the role of a strong organizational citizen who wants to help other people, going beyond what is found in his or her job description. The strong organizational citizen is thinking, “What can I do today to help somebody?” As the student walks down the row of cubicles, he or she spots a person who is staring at the computer with an agonized, perplexed look. The good organizational citizen thinks, “Maybe I’ve just found a good opportunity to be useful today.” The other student plays the role of the perplexed worker who might need help with a specific problem facing him or her at the moment.

For the three scenarios, observers rate the role players on two dimensions, using a 1-to-5 scale from very poor (1) to very good (5). One dimension is “effective use of human relations techniques.” The second dimension is “acting ability.” A few observers might voluntarily provide feedback to the role players in terms of sharing their ratings and observations. The course instructor might also provide feedback.

10. When dealing with a person whom you suspect is a high self-monitor, be cautious in thinking that the person is truly in support of your position. The person could just be following his or her natural tendency to appear to please others, but not really feel that way.

11. When relating to a person with a high propensity for risk taking and thrill seeking, emphasize the risky and daring aspects of activities familiar to you. Talk about a new product introduction in a highly competitive market, stock options, investment in high-technology startup firms, skydiving, and race car driving.

12. When relating to a person with a low propensity for risk taking and thrill seeking, emphasize the safe and secure aspects of activities familiar to you. Talk about the success of an established product in a stable market (like pencils and paperclips), investment in US Treasury bonds, life insurance, camping, and gardening.

13. When dealing with a sensation type of information gatherer, emphasize facts, figures, and conventional thinking without sacrificing your own values. To convince the sensation type, emphasize logic more than emotional appeal. Focus on details more than on the big picture.

14. When dealing with an intuition type of information gatherer, emphasize feelings, judgments, playing with ideas, imagination, and creativity. Focus more on the big picture than details.

To start putting these guidelines into practice, do the role-plays in  Skill-Building Exercise 2-1 . Remember that a role player is an extemporaneous actor. Put yourself in the shoes of the character you play, and visualize how he or she would act. Because you are given only the general idea of a script, use your imagination to fill in the details.

Cognitive Ability

Cognitive ability (also referred to as mental ability or intelligence) is one of the major sources of individual differences that affects job performance and behavior.  Cognitive Intelligence  is the capacity to acquire and apply knowledge, including solving problems. Intelligent workers can best solve abstract problems. In an exceedingly simple job, such as packing shoes into boxes, having below-average intelligence can be an advantage because the employee is not likely to become bored.

cognitive intelligence

The capacity to acquire and apply knowledge, including solving problems.

Understanding the nature of intelligence contributes to effective interpersonal relations in the workplace. Your evaluation of a person’s intelligence can influence how you relate to that person. For example, if you think a person is intelligent, you will tend to seek his or her input on a difficult problem. If you realize that different types of intelligence exist, you are more likely to appreciate people’s strengths. You are thus less likely to judge others as being either good or poor problem solvers.

Four important aspects of cognitive ability include (1) the components of traditional intelligence, (2) practical intelligence, (3) multiple intelligences, and (4) emotional intelligence. (This fourth type of intelligence can also be regarded as personality, not cognitive ability.) Knowledge of the four aspects will enrich your understanding of other workers and yourself.

Components of Traditional Intelligence

Intelligence consists of more than one component. A component of intelligence is much like a separate mental aptitude. Evidence suggests that intelligence consists of a  g  (general) factor  and  s  (special) factors  that contribute to problem-solving ability. Scores of tests of almost any type (such as math, aptitude for spatial relations, or reading skill) are somewhat influenced by the g factor. The g factor helps explain why some people perform well in so many different mental tasks. Substantial evidence has accumulated over the years that workers with high intelligence tend to perform better. The relationship between g and job performance is likely to be strongest for those aspects of jobs involving thinking and knowledge, such as problem solving and technical expertise. [27]

g (general) factor

A factor in intelligence that contributes to the ability to perform well in many tasks.

s (special) factors

Specific components of intelligence that contribute to problem-solving ability.

Over the years, various investigators have arrived at different special factors contributing to overall mental aptitude. The following seven factors have been identified consistently:

1. Verbal comprehension. The ability to understand the meaning of words and their relationship to each other and to comprehend written and spoken information.

2. Word fluency. The ability to use words quickly and easily, without an emphasis on verbal comprehension.

3. Numerical acuity. The ability to handle numbers, engage in mathematical analysis, and perform arithmetic calculations.

4. Spatial perception. The ability to visualize forms in space and manipulate objects mentally, particularly in three dimensions.

5. Memory. Having a good rote memory for symbols, words, and lists of numbers, along with other associations.

6. Perceptual speed. The ability to perceive visual details, pick out similarities and differences, and perform tasks requiring visual perception.

7. Inductive reasoning. The ability to discover a rule or principle, apply it in solving a problem, and to make judgments and decisions that are logically sound.

Being strong in any of the preceding mental aptitudes often leads to an enjoyment of work associated with that aptitude. The reverse can also be true; enjoying a type of mental activity might lead to the development of an aptitude for the activity.

Attempts to improve cognitive skills, or intelligence, have become an entire industry, including both brain-stimulating exercises and food supplements. Common wisdom suggests that staying in shape mentally by such activities as doing crossword puzzles, surfing the Internet, or studying a foreign language can slow the decline of an aging brain. Brain-imaging studies support the idea that mental workouts help preserve cognitive fitness, a state of optimized ability to remember, learn, plan, and adapt to changing circumstances. Acquiring expertise in such diverse areas as playing a cello, juggling, speaking a foreign language, and playing video games and computer games expands your neural systems and helps them communicate with one another. This means that by learning new skills you can alter the physical makeup of the brain even in later life. Engaging in play also enhances brain functioning that helps explain the link between creativity and play. [28]

cognitive fitness

A state of optimized ability to remember, learn, plan, and adapt to changing circumstances.

Training people in memory skills (still an important part of intelligence) has been shown to be successful in many experiments. For example, research with seniors showed that training with a computer game that involved executive control skills improved performance in a variety of memory tasks. [29]  Considerable evidence exists that aerobic exercise helps maintain cognitive intelligence, particularly for the elderly. It is possible that the exercise results in a better flow of oxygen to the brain, thereby boosting its capability, at least in the short term. [30]

The contribution of food supplements to enhancing or maintaining cognitive ability is debatable, yet at least promising. Nevertheless, a balanced, healthy diet contributes to the propering functioning of the brain, as well as any other organ of the body. In recent years, several energy drinks have appeared on the market that contain citicoline, an organic molecule that is said to boost the production of neurotransmitters that are necessary for brain functioning. A review of 14 experiments found that cicitcoline has a positive effect on memory and behavior, at least in the medium term. [31]  So go ahead and purchase a medically approved brain booster at a pharmacy, knowing that it could help you conquer your next big cognitive challenge.

Practical Intelligence

Many people, including psychologists, are concerned that the traditional way of understanding intelligence inadequately describes mental ability. An unfortunate implication of intelligence testing is that intelligence as traditionally calculated is largely the ability to perform tasks related to scholastic work. Thus, a person who scored very high on an intelligence test could follow a complicated instruction manual, but might not be street smart.

The practical type of intelligence is required for adapting your environment to suit your needs.  Practical intelligence  is an accumulation of skills, dispositions, and knowledge, plus the ability to apply knowledge to solve every day problems. [32]  The idea of practical intelligence helps explain why a person who has a difficult time getting through school can still be a successful businessperson, politician, or athlete. Practical intelligence incorporates the ideas of common sense, wisdom, and street smarts.

practical intelligence

An accumulation of skills, dispositions, and knowledge, plus the ability to apply knowledge to solve everyday problems.

A person with high practical intelligence would also have good  intuition , an experience-based way of knowing or reasoning in which the weighing and balancing of evidence are done automatically. Examples of good intuition include a merchandiser who develops a hunch that a particular style will be hot next season, a basketball coach who sees the possibilities in a gangly youngster, and a supervisor who has a hunch that a neighbor would be a great fit for her department. Intuition is also required for creative intelligence.

intuition

An experience-based way of knowing or reasoning in which the weighing and balancing of evidence are done automatically.

An important implication of practical intelligence is that experience is helpful in developing intellectual skills and judgment. At younger ages, raw intellectual ability, such as that required for learning information technology skills, may be strongest. However, judgment and wisdom are likely to be stronger with accumulated experience. This is why people in their 40s and older are more likely to be chosen for positions such as the CEO of a large business or a commercial airline pilot. Poor judgment is sometimes associated with inexperience and youth, and the frequent impulsiveness of young people is often referred to as the teenage brain.

A study conducted with more than 300 printing industry CEOs and founders of early-stage printing and graphics businessess demonstrated that practical intelligence is associated with business success. Practial intelligence was measured by having the participants solve problems revealed in three printing-business scenarios. Among the many findings of the study was that practical intelligence is important for business success, measured in terms of new venture growth in an entrepreneurial setting. [33]

One major reservation some have about practical intelligence is the implication that people who are highly intelligent in the traditional sense are not practical thinkers. In truth, most executives and other high-level workers score quite well on tests of mental ability. These tests usually measure analytical intelligence.

Multiple Intelligences

Another approach to understanding the diverse nature of mental ability is the theory of  multiple intelligences . According to Howard Gardner, people know and understand the world in distinctly different ways and learn in different ways. Individuals possess the following eight intelligences, or faculties, in varying degrees:

multiple intelligences

A theory of intelligence contending that people know and understand the world in distinctly different ways and learn in different ways.

1. Linguistic. Enables people to communicate through language, including reading, writing, and speaking.

2. Logical-mathematical. Enables individuals to see relationships between objects and solve problems, as in calculus and statistics.

3. Musical. Gives people the capacity to create and understand meanings made out of sounds and to enjoy different types of music.

4. Spatial. Enables people to perceive and manipulate images in the brain and to recreate them from memory, as is required in making graphic designs.

5. Bodily kinesthetic. Enables people to use their body and perceptual and motor systems in skilled ways, such as dancing, playing sports, and expressing emotion through facial expressions.

6. Intrapersonal. Enables people to distinguish among their own feelings and acquire accurate self-knowledge.

7. Interpersonal. Makes it possible for individuals to recognize and make distinctions among the feelings, motives, and intentions of others, as in managing or parenting.

8. Naturalist. Enables individuals to differentiate among, classify, and utilize various features of the physical external environment.

Your profile of intelligences influences how you best learn and to which types of jobs you are best suited. Gardner believes that it is possible to develop these separate intelligences through concentrated effort. However, any of these intelligences might fade if not put to use. [34]  The components of multiple intelligences might also be perceived as different talents or abilities. Having high general problem-solving ability (g) would contribute to high standing on each of the eight intelligences.

Two books in recent years have emphasized that having natural abilities of the type just described is not as important as hard work in developing talent. According to the 10,000-hour rule proposed by Malcolm Gladwell, no one gets to the top without 10,000 hours of practice in a field. [35]  Guided practice does indeed help, but a person still needs some basic talent to attain high-level success in such fields as finance, foreign languages, and sports. Recognize also that many teenagers achieve outstanding success in information technology, science, sports, and music without having practiced 1,000 hours per year for 10 years.

The three types of intelligence mentioned so far (cognitive, practical, and multiple) all contribute to but do not guarantee our ability to think critically. Critical thinking is the process of evaluating evidence and then, based on this evaluation, making judgments and decisions. Through critical thinking, we find reasons to support or reject an argument. Personality factors contribute heavily to whether we choose to use the various types of intelligence. For example, the personality factor of openness facilitates critical thinking because the individual enjoys gathering evidence to support or refute an idea. Conscientiousness also facilitates critical thinking because the individual feels compelled to gather more facts and think harder. [36]

Emotional Intelligence

How effectively people use their emotions has a major impact on their success.  Emotional intelligence  refers to qualities such as understanding one’s own feelings, having empathy for others, and regulating one’s emotions to enhance living. The intelligence aspect focuses on the ability to engage in complex information processing about your own emotions and those of others. At the same time, you use this information as a guide to thought and behavior. [37]  A person with high emotional intelligence would be able to engage in such behaviors as sizing up people, pleasing others, and influencing them. Four key factors included in emotional intelligence are as follows: [38]

emotional intelligence

Qualities such as understanding one’s own feelings, empathy for others, and the regulation of emotion to enhance living.

1. Self-awareness. The ability to understand your moods, emotions, and needs as well as their impact on others. Self-awareness also includes using intuition to make decisions you can live with happily. A person with good self-awareness knows whether he or she is pushing other people too far. Imagine that Amanda is an assistant to the food service manager at a financial services company. Amanda believes strongly that the cafeteria should ensure that no food served on company premises contains trans fats. However, the food services manager seems lukewarm to the idea. Instead of badgering the manager, Amanda decides to fight her battle bit by bit by presenting facts and reminders in a friendly way. Eventually, the manager agrees to have a meeting on the subject, with a nutritionist invited. Amanda’s self-awareness has paid off.

2. Self-management. The ability to control one’s emotions and act with honesty and integrity in a consistent and acceptable manner. The right degree of self-management helps prevent a person from throwing temper tantrums when activities do not go as planned. Effective workers do not let their occasional bad moods ruin their day. If they cannot overcome the bad mood, they let coworkers know of their problem and how long it might last. A person with low self-management would suddenly decide to drop a project because the work was frustrating.

Imagine that Jack is an assistant to the export sales manager, and today is a big day because a company in Russia appears ready to make a giant purchase. The export sales manager says, “Today we need peak performance from everybody. If we nail down this sale, we will exceed our sales quota for the year.” Unfortunately, Jack is in a grim mood. His favorite sports team was eliminated from the playoffs the night before, and his dog has been diagnosed as having a torn abdominal muscle. Jack would like to lash out in anger against everybody he meets today, but instead he focuses his energy on getting the job done, and does not let his personal problems show through.

3. Social awareness. Includes having empathy for others and having intuition about work problems. A team leader with social awareness, or empathy, would be able to assess whether a team member has enough enthusiasm for a project to assign him to that project. Another facet of social skill is the ability to interpret nonverbal communication, such as frowns and types of smiles. [39]  A supervisor with social awareness, or empathy, would take into account the most likely reaction of group members before making a decision that affects them.

Image Source/Corbis Images

Imagine that Cindy has been working as an assistant purchasing manager for six months. Company policy prohibits accepting “lavish” gifts from vendors or potential vendors attempting to sell the company goods or services. Cindy has been placed in charge of purchasing all paper toweling for the company. Although most of the purchasing is completed over the Internet, sales representatives still make the occasional call. The rep from the paper towel company asks Cindy if she would like an iPhone as a token gift for even considering his company. Cindy badly wants an iPhone, and it is not yet in her budget. After thinking through the potential gift for five minutes, Cindy decides to refuse. Perhaps an iPhone is not really a lavish gift, but her intuition tells her it would look like a conflict of interest if she accepted the iPhone.

4. Relationship management. Includes the interpersonal skills of being able to communicate clearly and convincingly, disarm conflicts, and build strong personal bonds. Effective workers use relationship management skills to spread their enthusiasm and solve disagreements, often with kindness and humor. A worker with relationship management skills would use a method of persuasion that is likely to work well with a particular group or individual.

The current interest in emotional intelligence in the workplace appears to be related to a growing acceptance of emotional expressiveness, including occasional crying on the job for both men and women. A national study conducted by crying expert Anne Kreamer found that 69 percent of respondents believed that when a person gets more emotional on the job, it makes that person seem more human. Also, 93 percent of women and 83 percent of men believed that being sensitive to others’ emotions at work is an asset. [40]  Furthermore, a study of 212 professionals from a variety of industries found that emotional intelligence was associated with teamwork effectiveness and job performance. This finding was true mostly when the professional’s job had some managerial work demands because responding to the emotions of others requires emotional capabilities. [41]

Much of this book is about relationship management, but here is yet another example. Donte is an information technology specialist. His assignment for the first six months is to visit users at their workplace to help them with any IT problems they might be experiencing. In discussing his role with his supervisor, Donte begins to realize that helping with technical problems is not his only job. He is an ambassador of good will for the IT department. He and his manager want to build a network of support for the efforts of the department. So when Donte visits the various departments, he is courteous and friendly, and asks about how an IT rep could make work easier for the person in question.

Emotional intelligence thus incorporates many of the skills and attitudes necessary to achieve effective interpersonal relations in organizations. Most of the topics in this book, such as resolving conflict, helping others develop, and possessing positive political skills, would be included in emotional intelligence. It is therefore reasonable to regard emotional intelligence as being a mixture of cognitive skills and personality.

Guidelines for Relating to People of Different Levels and Types of Intelligence

1. Learning Objective 4

Certainly you cannot expect to administer mental ability and emotional intelligence tests to all your work associates, gather their scores, and then relate to associates differently based on their scores. Yet it is possible to intuitively develop a sense for the mental quickness of people and the types of mental tasks they perform best. For example, managers must make judgments about mental ability in selecting people for jobs and assigning them to tasks. The following are several guidelines worth considering for enhancing your working relationships with others.

1. If you perceive another worker (your manager included) to have high cognitive skill, present your ideas in technical depth. Incorporate difficult words into your conversation and reports. Ask the person challenging questions.

2. If you perceive another worker to have low cognitive skill, present your ideas with a minimum of technical depth. Use a basic vocabulary, without going so far as to be patronizing. Ask for frequent feedback about having been clear. If you have supervisory responsibility for a person who appears to be below average in intelligence, give the person the opportunity to repeat the same type of task rather than switching assignments frequently.

3. If you perceive a work associate to relish crunching numbers, use quantitative information when attempting to persuade that person. Instead of using phrases such as “most people,” say “about 65 percent of people.”

4. If you perceive a work associate to have high creative intelligence, solicit his or her input on problems requiring a creative solution. Use statements such as “Here’s a problem that requires a sharp, creative mind, so I’ve come to you.”

5. If you perceive a work associate to have low emotional intelligence, explain your feelings and attitudes clearly. Make an occasional statement such as “How I feel about his situation is quite important” to emphasize the emotional aspect. The person may not get the point of hints and indirect expressions.

To start putting these guidelines into practice, do the role-plays in Skill-Building Exercises 2-2 and 2-3.

Values as a Source of Individual Differences

Another group of factors influencing how a person behaves on the job is that person’s values and beliefs. A  value  refers to the importance a person attaches to something. Values are also tied to the enduring belief that one’s mode of conduct is better than another mode of conduct. If you believe that good interpersonal relations are the most important part of your life, your humanistic values are strong. Similarly, you may think that people who are not highly concerned about interpersonal relations have poor values.

value

The importance a person attaches to something.

Skill-Building Exercise 2-2

1.  

Adapting to People of Different Mental Ability

The Cognitively Skilled Coworker:

One student plays the role of a worker who needs to learn a complex software program in a hurry. You intend to approach a particular coworker who is known for having a sharp mind. You wonder whether this highly intelligent person will be interested in your problem. The other person plays the role of the computer whiz who ordinarily does not like to solve problems for people that they should be able to solve themselves. The first worker meets with the second to discuss loading the software.

The Cognitively Average Team Member:

One student plays the role of a supervisor who needs to explain to a team member how to calculate discounts for customers. To the supervisor’s knowledge, the team member does not know how to calculate discounts, although it will be an important part of the team member’s new job. The supervisor and the team member get together for a session on calculating discounts.

Values are closely tied in with  ethics , or the moral choices a person makes. A person’s values influence which kinds of behaviors he or she believes are ethical. Ethics convert values into action. An executive who strongly values profits might not find it unethical to raise prices higher than needed to cover additional costs. Another executive who strongly values family life might suggest that the company invest money in an on-site childcare center. Ethics is such an important part of interpersonal relations in organizations that the topic receives separate mention in  Chapter 15 .

ethics

The moral choices a person makes. Also, what is good and bad, right and wrong, just and unjust, and what people should do.

Classification of Values

An almost automatic response to classifying values is that people have either good or bad values, with bad values meaning those that are quite different than yours. To the person with a strong work ethic, an individual who took a casual approach to work might have “bad values.” To the person with a weak work ethic, the person who was work obsessed might have “bad values.” Shalom H. Schwartz, a professor from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has developed a method of classifying values that is particularly useful because it points to how we establish goals to fit our values. [42]  For example, as shown in  Table 2-1 , people who value power are likely to set the goals of attaining power, strength, and control. And those who value benevolence are likely to establish the goals of being kind, being charitable, and showing respect for others. The link between values and goals has extensive research support.

Generational Differences in Values

Differences in values among people often stem from age, or generational, differences. Workers above 50 years of age, in general, may have different values than people who are much younger. These age differences in values have often been seen as a clash between Baby Boomers and members of Generation X and Generation Y. The category of Baby Boomers is so broad that part of the Baby Boomer generation is said to include Generation Jones, the younger boomers born between 1954 and 1964. This group comprises one-fourth of the US population. Members of Generation Jones are typically entering the peak of their careers and are not yet thinking much about retirement. [43]

Skill-Building Exercise 2-3

1.  

Helping an Intellectually Challenged Worker Get Started

You are an order-fulfillment supervisor at the distribution center for a large online store. Your area of responsibility is the order fulfillment of games, toys, and sports. Part of top-level management’s human resource philosophy is “give a break to those who need a break.” One way of implementing this philosophy is to hire the occasional job applicant who is well below average in cognitive (traditional) intelligence. Under this program, you are assigned Jimmy, an amiable, physically able, and energetic 20-year-old who has substantially below-average problem-solving ability (such as is measured by I.Q.). Your manager instructs you to assign Jimmy to a job you think he can handle. You decide that packing orders for video games would be a starting point. It is day one on the job, and you want Jimmy to feel useful right away. Jimmy also wants to feel useful, yet he is apprehensive about the situation.

Demonstrate how you will reassure Jimmy, and show him how to get started packing the box and attaching the shipping label. Another student plays the role of Jimmy.

Table 2-1 A Classification of Values and Associated Goals

Source: Anat Bardi, Rachel M. Calogero, and Brian Mullen, “A New Archival Approach to the Study of Values and Value-Behavior Relations: Validation of the Value Lexicon,” Journal of Applied Psychology, May 2008, pp. 483–497. Based on Shalom. H. Schwartz, “Universals in the Content and Structure of Values: Theoretical Advances and Empirical Tests in 20 Countries,” in Advances in Experimental and Social Psychology, ed. Mark P. Zanna (New York: Academic Press, Vol. 25, 1992), 1–65.

Value	Goals Associated with Each Value
Power	power, strength, control
Achievement	achievement, ambition, success
Hedonism	luxury, pleasure, delight
Stimulation	excitement, novelty, thrill
Self-direction	independence, freedom, liberty
Universalism	unity, justice, equality
Benevolence	kindness, charity, mercy
Tradition	tradition, custom, respect
Conformity	restraint, regard, consideration
Security	security, safety, protection

According to the stereotype, Baby Boomers see Generation Xers and Yers as disrespectful of rules, not willing to pay their dues, and being disloyal to employers. Generation Xers and Yers see Baby Boomers as worshipping hierarchy (layers of authority), being overcautious, and wanting to preserve the status quo. Members of Generation X and Generation Y are likely to believe even more strongly than Baby Boomers in the imporance of sustainability, or preserving the physical environment. Sustainability also refers to the idea of meeting the needs of the present without creating environmental problems that will block future generations from satisfying their needs. [44]

Table 2-2  summarizes these stereotypes with the understanding that massive group stereotypes like this are only partially accurate because there are literally millions of exceptions. For example, many Baby Boomers are fascinated with technology, and many Generation Yers like hierarchy. When the Traditionalists (pre-Baby Boomers) are included, four different generations converge in today’s workplace—sometimes leading to conflict as described in  Chapter 9  .

How Values Are Learned

People acquire values in the process of growing up, and many values are learned by the age of four. Many of our values are influenced by the cultural experiences of our childhood.[45] An example is that many people who grew up during the Internet generation believe that information should be freely exchanged and come without a fee. Whereas in the past the family was the most important environment for shaping values, attitudes, and beliefs, today children are exposed via television and the Internet to many more role models, values, ways of thinking, and choices than ever before. [46]  Models can be teachers, friends, brothers, sisters, and even public figures. If we identify with a particular person, the probability is high that we will develop some of his or her major values. For example, if a parent valued helping less fortunate people, the child might place a high value on helping people in need later in life.

Another major way values are learned is through the communication of attitudes. The attitudes that we hear expressed directly or indirectly help shape our values. Assume that using credit to purchase goods and services was considered an evil practice among your family and friends. You might therefore hold negative values about installment purchases. Unstated but implied attitudes may also shape your values. If key people in your life showed no enthusiasm when you talked about work accomplishments, you might not

Table 2-2 Value Stereotypes for Several Generations of Workers

Sources: The majority of ideas in this table are from Adrienne Fox, “Mixing It Up,” HR Magazine, May 2011, pp. 22–27; Ron Alsop, The Trophy Kids Grow Up: How the Millenial Generation is Shaking Up the Workforce (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Wiley, 2008); Alsop, “Schools, Recruiters Try to Define Traits for Future Students,” The Wall Street Journal, February 14, 2006, p. B6; Kathryn Tyler, “Generation Gaps: Millennials May Be Out of Touch with the Basics of Workplace Behavior,” HR Magazine, January 2008, pp. 69–72; Lindsay Holloway, “Stick Together,” Entrepreneur, March 2008, p. 30; Martha Irvine, “Recession Intensifies Gen X Discontent at Work,” The Detroit News ( www.detnews.com ), November 16, 2009; Chris Penttila, “Talking about My Generation,” Entrepreneur, March 2009, pp. 53–55; Cindy Krischer Goodman, “Meeting in the Middle: Generations X and Y,” The Miami Herald (http://www.miamiherald.com), August 18, 2010, pp. 1–3; and Susan Berfield, “Levi’s Has a New Color for Blue Jeans: Green,” Bloomberg Businessweek, October 26–October 28, pp. 26–28.

Baby Boomers (1946–1964) including Generation Jones (1954–1965)	Generation X (1961–1980)	Generation Y (1981–2002) Millenials
Uses technology as a necessary tool, but not obsessed with technology for its own sake	Tech-savvy	Tech-savvy, and even questions the value of standard IT techniques such as e-mail, with a preference for communications on a Web site
Appreciates hierarchy	Teamwork very important	Teamwork very important, highly team focused
Tolerates teams but values independent work	Dislikes hierarchy	Dislikes hierarchy, prefers participation
Strong career orientation	Strives for work–life balance, but will work long hours for now; prefers flexible work schedule	Strives for work–life balance, and may object to work interfering with personal life; expects flexible work schedule
More loyalty to organization	Loyalty to own career and profession	Loyalty to own career and profession, and feels entitled to career goals
Favors diplomacy and tact	Candid in conversation	Quite direct in conversation
Seeks long-term employment	Will accept long-term employment if situation is right	Looks toward each company as a stepping stone to a better job in another company
Believes that issues should be formally discussed	Believes that feedback can be administered informally, and welcomes feedback	Believes that feedback can be given informally, even on the fly, and craves feedback
Somewhat willing to accept orders and suggestions	Often questions why things should be done in certain way	Frequently asks why things should be done in a certain way, and asks loads of questions
Willing to take initiative to establish starting and completion dates for projects	Slight preference for a manager to provide structure about project dates	Prefers structure on dates and other activities based on childhood of structured activities
Regards rewards as a positive consequence of good performance and seniority	Expects frequent rewards	Feels strong sense of entitlement to rewards, including promotions
Will multitask in front of work associates when it seems necessary	Feels comfortable in multitasking while interacting with work associates	Assumes that multitasking, including listening to music on earphones while dealing with work associates, is acceptable behavior
Prefers working at desk in company office	Eager to have the option of working from anywhere at any time.	Prefers working from anywhere at any time; feels constrained when having to work in company office full time
Believes that sustainability (protecting the environment) should be balanced with its economic costs, including job generation	Wants employers to take a positive stand in terms of protecting the environment	Thinks that sustainability is as important as profitability, and only wants to work for a “green” employer
Note: Disagreement exists about which age bracket fits Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y, with both professional publications and dictionaries showing slight differences.

place such a high value on achieving outstanding results. If, however, your family and friends centered their lives on their careers, you might develop similar values. (Or you might rebel against such a value because it interfered with a more relaxed lifestyle.) Many key values are also learned through religion and thus become the basis for society’s morals. For example, most religions emphasize treating other people fairly and kindly. To “knife somebody in the back” is considered immoral both on and off the job.

Although many core values are learned early in life, our values continue to be shaped by events later in life. The media, including the dissemination of information about popular culture, influence the values of many people throughout their lives. The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina intensified a belief in the value of helping less fortunate people. Volunteers from throughout the United States and several other countries invested time, money, and energy into helping rebuild New Orleans and several other Gulf Coast cities. Influential people, such as NBA players, were seen on television building houses for Katrina victims. Such publicity sent a message that helping people in need is a value worth considering.

The media, particularly through advertisements, can also encourage the development of values that are harmful to a person intent on developing a professional career. People featured in advertisements for consumer products, including snack food, beer, and vehicles, often flaunt rudeness and flagrantly incorrect grammar. The message comes across to many people that such behavior is associated with success.

Changes in technology can also change our values. As the world has become increasingly digitized, more and more people come to value a digital lifestyle as the normal way of life. Many people would not think of spending time away from the house without their electronic gadgets, even while participating in or watching sports. Being part of the digital lifestyle is therefore an important value for many people of all ages.

Company values can also influence or shape individual values, such as an organization emphasizing total respect for the rights of customers. Several business firms also strongly emphasize the value of spirituality, which could awaken such values with many employees. A strong example is Tyson Foods, Inc. which employs 120 chaplains. The head chaplain, Richard McKinnie, explains the value in these terms: “It’s not about Chistianity or Islam. It’s the spiritual side of what people are.” [47]

Clarifying Your Values

The values that you develop early in life are directly related to the kind of person you are and to the quality of the relationships you form. [48]  Recognition of this fact has led to exercises designed to help people clarify and understand some of their own values.  Self-Assessment Quiz 2-3  gives you an opportunity to clarify your values.

The Mesh between Individual and Job Values

Under the best of circumstances, the values of employees mesh with those required by the job. When this state of congruence exists, job performance is likely to be higher. Suppose that Jacquelyn strongly values giving people with limited formal education an opportunity to work and avoid being placed on welfare. So she takes a job as a manager of a dollar store that employs many people who would ordinarily have limited opportunity for employment. Jacquelyn is satisfied because her employer and she share a similar value.

A group of researchers attempted to discover why congruence between individual and organizational values leads to positive outcomes such as low turnover and high performance. The major factor creating positive outcomes appears to be employees trusting managers based on the congruence. Communication also plays a role because when communication is regular, open, and consistent, trust is enhanced. For example, trust is enhanced when management explains the reasons behind major decisions. Good communication also enhances interpersonal attraction between managers and employees. Goal congruence also came about to a lesser extent because employees liked the managers. Liking, in turn, was enhanced by managers communicating well with employees. [49]

When the demands made by the organization or a superior clash with the basic values of the individual, he or she suffers from  person–role conflict . The individual wants to obey orders, but does not want to perform an act that seems inconsistent with his or her

person–role conflict

The situation that occurs when the demands made by the organization clash with the basic values of the individual.

Self-Assessment Quiz 2-4

1.  

Clarifying Your Values

Directions:

Rank from 1 to 20 the importance of the following values to you as a person. The most important value on the list receives a rank of 1; the least important a rank of 20. Use the space next to “Other” if the list has left out an important value in your life.

·         Having my own place to live

·         Having one or more children

·         Having an interesting job and career

·         Owning a car

·         Having a good relationship with coworkers

·         Having good health

·         Spending considerable time on social networking Web sites

·         Being able to stay in frequent contact with friends by cell phone and text messaging

·         Watching my favorite television shows

·         Participating in sports or other pastimes

·         Following a sports team, athlete, music group, or other entertainer

·         Being a religious person

·         Helping people less fortunate than myself

·         Loving and being loved by another person

·         Having physical intimacy with another person

·         Making an above-average income

·         Being in good physical condition

·         Being a knowledgeable, informed person

·         Completing my formal education

·         Other

1. Discuss and compare your ranking of these values with the person next to you.

2. Perhaps your class, assisted by your instructor, can arrive at a class average on each of these values. How does your ranking compare to the class ranking?

3. Look back at your own ranking. Does it surprise you?

4. Are there any surprises in the class ranking? Which values did you think would be highest and lowest?

values. A situation such as this might occur when an employee is asked to produce a product that he or she feels is unsafe or of no value to society.

Guidelines for Using Values to Enhance Interpersonal Relations

1. Learning Objective 5

Values are intangible and abstract, and thus not easy to manipulate to help improve your interpersonal relations on the job. Despite their vagueness, values are an important driver of interpersonal effectiveness. Ponder the following guidelines:

1. Establish the values you will use in your relationships with others on the job, and then use those values as firm guidelines in working with others. For example, following the Golden Rule, you might establish the value of treating other people as you want to be treated. You would then not lie to others to gain personal advantage, and you would not backstab your rivals.

2. Establish the values that will guide you as an employee. When you believe that your values are being compromised, express your concern to your manager in a tactful and constructive manner. You might say to your manager, “Sorry, I choose not to tell our customers that our competitor’s product is inferior just to make a sale. I choose not to say this because our competitor makes a fine product. But what I will say is that our service is exceptional.”

Skill-Building Exercise 2-4

1.  

The Value-Conflict Role-Play

One student plays the role of a CEO who makes an announcement to the group that the company must soon lay off 10 percent of the workforce in order to remain profitable. The CEO also points out that the company has a policy against laying off good performers. He or she then asks four of the company managers to purposely give below-average performance ratings to 10 percent of employees. In this way, laying them off will fit company policy.

Four other students play the role of the company managers who receive this directive. If such manipulation of performance evaluations clashes with your values, engage in a dialogue with your manager expressing your conflict. Remember, however, that you may not want to jeopardize your job.

Conduct this role-play for about seven minutes. Observers rate the role players on two dimensions, using a 1-to-5 scale from very poor (1) to very good (5). One dimension is “effective use of human relations techniques.” The second dimension is “acting ability.” A few observers might voluntarily provide feedback to the role players in terms of sharing their ratings and observations. The course instructor might also provide feedback.

3. Remember that many values are a question of opinion, not a statement of right versus wrong. If you believe that your values are right, and anybody who disagrees is wrong, you will have frequent conflict. For example, you may believe that the most important value top managers should have is to bring shareholders a high return on their investment. Another worker believes that profits are important, but providing jobs for as many people as possible is an equally important value. Both of you have a good point, but neither is right or wrong. So it is better to discuss these differences rather than hold grudges because of them.

4. Respect differences in values and make appropriate adjustment when the value clash is reasonable. If you are an older person, recognize that you may have to win the respect of a younger coworker rather than assume that because you are more experienced, or a manager, that respect will come automatically. [50]  If you are a younger person, recognize that an older person might be looking for respect, so search for something you can respect right away, such as his or her many valuable contacts in the company.

5. Recognize that many people today are idealistic about their jobs, and want to have an impact on the lives of others. [51]  In the meantime, you might feel that you need that person’s cooperation to get an important task done right now, such as fulfilling a larger order. Invest a couple of minutes into helping that person understand how an ordinary task might be having an impact on the lives of others—such as earning money to feed a hungry baby at home!

To help you put these guidelines into practice, do  Skill-Building Exercise 2-4 . Remember, however, that being skilled at using your values requires day-by-day monitoring.

Concept Review and Reinforcement

Key Terms

1. individual differences   23

2. personality   23

3. organizational citizenship behavior   28

4. cognitive styles   30

5. cognitive intelligence   33

6. g  (general) factor   34

7. s  (special) factors   34

8. practical intelligence   35

9. intuition   35

10. multiple intelligences   35

11. emotional intelligence   36

12. value   38

13. ethics   39

14. person–role conflict   42

Summary

Individual differences are among the most important factors influencing the behavior of people in the workplace. Knowing how to respond to such differences is the cornerstone of effective interpersonal relations.

Personality is one of the major sources of individual differences. The eight major personality factors described in this chapter are neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, self-monitoring of behavior, risk taking and thrill seeking, and optimism. Depending on the job, any one of these personality factors can be important for success, and they also affect interpersonal relations. Conscientiousness relates to job performance for many different occupations, and has proven to be the personality factor most consistently related to success.

Personality also influences a person’s cognitive style, or modes of problem solving. According to the Golden Personality Profiler, four separate dichotomies direct the typical use of perception and judgment by the individual as follows: (a) energy flow: extraversion vs. introversion, (b) information gathering: sensing vs. intuition, (c) decision making: thinking vs. feeling, and (d) lifestyle orientation: judging vs. perceiving. Combining the four types with each other results in 16 personality types, such as being a proponent, communicator, advocate, or enforcer. For example, the proponent (ENFP) scores high on extraversion, intuition, feeling, and perceiving.

Mental ability, or intelligence, is one of the major sources of individual differences that affects job performance and behavior. Understanding the nature of intelligence contributes to effective interpersonal relations in organizations. For example, understanding that different types of intelligence exist will help a person appreciate the strengths of individuals.

Intelligence consists of many components. The traditional perspective is that intelligence includes a general factor (g) along with special factors (s) that contribute to problem-solving ability. A related perspective is that intelligence consists of seven components: verbal comprehension, word fluency, numerical acuity, spatial perception, memory, perceptual speed, and inductive reasoning.

To overcome the idea that intelligence involves mostly the ability to solve abstract problems, the triarchic theory of intelligence has been proposed. According to this theory, intelligence has three subtypes: analytical, creative, and practical (street smarts included). Another approach to understanding mental ability contends that people have multiple intelligences, or faculties, including linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily kinesthetic, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and naturalist.

Emotional intelligence refers to factors other than traditional mental ability that influence a person’s success. The four components of emotional intelligence are (1) self-awareness, (2) self-management, (3) social awareness, and (4) relationship management. Emotional intelligence is a skill through which employees treat emotions as valuable information when navigating a situation.

Values and beliefs are another set of factors that influence behavior on the job, including interpersonal relations. Values are closely tied in with ethics. A useful way of classifying values points to how we establish goals to fit our values, as shown in  Table 2-1 . Differences in values among people often stem from age, or generational, differences.

People acquire values in the process of growing up and modeling others, and the communication of attitudes. Later life influences such as the media also shape values. The values a person develops early in life are directly related to the kind of adult he or she becomes and to the quality of relationships formed. Values-clarification exercises help people identify their values.

When the values of employees mesh with those required by the job, job performance is likely to be higher. Person–role conflict occurs when the demands made by an organization or a superior clash with the basic values of an individual.

Questions for Discussion and Review

1. Provide an example of how you have successfully taken into account individual differences in dealing with people. In what way did your approach make a difference in the outcome of the interaction with that person?

2. Suppose you found out from a reliable source that a coworker of yours is a high self-monitor. What precautions (if any) would you take in dealing with that person?

3. Identify three job situations (or entire jobs) in which being optimistic might be an asset.

4. Identify three job situations (or entire jobs) in which being pessimistic might be an asset.

5. Identify two business occupations for which a high propensity for risk taking and thrill seeking would be an asset. Also, identify two business occupations for which risk taking and thrill seeking might be a liability.

6. Imagine yourself going about your job in your field, or intended field. Give an example of how you might use the five primary senses of touch, sight, sound, smell, and taste to gather information.

7. Which of the seven components of traditional intelligence represents your best mental aptitude? What is your evidence?

8. How could you use the concept of multiple intelligences to raise the self-esteem of people who did not consider themselves to be very smart?

9. Which aspect of personality, cognitive ability, or values would best help explain why so many actors, actresses, sports figures, politicans, and business executives damage their careers through such means as drunk driving, shoplifiting, sexual harassment, or physically assaulting others?

10. How can you use information about a person’s values to help you relate more effectively to him or her?

The Web Corner

1. http://myskillprofile.com

2. (This site provides many self-quizzes, including emotional intelligence, sports mental skills, and spiritual intelligence. Several of the tests are free.)

3. http://www.queendom.com

4. (This site provides many tests and quizzes related to cognitive factors, personality, and emotional I.Q.)

5. http://www.annekreamer.com/its-always-personal/weep-survey

6. (Customized evaluation of your emotional style at work.)

Internet Skills Builder: Boosting Your Mental Ability

1. Do you want to be smarter? Thousands of specialists think they have developed intelligent ways of making people more intelligent. You will find at least 110 million Web sites that provide information about improving brain functioning through such methods as practice in problem solving and taking food supplements. Try out one of these sites. Evaluate the suggestions for plausibility. You might even try the exercises for a couple of weeks and observe whether you become smarter. Ask somebody close to you if have become smarter. You might also see if you do better on tests with the same amount of study and classroom attentiveness.

Developing Your Human Relations Skills

Interpersonal Relations Case 2.1

The Big Stakes Repo Men at International Recovery

The key players at the International Recovery Group are high-stakes repossession specialists, or “repo men” as they are commonly known. Their repossession targets are expensive properties such as $250,000 yachts or private planes worth $1 million. Banks and other lenders hire these repo specialists for the same reason they hire them to take back autos and trucks of more modest value; the loan holders have fallen way behind on their payments and have shown no good intention to catch up.

According to its owner, Ken Cage, business at International Recovery surges during a recession because many wealthy people, such as real estate developers, suffer a big loss in income. Senior repossession specialist and former professional wrestler, Randy Craft (formerly “Rockin’ Randy”), says that carrying out “repos” can be dangerous. He says that he has been threatened with a snow shovel, run over by a car, and chased down a river by an enraged boat owner. (Craft has left the company to pursue other interests.)

When the business first started, Cage used to repossess mostly small airplanes and boats. As the business grows, he and his group seize much larger items, including multimillion dollar jets and yachts. International Recovery also repossesses race horses and exotic cars.

Cage and his colleagues use detective-like techniques to track down the property they are seeking, including asking disarming questions: “We were sent here to pick up this boat [while displaying a clear photo]. By any chance, have you seen it?” Cage has also developed a network of people who feed him the information he needs. Among these people are marine captains, tow-boat operators, jet-terminal workers, and aircraft pilots.

On a representative seizure, four repo men enter a marina in a truck. The group stays hidden in tall grass as they sight their target boat. One specialist quickly moves next to the target yacht, while the others stand lookout on the dock. Craft is especially skilled at lock picking, so he is the first inside the yacht. Cage unties the boat from the dock. A captain, who is part of the team, fires up the twin diesel engines. The yacht is then on its way to another marina, to be reclaimed by the bank and eventually resold.

Cage is cagey. He changes his natural Philadelphia regional accent to sound like a person from the region in which he is working, such as Florida, when he makes phone calls or interviews people face to face.

Case Questions

1. Which personality traits does Cage, as well as his coworkers, most likely demonstrate?

2. How much cognitive skill is probably required to be a repossession specialist at

International Recovery Group?

3. How might practical intelligence contribute to success as a high-end repo specialist?

4. How might being a former professional wrestler be a contributing factor to success in this type of work?

Source: Original case created from facts presented in in the following sources: Robert Frank, “Cries of ‘Hey, That’s My Jet!’ Don’t Deter High-End Repo Men,” The Wall Street Journal, March 20, 2010, pp. A1, A6; Matthew Teagure, “The Luxury Repo Men,” Bloomberg Businessweek ( http://www.businessweek.com ), October 25, 2012, pp. 1–8; “Downturn Sees Rise in Repossessions of Yachts, Private Planes,” Voice of America ( http://www.voanews.com ), November 2, 2009, pp. 1–2; Peter Howe, “A Day in the Life of a Luxury Repo Man,”  http://www.necn.com , 1–2, July 20, 2010.

Interpersonal Relations Case 2.2

A Values Clash at the Hearing Center

Jessica, a recent graduate in health administration, was delighted to be hired by the Brandon Hearing Centers as an office administrator for one of the two center locations. Her responsibilities included record keeping, dealing with vendors, accepting payments, bill paying, and monitoring the hearing center Web site, as well as fill-in responsibility as a receptionist. Brandon was operated by a husband-and-wife team of audiologists, who divided their time between the two locations.

Jessica enjoyed her new position for two key reasons. First, she was acquiring valuable ground-floor experience as a health administrator. Second, she felt she was making a contribution to helping people with hearing problems. Yet, she was concerned about one feature of her job; she had to receive and make so many phone calls to patients. Jessica thought that the Center’s reliance on phone calls was both old-fashioned and a productivity drain. Jessica hinted at the problem several times to the Brandon couple, but her complaints were politely dismissed.

Several months into her position, Jessica asked to meet with Ted and Lucille Brandon about her concerns in relation to the communication mode used at the center. “I think we are in the communication dark ages around here,” said Jessica. “I know that most of our patients are middle-aged or older, but still, they would probably prefer to send e-mails and text messages back and forth than make all these phone calls. Our Web site doesn’t even indicate an e-mail address for our hearing center.”

“Jessica, I think that you are confusing personal communication with business communication,” said Lucille. “A few years ago we did give out an e-mail address for our patients, and the results were horrendous. Patients would send us e-mails day and night, and some of them would send six e-mails a day. So we turned back to telephone communication also.”

“I agree with Lucille,” said Ted. “And to take it one step further, I think I see a youth problem here. You probably think that texting is cool and the natural way to communicate. Especially with the assistance we provide, most of our patients prefer to use the phone because appointments with us are serious business. Text messages are more for social life and goofing around.”

“I accept your reasoning for now,” said Jessica. “But as a professional health administrator, I think we have to modernize communication at the Brandon Hearing Centers.”

Questions

1. In what way does this case represent a problem of differences in generational values?

2. Why might excluding e-mails and text messages to and from patients lower productivity at the Brandon Hearing Center?

3. What do you think Jessica should do to change the opinions of the Brandons in relation to the communication mode? Or do you think Jessica should just drop the issue and try to understand the Brandons’ point of view?

Interpersonal Relations Role-Play

Dealing with a Difference in Values

One student plays the role of Jessica, who wants to stay employed as the office administrator at the Brandon Hearing Center. However, she wants to remain true to her professional values of modernizing her workplace. Two other students play the roles of Lucille and Ted Brandon, who are meeting briefly with Jessica to listen to her thoughts about upgrading the electronic communications in the office. Ted and Lucille Brandon are becoming annoyed with Jessica’s insistence on making changes in communicating with patients at the hearing center. Jessica is convinced she is right. Run the role-play for about seven minutes, with observers providing feedback about how well the differences in values are headed toward resolution.

References

1. Tom Belden, “Winging It: Sullenberger Touts the Value of Training,”  Philly.com , October 5, 2009; “Security Tape Shows Plane’s Hudson Landing,” The Associated Press, January 23, 2009; Andy Pastor, “Hero Pilot ‘Sully’ Stars at Hearing,” The Wall Street Journal, June 10, 2009, p. A2.

2. Laurie Helgoe, “Revenge of the Introvert,” Psychology Today, September/October 2010, p. 56.

3. Scott Shane, Nico Nolaou, Lynn Cherkas, and Tim D. Spector, “Genetics, the Big Five, and the Tendency to be Self-Employed,” Journal of Applied Psychology, November 2010, pp. 1154–1162.

4. Marvin Zuckerman, “Are You A Risk Taker?” Psychology Today, November/December 2000, p. 53.

5. Leslie Kwoh, “Memo to Staff: Take More Risks,” The Wall Street Journal, March 20, 2013, p. B8.

6. Remus Ilies and Timothy A. Judge, “On the Heritability of Job Satisfaction: The Mediating Role of Personality,” Journal of Applied Psychology, August 2003, pp. 750–759.

7. Oliver Burkeman, “The Power of Negative Thinking,” The Wall Street Journal, December 8–9, 2012, p. C3.

8. Quoted in Annie Murphy Paul, “The Uses and Abuses of Optimism (and Pessimism),” Psychology Today, November/December 2011, p. 63.

9. Daniel Nettle, “The Evolution of Personality Variation in Human and Other Animals,” American Psychologist, September 2006, p. 622.

10. In-Sue Oh, Gang Wang, and Michyael K. Mount, “Validity of Observer Ratings of Five-Factor Model of Personality Traits: A Meta-Analysis,” Journal of Applied Psychology, July 2011, pp. 762–773.

11. “Which Traits Predict Job Performance?” APA Help Center, http://www.apahelpcenter.org/articles/article.php?id=33, accessed March 22, 2005.

12. Nicole M. Dudley, Karin A. Orvis, Justin E. Lebiecki, and José M. Cortina, “A Meta-Analytic Investigation of Conscientiousness in the Prediction of Job Performance: Examining the Intercorrelations and the Incremental Validity of Narrow Traits,” Journal of Applied Psychology, January 2006, p. 51.

13. Gregory M. Hurtz and John J. Donovan, “Personality and Job Performance: The Big Five Revisited,” Journal of Applied Psychology, December 2000, pp. 869–879.

14. David V. Day, Deidra J. Scheleicher, Amy L. Unckless, and Nathan J. Hiller, “Self-Monitoring Personality at Work: A Meta-Analytic Investigation of Construct Validity,” Journal of Applied Psychology, April 2002, pp. 390–401.

15. Gerald L. Blakely, Martha C. Andrews, and Jack Fuller, “Are Chameleons Good Citizens? A Longitudinal Study of the Relationship Between Self-Monitoring and Organizational Citizenship Behavior,” Journal of Business and Psychology, Winter 2003, pp. 131–144; research synthesized in Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman, “To the Vulnerable Go the Spoils,” Bloomberg Business Week, June 14–June 2, 2010, p. 72.

16. Dan S. Chiaburu, In-Sue Oh, Christopher M. Berry, Ning Li, and Richard G. Gardner, “The Five-Factor Model of Personality Traits and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors: A Meta-Analysis,” Journal of Applied Psychology, November 2011, pp. 1140–1166.

17. Scott B. Mackenzie, Philip M. Podsakoff, and Nathan P. Podsakoff, “Challenge-Oriented Organizational Citizenship Behaviors and Organizational Effectiveness: Do Challenge-Oriented Behaviors Really Have an Impact on the Organization’s Bottom Line?” Personnel Psychology, Number 3, 2011, p. 560.

18. Nathan P. Podsakoff, Whiting, S.W., Podsakoff, P.M., and Blume, B.D, “Individual- and Organizational-Level Consequences of Organizational Behaviors: A Meta-Analysis, Journal of Applied Psychology, January 2009, pp. 122–141.

19. Jeff Joireman, Dishan Kamdar, Denise Daniels, and Blythe Duell, “Good Citizens to the End? It Depends: Empathy and Concern with Future Consequences Moderate the Impact of a Short-Term Time Horizon on Organizational Citizenship Behaviors,” Journal of Applied Psychology, November 2006, p. 1315.

20. Ryan D. Zimmerman, “Understanding the Impact of Personality Traits on Individuals’ Turnover Decisions: A Meta-Analytic Path Model,” Personnel Psychology, Summer 2008, pp. 309–348.

21. Cited in David Stripp, “A Little Worry Is Good for Business,” Fortune, November 24, 2003, p. 68.

22. L. A. Witt, Lisa A. Burke, Murray R. Barrick, and Michael K. Mount, “The Interactive Effects of Conscientiousness and Agreeableness on Job Performance,” Journal of Applied Psychology, February 2002, pp. 164–169.

23. Isabel Briggs Myers, Introduction to Type, 6th ed. (Mountain View, CA: CPP, Inc., 1996), p. 10. (Revised by Linda K. Kirby and Katharine D. Myers.)

24. John Patrick Golden, Golden Personality Type Profiler Technical Manual (San Antonio, TX: Pearson TalentLens, 2005).

25. Golden, Golden Personality Type Profiler, p. 27.

26. Golden, Golden Personality Type Profiler, p. 24.

27. Brian S. Young, Winfred Arthur, Jr., and John Finch, “Predictors of Managerial Performance: More than Cognitive Ability,” Journal of Business and Psychology, Fall 2000, pp. 53–72.

28. Roderick Gilkey and Clint Kitts, “Cognitive Fitness,” Harvard Business Review, November 2007, pp. 53–66.

29. Richard E, Nesbitt et al., “Intelligence: New Findings and Theoretical Developments,” American Psychologist, February–March 2012, p. 130.

30. Nesbitt, et al., “Intelligence,” p. 139.

31. Evidence reviewed in Laura Johannes, “An Energy Shot for the Brain,” The Wall Street Journal, January 24, 2012, p. D3.

32. J. Robert Baum, Barbara Jean Bird, and Sheetal Singh, “The Practical Intelligence of Entrepreneurs: Antecedents and a Link with New Venture Growth,” Personnel Psychology, Number 2, 2011, p. 39.

33. Baum, Bird, and Singh, “The Practical Intelligence of Entrepreneurs,” pp. 397–425.

34. Howard Gardner, Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligence in the 21st Century (New York: Basic Books, 1999); Mark K. Smith, “Howard Gardner and Multiple Intelligences,” in The Encyclopedia of Informal Education (http://www.infed.or/thinkers/gardner.htm), © Mark K. Smith, 2002, 2008.

35. Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers: The Story of Success (Boston: Little, Brown, 2008). See also Geoff Colvin, “Why Talent is Over-Rated,” Fortune, October 27, 2008, pp. 138–147.

36. Sharon Begley, “Critical Thinking: Part Skill, Part Mindset and Totally up to You,” The Wall Street Journal, October 20, 2006, p. B1.

37. John D. Mayer, Peter Salovey, and David R. Caruso, “Emotional Intelligence: New Ability or Eclectic Traits?” American Psychologist, September 2008, pp. 503–515.

38. Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee, “Primal Leadership: The Hidden Driver of Great Performance,” Harvard Business Review, December 2001, pp. 42–51.

39. David A. Morand, “The Emotional Intelligence of Managers: Assessing the Construct Validity of a Nonverbal Measure of ‘People Skills,’” Journal of Business and Psychology, Fall 2001, pp. 21–33.

40. Study reported in Anne Kreamer, “Go Ahead—Cry at Work,” Time, April 4, 2011, p. 55.

41. Crystal I. C. Chien Farh, Myeong-Gu Seo, and Paul E. Tesluk, “Emotional Intelligence, Teamwork Effectiveness, and Job Performance: The Moderating Role of Context,” Journal of Applied Psychology, July 2012, pp. 890–900.

42. Shalom H. Schwartz, “Universals in the Content and Structure of Values: Theoretical Advances and Empirical Tests in 20 Countries.” In Mark P. Zanna, ed., Advances in Experimental and Social Psychology (New York: Academic Press, vol. 25, 1992), pp. 1–65.

43. Jeff Payne, “Generation Jones, Still Striving,” HR Magazine, December 2008, p. 15. (From Readers section.)

44. Helen M. Haugh and Alka Talwar, “How Do Corporations Embed Sustainability Across the Organization?” Academy of Management Learning and Education, September 2010, p. 385.

45. Adrienne Fox, “Mixing It Up,” HR Magazine, May 2011, p. 22.

46. 2008 Annual Report of the APA Policy and Planning Board, “How Technology Changes Everything (and Nothing) in Psychology, American Psychologist, July–August 2009, p. 454.

47. Fara Warner, “With their Blessing.” Workforce Management, April 2011, p. 20.

48. David C. McClelland, “How Motives, Skills, and Values Determine What People Do,” American Psychologist, July 1985, p. 815.

49. Jeffrey R. Edwards and Daniel M. Cable, “The Value of Value Congruence,” Journal of Applied Psychology, May 2009, pp. 654–677.

50. Jean M. Twenge, Generation Me (New York: The Free Press, 2006).

51. “Get Ready for ‘Millennials’ at Work,” Manager’s Edge, January 2006, p. 1.

Chapter 3 Building Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence

Granger Wootz/Getty Images

Learning Objectives

After studying the information and performing the exercises in this chapter, you should be able to

1. Describe the nature, development, and consequences of self-esteem.

2. Explain how to enhance self-esteem.

3. Describe the importance of self-confidence and self-efficacy.

4. Pinpoint methods of enhancing and developing your self-confidence.

“My career began in the purchasing department of a large company,” says John, a real-estate professional. “I felt stifled by how long it would take me to get promoted. I left the company to become a sales representative for a small real estate company. Soon I was performing so well that I was lured away to a larger, more prestigious company, Holloway Properties. I started out with a bang, and kept up the fast pace. Don Holloway, the owner, kept praising me and telling me how I was going to enable him to retire early.

“One day Don asked me if I would be interested in purchasing the company. I told him that I was interested, but had limited funds. He told me he would lend me the money to buy his firm. Against the advice of my friends, I bought the business. The agreements between Don and me were spoken rather than written. The business was going very well for three years. I was beginning to see a bright future when the bottom fell out. Don had encountered some hard times and wanted the business back. He had gone through all the payments I made to him for his company. I was devastated! When I tried to fight him through a lawsuit, I had only spoken agreements to offer as proof.

“I lost all my savings, my house, and was forced to file for bankruptcy. I had reached what I thought was the darkest and most humiliating point in my life. I was filled with a sense of worthlessness and despair. I wondered what I could have done to deserve this.

“After several months of feeling sorry for myself, I visited a career counselor and got his recommendations about making a new start. His first recommendation was to make a list of my strengths and weaknesses. Second, he suggested that I ask myself what I really like to do. He also suggested that I should list goals that I wanted to attain and a prioritized plan of how I hoped to accomplish them.

“I was advised to make positive steps and improve both my morale and my self-image through the sense of achievement that comes from accomplishing these goals. With the help of my wife and the counselor, I began getting back on track. My early accomplishments included such positive steps as reducing my intake of wine and updating my résumé. Two months later I found a position as an assistant manager in a real estate firm that dealt with both commercial and residential properties. I was also given the opportunity to sell part time. Finally, I felt that my comeback was unfolding.”

The story about the real-estate agent illustrates that a person can take steps to rebuild lowered self-confidence and self-esteem. Many other people you will meet in this book score high in self-esteem and self-confidence—otherwise they would never have been so successful. In this chapter, we focus on two of the biggest building blocks for more effective human relations: the nature and development of self-esteem and self-confidence. The development of both self-esteem and self-confidence includes refining certain skills.

The Meaning of Self-Esteem, Its Development and Consequences

1. Learning Objective 1

Understanding the self from various perspectives is important because who you are and what you think of yourself influence many different facets of your life both on and off the job. A particularly important role is played by  self-esteem , the overall evaluation people make about themselves—whether positive or negative. [1]  A useful distinction is that our self-concept is what we think about ourselves, whereas self-esteem is what we feel about ourselves. [2]  People with positive self-esteem have a deep-down, inside-the-self feeling of their own worth. Consequently, they develop a positive self-concept. Before reading further, you are invited to measure your current level of self-esteem by doing the  Human Relations Self-Assessment Quiz 3-1 . We look next at the development of self-esteem and many of its consequences.

Human Relations Self-Assessment Quiz 3-1

1.  

The Self-Esteem Checklist

Indicate whether each of the following statements is mostly true or mostly false as it applies to you.

	Mostly True	Mostly False
1. I am excited about starting each day.
2. Most of any progress I have made in my work or school can be attributed to luck.
3. I often ask myself, “Why can’t I be more successful?”
4. When my manager or team leader gives me a challenging assignment, I usually dive in with confidence.
5. I believe that I am working up to my potential.
6. I am able to set limits to what I will do for others without feeling anxious.
7. I regularly make excuses for my mistakes.
8. Negative feedback crushes me.
9. I care very much how much money other people make, especially when they are working in my field.
10. I feel like a failure when I do not achieve my goals.
11. Hard work gives me an emotional lift.
12. When others compliment me, I doubt their sincerity.
13. Complimenting others makes me feel uncomfortable.
14. I find it comfortable to say, “I’m sorry.”
15. It is difficult for me to face up to my mistakes.
16. My coworkers think I am not worthy of promotion.
17. People who want to become my friends usually do not have much to offer.
18. If my manager praised me, I would have a difficult time believing it was deserved.
19. I’m just an ordinary person.
20. Having to face change really disturbs me.
21. When I make a mistake, I have no fear of owning up to it in public.
22. When I look in the mirror, I typically see someone who is attractive and confident.
23. When I think about the greater purpose in my life, I feel like I am drifting.
24. When I make a mistake, I tend to feel ashamed and embarrassed.
25. When I make a commitment to myself, I usually stick to it with conviction and await the rewards that I believe will come from it.

Scoring and Interpretation:

The answers in that indicate high self-esteem are as follows:

1. Mostly True

2. Mostly False

3. Mostly False

4. Mostly True

5. Mostly True

6. Mostly True

7. Mostly False

8. Mostly False

9. Mostly False

10. Mostly False

11. Mostly True

12. Mostly False

13. Mostly False

14. Mostly True

15. Mostly False

16. Mostly False

17. Mostly False

18. Mostly False

19. Mostly False

20. Mostly False

21. Mostly True

22. Mostly True

23. Mostly False

24. Mostly False

25. Mostly True

· 20–25 You have very high self-esteem. Yet if your score is 25, it could be that you are denying any self-doubts.

· 14–19 Your self-esteem is in the average range. It would probably be worthwhile for you to implement strategies to boost your self-esteem (described in this chapter) so that you can develop a greater feeling of well-being.

· 0–13 Your self-esteem needs bolstering. Talk over your feelings about yourself with a trusted friend or with a mental health professional. At the same time, attempt to implement several of the tactics for boosting self-esteem described in this chapter.

Questions:

1. How does your score on this quiz match your evaluation of your self-esteem?

2. What would it be like being married to somebody who scored 0 on this quiz?

Source: Statements 21–25 are based on information in the National Association for Self-Esteem, “Self-Esteem Self-Guided Tour—Rate Your Self-Esteem,” http://www.self-esteem-nase.org, accessed May 6, 2005, pp. 1–4.

How Self-Esteem Develops

Part of understanding the nature of self-esteem is to know how it develops. Self-esteem develops and evolves throughout our lives based on interactions with people, events, and things. [3]  As an adolescent or adult, your self-esteem might be boosted by a key accomplishment. A 44-year-old woman who was studying to become licensed practical nurse (LPN) said that her self-esteem increased when she received an A in a pharmacology course. Self-esteem can also go down in adulthood because of a negative event such as being laid off and not being able to find new employment.

Early life experiences have a major impact on self-esteem. People who were encouraged to feel good about themselves and their accomplishments by family members, friends, and teachers are more likely to enjoy high self-esteem. Early life experiences play a key role in the development of both healthy self-esteem and low self-esteem, according to research synthesized at the Counseling and Mental Health Center of the University of Texas. [4]  Childhood experiences that lead to healthy self-esteem include

· being praised,

· being listened to,

· being spoken to respectfully,

· getting attention and hugs, and

· experiencing success in sports or school.

In contrast, childhood experiences that lead to low self-esteem include

· being harshly criticized,

· being yelled at or beaten,

· being ignored, ridiculed, or teased,

· being expected to be “perfect” all the time,

· experiencing failures in sports or school, and

· often being given messages that failed experiences (losing a game, getting a poor grade, and so forth) were failures of their whole self.

A widespread explanation of self-esteem development is that compliments, praise, and hugs alone build self-esteem. Yet many developmental psychologists seriously question this perspective. Instead, they believe that self-esteem results from accomplishing worthwhile activities and then feeling proud of these accomplishments. Receiving encouragement, however, can help the person accomplish activities that build self-esteem.

Martin Seligman argues that self-esteem is caused by a variety of successes and failures. To develop self-esteem, people need to improve their skills for dealing with the world. [5]  Self-esteem therefore comes about by genuine accomplishments, followed by praise and recognition. Heaping undeserved praise and recognition on people may lead to a temporary high, but it does not produce genuine self-esteem. The child develops self-esteem not from being told he or she can score a goal in soccer, but from scoring that goal.

In attempting to build the self-esteem of children and students, many parents and teachers give children too many undeserved compliments. Researchers suggest that inappropriate compliments are turning too many adults into narcissistic praise junkies. As a result, many young adults feel insecure if they do not receive compliments regularly. [6]

As mentioned previously, experiences in adult life can influence the development of self-esteem. David De Cremer of the Tilburg University (Netherlands) and his associates conducted two studies with Dutch college students about how the behavior of leaders and fair procedures influence self-esteem. The focus of the leader’s behavior was whether he or she motivated the workers/students to reward themselves for a job well done, such as a self-compliment. Procedural fairness was measured in terms of whether the study participants were given a voice in making decisions. Self-esteem was measured by a questionnaire somewhat similar to  the Human Relations Self-Assessment Quiz 3-1  in this chapter. The study questionnaire reflected the self-perceived value that individuals have of themselves as organizational members.

The study found that self-esteem was related to procedural fairness and leadership that encourages self-rewards. When leadership that encouraged rewards was high, procedural fairness was more strongly related to self-esteem. The interpretation given of the findings is that a leader/supervisor can facilitate self-esteem when he or she encourages self-rewards, and uses fair procedures. Furthermore, fair procedures have a stronger impact on self-esteem when the leader encourages self-rewards. [7]  A takeaway from this study would be that rewarding yourself for a job well done, even in adult life, can boost your self-esteem a little.

The Consequences of Self-Esteem

Extremely high as well as extremely low self-esteem has many consequences for people, as outlined in  Table 3-1 .

Career Success

A major consequence of having high self-esteem is that you have a better chance of attaining career success, as mentioned at the beginning of this section and supported by long-term research. The study in question was known as the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, involving over 12,000 young men and women. The group was studied over a 25-year period beginning in 1979.  The Human Relations Self-Assessment Quiz 3-2  gives you the opportunity to take the same survey used in the study to measure core self-evaluations.

The components of core self-evaluations include high self-esteem, self-efficacy (an aspect of self-confidence described later in this chapter), beliefs in personal control over events, and emotional stability. Individuals with high core self-evaluations are better motivated, perform better on the job, tend to hold more challenging jobs, and have higher job satisfaction.

Table 3-1 Several Consequences of Extremes in Self-Esteem

Positive Consequences	Negative Consequences
1. Career success including a high income	1. Narcissism
2. Organizational prosperity	2. Envying too many people
3. Good mental health	3. Romance problems
4. Profiting from feedback
5. Serves as a guide for regulating social relationships

Human Relations Self-Assessment Quiz 3-2

1.  

National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Measure of Core Self-Evaluations

No.	True	False
1. I have little control over the things that happen to me.	□	□
2. There is little I can do to change many of the important things in my life.	□	□
3. I feel that I am a person of worth, on an equal basis with others.	□	□
4. I feel that I have a number of good qualities.	□	□
5. All in all, I am inclined to feel that I am a failure.	□	□
6. I feel I do not have much to be proud of.	□	□
7. I wish I could have more respect for myself.	□	□
8. I’ve been depressed.	□	□
9. I’ve felt hopeful about the future.	□	□
10. What happens to me in the future depends on me.	□	□
11. What happens to me is of my own doing.	□	□
12. When I make plans, I am almost certain to make them work.	□	□

Scoring and Interpretation:

The answers that indicate high core self-evaluation are as follows:

1. False

2. False

3. True

4. True

5. False

6. False

7. False

8. False

9. True

10. True

11. True

12. True

Although there are no specific categories for scores, the more statements you answered in the direction of high core self-evaluations, the more likely it is that you have the type of core self-evaluations that will facilitate career success.

Questions:

1. How does your score on this quiz match your evaluation of your self-evaluation?

2. How does your score on this quiz compare to your score on  Self-Assessment Quiz 3-1 ?

3. How can you explain the fact that responses to the preceding statements were found to be related to long-term career success?

Sources: The statements are from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79), a study commissioned and operated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor. The statements are also reported in Timothy A. Judge and Charlice Hurst, “How the Rich (and Happy) Get Richer (and Happier): Relationship of Core Self-Evaluations to Trajectories in Attaining Work Success,” Journal of Applied Psychology, July 2008, p. 863.

Among the many results of the study were that people with higher core evaluations performed better in their first jobs. Furthermore, over time, those people with high core evaluations increase their career success at a faster pace than those with below-average core evaluations. Over a 25-year span, the career success they have over others doubles. Success was measured in terms of job satisfaction, pay, and holding a higher-status position. [8]  A practical conclusion to take away from this study is that if you have high core self-evaluations, it will pay impressive career dividends.

Later research suggests that people with high core self-evaluations are more likely to have high job performance when they combine positive attitudes toward the self with a concern for the welfare of others. (Consistently good job performance enhances career success.) For example, call-center employees with positive core self-evaluations tended to perform better when they worried about letting other people down. The call-center work involved telemarketing to generate funds to support new jobs at a university. [9]

Organizational Prosperity

The combined effect of workers having high self-esteem helps a company prosper. Self-esteem is a critical source of competitive advantage in an information society. Companies gain the edge when, in addition to having an educated workforce, employees have high self-esteem, as shown by such behaviors as the following:

· Being creative and innovative

· Taking personal responsibility for problems

· Having a feeling of independence (yet still wanting to work cooperatively with others)

· Trusting one’s own capabilities

· Taking the initiative to solve problems [10]

Behaviors such as these help you cope with the challenge of a rapidly changing workplace in which products and ideas become obsolete quickly. Workers with high self-esteem are more likely to be able to cope with new challenges regularly because they are confident that they can master their environments.

Good Mental Health

One of the major consequences of high self-esteem is good mental health. People with high self-esteem feel good about themselves and have a positive outlook on life. One of the links between good mental health and self-esteem is that high self-esteem helps prevent many situations from being stressful. Few negative comments from others are likely to bother you when your self-esteem is high. A person with low self-esteem might crumble if somebody insulted his or her appearance. A person with high self-esteem might shrug off the insult as simply being the other person’s point of view. If faced with an everyday setback, such as losing keys, the high self-esteem person might think, “I have so much going for me, why fall apart over this incident?”

Positive self-esteem also conributes to good mental health because it helps us ward off being troubled by feelings of jealousy and acting aggressively toward others because of our jealousy. Particularly with adolescents, lower self-worth leads to jealousy about friends liking other people better. [11]

Profiting from Negative Feedback

Although people with high self-esteem can readily shrug off undeserved insults, they still profit well from negative feedback. Because they are secure, they can profit from the developmental opportunities suggested by negative feedback. Workers with high self-esteem develop and maintain favorable work attitudes and perform at high levels. These positive consequences take place because such attitudes and behaviors are consistent with the personal belief that they are competent individuals. Mary Kay Ash, the legendary founder of beauty products company Mary Kay, put it this way: “It never occurred to me I couldn’t do it. I always knew that if I worked hard enough, I could.” Furthermore, research has shown that high-self-esteem individuals value reaching work goals more than do low-self-esteem individuals. [12]

Serves as a Guide for Regulating Social Relationships

Another positive consequence of self-esteem is that you can use it as a guide in regulating social relationships. According to Mark Leary, director of social psychology at Duke University, self-esteem provides a gauge of performance during social interactions: “Self-esteem rises and falls, acting as an internal barometer of how well you’re faring, telling you to fix this problem here, and helping you understand that you don’t have to worry about it there.” [13]

Following this reasoning, fluctuations in self-esteem provide information that is useful in working your way through social relationships. For example, if you are talking and the person you are talking to yawns, your self-esteem drops, signaling you to change the topic. When you tell a joke, and people laugh, your self-esteem climbs rapidly. If we did not feel bad when we bored or offended others, or satisfied when we delighted them, we would not be inclined to change course. [14]

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Potential Negative Consequences

Both high and low self-esteem can sometimes have negative consequences. Three reasons for this problem are described next.

1. Exaggerated levels of self-esteem can lead to narcissism. Self-esteem can elevate to a level whereby the individual becomes self-absorbed to the point of having little concern for others, leading to narcissistic attitudes and behaviors. Narcissism is an extremely positive view of the self, combined with limited empathy for others. Quite often extreme narcissism can hamper success because the narcissist irritates and alienates others in the workplace. A frequent human relations problem with office narcissists is that they are poor listeners because they attempt to dominate conversations by talking about themselves. Yet the right amount and type of narcissism can at times facilitate success because the narcissist appears to be self-confident and charismatic. [15]

2. Envying too many people. A potential negative consequence of low self-esteem is envying too many people. If you perceive that many individuals have much more of what you want and are more worthwhile than you, you will suffer from enormous envy. To decrease pangs of envy, it is best to develop realistic standards of comparison between you and other people in the world.

If high school basketball player Joshua measures his self-esteem in terms of how well he stacks up with basketball superstar and super-millionaire LeBron James, young Joshua will take a lot of blows to his self-esteem. However, if Joshua compares himself to other players on his team and in his league, his self-esteem will be higher because he has chosen a more realistic reference group. For example, Joshua might think that Kent, the starting point guard on his team, has a good chance of winning a basketball scholarship to college, speaks intelligently, and is well groomed. Joshua works hard to develop the same potential and behaviors. When he believes he has succeeded, Joshua will experience a boost in self-esteem.

Kristin Neff, a professor of educational psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, supports the idea that making social comparisons can lead to problems with self-esteem. She explains that in American culture, people tend to acquire a sense of self-worth from feeling special. A musician who compares herself to a musician of less talent will feel superior, and even have a boost in self-esteem. But if she compares herself to a more talented musician, she will feel a decrease in self-esteem even if her talent and skills have not diminished. [16]

3. Poor romantic relationships when self-esteem is low. Low self-esteem can have negative consequences for romantic relationships because people with self-doubts consistently underestimate their partners’ feelings for them. People with low self-respect distance themselves from the relationship—often devaluing their partner—to prepare themselves for what they think will be an inevitable breakup. (Self-respect refers to how you think and feel about yourself.) John G. Holmes, a psychologist at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, says, “If people think negatively about themselves, they think their partner must think negatively about them—and they’re wrong.” [17]

Enhancing Self-Esteem

1. Learning Objective 2

Improving self-esteem is a lifelong process because self-esteem is related to the success of your activities and interactions with people. The following are approaches to enhancing self-esteem that are related to how self-esteem develops. (See  Figure 3-1 .) Each of these approaches has a skill component, such as learning to avoid situations that make you feel incompetent. In addition to working on skills to enhance self-esteem, it is helpful to maintain a constructive attitude. A representative statement to keep in mind as you work on self-esteem enhancement is as follows: [18]

“I am a very special, unique, and valuable person. I deserve to feel good about myself.”

Attain Legitimate Accomplishments

To emphasize again, accomplishing worthwhile activities is a major contributor to self-esteem (as well as self-confidence) in both children and adults. Social science research suggests this sequence of events: Person establishes a goal; person pursues the goal; person achieves the goal; person develops esteem-like feelings. [19]  The opposite point of view is this sequence: Person develops esteem-like feelings; person establishes a goal; person pursues the goal; person achieves the goal. Similarly, giving people large trophies for mundane

Figure 3-1 Methods of Enhancing Self-Esteem

accomplishments is unlikely to raise self-esteem. More likely, the person will see through the transparent attempt to build his or her self-esteem and develop negative feelings about the self. What about you? Would your self-esteem receive a bigger boost by (1) receiving an A in a course in which 10 percent of the class received an A or by (2) receiving an A in a class in which everybody received the same grade?

Bragging about legitimate accomplishments will often give a modest boost to self-esteem. Social media posts are a natural place for bragging, with statements such as “Just aced an advanced statistics exam,” or “Yesterday I received the maximum possible rating in my performance evaluation. I feel great.” Although such bragging can annoy some people, it can increase our self-esteem (as well as narcissism!). [20]

Legitimate accomplishments are more effective in raising self-esteem when the legitimacy of these accomplishments is not dependent on what others think about them. Contingent self-esteem refers to feelings of self-worth that depend on outside praise in a realm that matters to a person. [21]  An example of non-contingent self-esteem would be redecorating your work area and feeling proud because it is aesthetically pleasing. Contingent self-esteem would be not feeling proud about your redecorated cubicle until somebody else complimented the result. Keep in mind, however, that we cannot exclude outside validation as a source of self-esteem unless we are delusional. If several people who walked by your redecorated cubicle laughed at the design, it might be difficult to think you had made a legitimate accomplishment.

Be Aware of Personal Strengths

Another method of improving your self-esteem is to develop an appreciation of your strengths and accomplishments. A good starting point is to list your strengths and accomplishments in a word-processing document or on paper. This list is likely to be more impressive than you expected.

You can sometimes develop an appreciation of your strengths by participating in a group exercise designed for such purposes. A group of about seven people meet to form a support group. All group members first spend about 10 minutes answering the question,

Skill-Building Exercise 3-1

1.  

Reinforcing a Positive Self-Image

To do this exercise, you will need a piece of paper and a pencil or pen, or a word processor, and a timer or clock. Set a timer for 10 minutes or note the time on your watch, smartphone, or a clock. Write your name across the top of the document. Then write everything positive and good you can think of about yourself. Include special attributes, talents, and achievements. You can use single words or sentences. You can write the same things over and over if you want to emphasize them. Your ideas do not have to be well organized. Write down whatever comes to mind. You are the only one who will see this document. Avoid using any negative words. Use only positive ones.

When the 10 minutes are up, read the document over to yourself. You may feel sad when you read it over because it is a new, different, and positive way of thinking about yourself. Your document will contradict some of the negative thoughts you have had about yourself. Those feelings will diminish as you reread this document. Read the document over again several times. Print the document if you used a computer, and put it in a convenient place, such as in your pocket, purse, wallet, or on your bedside table. Read it over at least once a day to keep reminding yourself of how great you are! Find a private space and read it aloud. If you have a good friend or family member who is supportive, read it to that person. Maybe your confidant can think of a positive attribute that you have missed.

Source: Adapted from “Building Self-Esteem: A Self-Help Guide,” http://store.samhsa.gov/product/Building-Self-Esteem-A-Self-Help-Guide/SMA-3715, accessed July 22, 2013.

“What are my three strongest points, attributes, or skills?” After each group member records his or her three strengths, the person discusses them with the other group members.

Each group member then comments on the list. Other group members sometimes add to your list of strengths or reinforce what you have to say. Sometimes you may find disagreement. One member told the group, “I’m handsome, intelligent, reliable, athletic, self-confident, and very moral. I also have a good sense of humor.” Another group member retorted, “And I might add that you’re unbearably conceited.”

Skill-Building Exercises 3-1  and  3-2  provide additional ways of developing self-esteem, both of which focus on appreciation of strengths.

Rebut the Inner Critic

Another early step in attaining better self-esteem is to rebut your inner critic—the voice inside you that sends negative messages about your capabilities. Rebutting critical statements

Human Relations Skill-Building Exercise 3-2

1.  

The Self-Esteem Building Club

You and your classmates are invited to participate in one of the most humane and productive possible human-relations skill-building exercises, membership in the “self-esteem building club.” Your assignment is for three consecutive weeks to help build the self-esteem of one person. Before embarking upon the exercise, review the information about self-esteem development in this chapter. One of the most effective tactics would be to find somebody who had a legitimate accomplishment, and give that person a reward or a thank you. Record carefully what the person did, what you did, and any behavioral reactions of the person whose self-esteem you attempted to build. An example follows, written by a 46-year-old student of human relations:

Thursday night two weeks ago, I went to the athletic club to play racquetball. Different than usual, I had a date after the club. I wanted to look good, so I decided to wear my high school class ring. The ring doesn’t have much resale value, but I was emotionally attached to it, having worn it for special occasions for 28 years. I stuffed the ring along with my watch and wallet in my athletic bag.

When I was through with racquetball, I showered, and got dressed. My ring was missing from my bag even though my wallet and watch were there. I kind of freaked out because I hate to lose a prized possession. I shook the bag out three times, but no luck. Very discouraged, I left my name, telephone number, and e-mail address at the front desk just in case somebody turned in the ring. I kept thinking that I must have lost the ring when I stopped at the desk to check in.

The next morning before going to class, I got a phone call from a front-desk clerk at the club. The clerk told me that Karl, from the housekeeping staff, heard a strange noise while he was vacuuming near the front desk. He shut off the vacuum cleaner immediately, and pulled out my ring. To me Karl was a hero. I made a special trip to the club that night to meet with Karl. I shook his hand, and gave him a ten-dollar bill as a reward. I also explained to Karl what a difference he had made in my mood. I told him that honest, hardworking people like him who take pride in their work make this world a better place. It made my day when Karl smiled and told me it was a pleasure to be helpful.

Your instructor might organize a sharing of self-esteem building episodes in the class. If the sharing does take place, look for patterns of what seemed to work in terms of self-esteem building. Also, listen for any patterns in failed attempts at self-esteem building.

about you might also be considered another way of appreciating your strengths. Two examples of rebutting your inner critic follow: [22]

· Your unfairly harsh inner critic says: “People said they liked my presentation, but it was nowhere as good as it should have been. I can’t believe no one noticed all the places I messed up. I’m such an imposter.”

· Your reassuring rebuttal: “Wow, they really liked it. Maybe it wasn’t perfect, but I worked hard on that presentation and did a good job. I’m proud of myself. This was a great success.”

· Your harsh inner critic makes leaps of illogic: “He is frowning. He didn’t say anything, but I know it means that he doesn’t like me!”

· Your rebuttal that challenges the illogic: “Okay, he’s frowning, but I don’t know why. It could have nothing to do with me. Maybe I should ask.”

The above statements are examples of the type of putdowns we often hear from our inner critic. To boost your self-esteem in spite of such criticism, you need to develop the skill of rebuttal by rebutting your inner critic frequently.

Practice Self-Nurturing

Although you may be successful at pointing to your strengths and rebutting the inner voice that puts you down, it is also helpful to treat yourself as a worthwhile person. Start to challenge negative experiences and messages from the past by nurturing and caring for yourself in ways that show how valuable, competent, deserving, and lovable you really are. Self-nurturing is often referred to as treating yourself well or spoiling yourself. Here are two suggestions for self-nurturing, both of which involve a modest amount of skill development.

· Administer self-rewards for a job well done. When you have carried out an activity especially well in relation to your typical performance, reward yourself in a small, constructive way. You might dine at a favorite restaurant, take an afternoon off to go for a nature walk, or spend an hour at a Web site you usually do not have the time to visit.

· Take good care of yourself mentally and physically. Make sure that you get enough sleep and rest, eat nutritious foods, avoid high-bacteria environments such as a public keyboard or doornob unless you use a bacteria spray, and participate in moderate physical exercise. Even taking an extra shower or bath can give you a physical and mental boost. The suggestions just mentioned are also part of stress management.

Real estate agent Laura provides a helpful example of how self-nurturing can help bolster self-esteem. While watching Todd, her son, play soccer at four in the afternoon, she was asked by another soccer parent, “How’s business?” Laura replied, “I haven’t made a deal in two weeks, but I know times will get better. So for now, I’m enjoying myself watching Todd play his little heart out. Afterwards we are going for pizza, and a few video games. My soul will be energized again.”

Minimize Settings and Interactions That Detract from Your Feelings of Competence

Most of us have situations in our work and personal lives that make us feel less than our best. If you can minimize exposure to those situations, you will have fewer feelings of incompetence. The problem with feeling incompetent is that it lowers your self-esteem. Suppose, for example, that Sally is a very poor golf player, and intensely dislikes the sport. She is better off excusing herself from a small group of people at the office who invite her to a golf outing. A problem with avoiding all situations in which you feel not fully competent is that it might prevent you from acquiring needed skills. Also, it boosts your self-confidence and self-esteem to become comfortable in a previously uncomfortable situation. In Sally’s case, perhaps she can eventually learn to play golf better, and then she will be mentally prepared to participate in golf outings.

Get Help from Others

Self-esteem is strongly shaped by how others perceive us, so getting help from others is a major step a person can take to improve his or her self-esteem. However, getting help from others can also be difficult. People with low self-esteem often do not ask for help because they may not think they are worthy of receiving help. Yet help from others is effective in overcoming the negative messages received from others in the past.

Asking for support from friends can include such basic steps as these: (1) Ask friends to tell you what they like about you or think that you do well. (2) Ask someone who cares about you to listen to you complain about something without offering a solution to your problem. (3) Ask for a hug. (4) Ask someone who loves you to remind you that he or she does.

Getting help from teachers and other helpers can include these steps: (1) Ask professors or tutors for help with work you find challenging. (2) If you lack self-confidence in certain areas, take classes or attempt new activities to increase your competence. An increasing number of retired people today are taking classes in such subjects as social media utilization and digital photography to help catch up with younger people whose skills have challenged their self-esteem. [23]

Another way of getting help from others is to talk and socialize frequently with people who can boost your self-esteem. Psychologist Barbara Ilardie says that the people who can raise your self-esteem are usually those with high self-esteem themselves. They are the people who give honest feedback because they respect others and themselves. Such high self-esteem individuals should not be confused with yes-people who agree with others just to be liked. The point is that you typically receive more from strong people than weak ones. Weak people will flatter you but will not give you the honest feedback you need to build self-esteem. [24]

For many people with low self-esteem, casual help with others will not increase self-esteem. In these situations, discussing low self-esteem with a mental health specialist might be the most effective measure.

Model the Behavior of People with High Self-Esteem

Observe the way people who you believe to have high self-esteem stand, walk, speak, and act. Even if you are not feeling so secure inside, you will project a high self-esteem image if you act assured. Eugene Raudsepp recommends, “Stand tall, speak clearly and with confidence, shake hands firmly, look people in the eye and smile frequently. Your self-esteem will increase as you notice encouraging reactions from others.” [25]  (Notice here that self-esteem is considered to be about the same idea as self-confidence.)

Choose your models of high self-esteem from people you know personally, as well as celebrities you might watch on television news and interview shows. Observing actors on the large or small screen is a little less useful because they are guaranteed to be playing a role. Identifying a teacher or professor as a self-esteem model is widely practiced, as is observing successful family members and friends.

Create a High Self-Esteem Living Space

A panel of mental health specialists recommends that to enhance your self-esteem you should make your living space the kind that honors the person you are. [26]  Whether you live in a single room, a small apartment, or a large house, make that space comfortable and attractive for you. If you have a clean, inviting living space, others are likely to treat you with more respect, which will contribute to your self-esteem. If you share your living space with others, dedicate some space just for you—a place where you can keep your things and know that they will not be disturbed and that you can decorate any way you choose.

Your living space is part of your self-image, so you may want to ask yourself if your living space projects the right self-image. Also, if you arrange your living space to fit your preferences you will feel better about yourself.

The Importance of Self-Confidence and Self-Efficacy

1. Learning Objective 3

Although self-confidence can be considered part of self-esteem (or almost its equivalent), it is important enough to study separately. Self-efficacy is confidence in your ability to carry out a specific task in contrast to generalized self-confidence. Various studies have shown that people with a high sense of self-efficacy tend to have good job performance, so being self-confident is important for your career. They also set relatively high goals for themselves. [27]  Self-confidence has also long been recognized as a trait of effective leaders. A straightforward implication of self-efficacy is that people who think they can perform well on a task do better than those who think they will do poorly.

As with other traits and behaviors, there is an optimum level of self-confidence. When self-confidence is too low, a person will appear weak and unsure. When self-confidence is too high, the person will come across as arrogant. Staying a little humble helps prevent a person from becoming arrogant. Business consultant Jason Mendelson explains that the difference between arrogance and confidence is awareness of the other person’s needs. [28]

Research by college professors and psychological consultants George P. Hollenbeck and Douglas T. Hall suggests that our feelings of self-confidence stem from five sources of information. [29]  The first source is the actual experience, or things we have done. Having done something before and succeeded is the most powerful way to build self-confidence. If you successfully inserted a replacement battery into your watch without destroying the watch, you will be confident to make another replacement.

The second source of self-confidence is the experiences of others, or modeling. You can gain some self-confidence if you have carefully observed others perform a task, such as resolving conflict with a customer. You might say to yourself, “I’ve seen Tracy calm down the customer by listening and showing sympathy, and I’m confident I could do the same thing.” The third source of self-confidence is social comparison, or comparing yourself to others. If you see other people with capabilities similar to your own perform a task well, you will gain in confidence. A person might say to himself or herself, “If that person can learn how to work with enterprise software, I can do it also. I’m just as smart.”

The fourth source of self-confidence is social persuasion, the process of convincing another person. If a credible person convinces you that you can accomplish a particular task, you will often receive a large enough boost in self-confidence to give the task a try. If the encouragement is coupled with guidance on how to perform the task, your self-confidence gain will be higher. So the boss or teacher who says, “I know you can do it, and I’m here to help you,” knows how to build self-confidence.

The fifth source of information for making a self-confidence judgment is emotional arousal, or how we feel about events around us and manage our emotions. We rely somewhat on our inner feelings to know if we are self-confident enough to perform a task. Imagine a person standing on top of a high mountain, ready to ski down. However, he or she is trembling and nauseous with fear. Contrast this beginner to another person who simply feels mildly excited and challenged. Skier number one has a self-confidence problem, whereas skier number two has enough confidence to start the descent. (Have your emotional sensations ever influenced your self-confidence?)

The more of these five sources of self-confidence are positive for you, the more likely your self-confidence will be positive. A subtle point about self-confidence is that being too low in self-confidence is a problem, yet being too high is also a problem. The overly self-confident person may not listen carefully to the suggestions of others, and may be blind to criticism.

The Human Relations Self-Assessment Quiz 3-3  provides some insight into your level of self-confidence. The accompanying insert describes a leader who appears to have high self-esteem and self-confidence.

Techniques for Developing and Enhancing Your Self-Confidence

1. Learning Objective 4

Self-confidence is generally achieved by succeeding in a variety of situations. A confident civil engineering technician may not be generally self-confident unless he or she also achieves success in activities such as forming good personal relationships, navigating complex software, writing a letter, learning a second language, and displaying athletic skills.

Although this general approach to self-confidence building makes sense, it does not work for everyone. Some people who seem to succeed at everything still have lingering self-doubt. Low self-confidence is so deeply ingrained in this type of personality that success in later life is not sufficient to change things. The following are seven specific strategies

Job-Oriented Interpersonal Skills in Action

UAW Vice President Cindy Estrada Capitalizes on her Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence

Cindy Estrada was elected a UAW (United Auto Workers) vice president in June, 2010, her fifteenth year of service to the union. Age 43 at the time, she was the UAW’s first Latina vice president. Insiders hinted that she might someday become the union’s first female president. Estrada’s previous position was director of the Union’s National Organizing Department.

Estrada developed her fascination with the labor movement while growing up listening to stories from her grandparents and other family members about their days in the fields as farm workers, and also as factory workers. Estrada’s earliest recollection of learning about the labor movement was when, as a seven-year old, she washed glasses at her father’s bar in Detroit, Michigan that served many GM production workers.

While still a college student, she moved to Mexico to become fluent in Spanish. Later she organized tomato and strawberry pickers in California, with coaching from the famous migrant worker organizer, Cesar Chavez. Although fiercely pro-union, Estrada has made concessions in negotiations about contracts for public service workers in Michigan.

A former auto-parts executive said that “Cindy brings a little bit of fire with her—old-school fire.” UAW President Bob King praises Estrada’s “tremendous passion and ability and courageous leadership.” Arturo Rodriguez, president of the United Farm Workers of America, who worked with Estrada in the early part of her career, noted that working with Mexican farm workers can be intimidating because they are often suspicious of outsiders. Yet Estrada was fearless. She had the ability to get workers to trust her, and get them to change old ways of doing things. When Estrada speaks to a large audience, she does so in a calm, deliberate manner, and usually hammers home the message that the labor movement is important to the future of manufacturing.

Questions:

1. What evidence do you find in this excerpt that Cindy Estrada probably has high self-esteem and self-confidence?

2. What does the fact that Estrada went to live in Mexico to become fluent in Spanish suggest about her self-confidence and self-esteem?

Sources: Original story created from facts in the following sources: Paul Egan, “UAW Vice President Cindy Estrada Shows ‘Old-School Fire,'”  http://www.ufw.org , retrieved January 14, 2012; “UAW Vice President Cindy Estrada,”  http://www.uaw.org , © Copyright 2012 UAW; “Cindy Estrada,” Latina Style Magazine ( http://latinastyle.com/magazine ), No. 4, 2012, pp. 1-2; “UAW Vice President Cindy Estrada Part of Panel at White House Event to Highlight the Auto Industry’s Successful Recovery, Jobs and Innovation,”  http://region1d.uaw.org , June 27, 2012; “15 Elite Women to Watch in the Year Ahead: Cindy Estrada, Vice President, United Auto Workers,” Hispanic Business, April 2011, p. 30.

Human Relations Self-Assessment Quiz 3-3

1.  

How Self-Confident Are You?

Indicate the extent to which you agree with each of the following statements. DS = disagree strongly, D = disagree, N = neutral, A = agree, and AS = agree strongly.

	DS	D	N	A	AS
1. I frequently say to people, “I’m not sure.”	5	4	3	2	1
2. I perform well in most situations in life.	1	2	3	4	5
3. I willingly offer advice to others.	1	2	3	4	5
4. Before making even a minor decision, I usually consult with several people.	5	4	3	2	1
5. I am generally willing to attempt new activities for which I have very little related skill or experience.	1	2	3	4	5
6. Speaking in front of the class or another group is a frightening experience for me.	5	4	3	2	1
7. I experience stress when people challenge me or put me on the spot.	5	4	3	2	1
8. I feel comfortable attending a social event by myself.	1	2	3	4	5
9. I’m much more of a winner than a loser.	1	2	3	4	5
10. I am cautious about making any substantial change in my life.	5	4	3	2	1
Total score:

Scoring and Interpretation:

Calculate your total score by adding the numbers circled. A tentative interpretation of the scoring is as follows:

· 45–50: Very high self-confidence with perhaps a tendency toward arrogance

· 38–44: A high, desirable level of self-confidence

· 30–37: Moderate, or average, self-confidence

· 10–29: Self-confidence needs strengthening

Questions:

1. How does your score on this test fit with your evaluation of your self-confidence?

2. What would it be like working for a manager who scored 10 on this quiz?

Figure 3-2 Boosting Your Self-Confidence

and tactics for building and elevating self-confidence, as outlined in  Figure 3-2 . They will generally work unless the person has deep-rooted feelings of inferiority. The tactics and strategies are arranged approximately in the order in which they should be tried to achieve best results.

Develop a Solid Knowledge Base

A bedrock strategy for projecting self-confidence is to develop a knowledge base that enables you to provide sensible alternative solutions to problems. Intuition is very important, but working from a base of facts helps you project a confident image. Formal education is an obvious and important source of information for your knowledge base. Day-by-day absorption of information directly and indirectly related to your career is equally important. A major purpose of formal education is to get you in the right frame of mind to continue your quest for knowledge. In your quest for developing a solid knowledge base to project self-confidence, be sensitive to abusing this technique. If you bombard people with quotes, facts, and figures, you are likely to be perceived as an annoying know-it-all.

A solid knowledge base contributes to self-confidence also because the knowledge facilitates engaging in conversation with intelligent people. A weak counterargument is that having information stored in your brain is no longer important because information is so accessible online. When in a gathering of people, you could then use a smartphone to access some facts to talk about. Such behavior is unlikely to help a person project a confident, intelligent image.

Use Positive Self-Talk

A basic method of building self-confidence is to engage in positive self-talk, saying positive things about yourself. The first step in using positive self-talk is to objectively state the incident that is casting doubt about your self-worth. [30]  The key word here is objectively. Terry, who is fearful of poorly executing a report-writing assignment, might say, “I’ve been asked to write a report for the company, and I’m not a good writer.”

The next step is to objectively interpret what the incident does not mean. Terry might say, “Not being a skilled writer doesn’t mean that I can’t figure out a way to write a good report or that I’m an ineffective employee.”

Next, the person should objectively state what the incident does mean. In doing this, the person should avoid put-down labels, such as “incompetent,” “stupid,” “dumb,” “jerk,” or “airhead.” All these terms are forms of negative self-talk. Terry should state what the incident does mean: “I have a problem with one small aspect of this job.”

The fourth step is to objectively account for the cause of the incident. Terry would say, “I’m really worried about writing a good report because I have very little experience in writing along these lines.”

The fifth step is to identify some positive ways to prevent the incident from happening again. Terry might say, “I’ll get out my textbook on business communications and review the chapter on report writing” or “I’ll enroll in a course or seminar on business report writing.”

The final step is to use positive self-talk. Terry imagines his boss saying, “This report is really good. I’m proud of my decision to select you to prepare this important report.”

Positive self-talk builds self-confidence and self-esteem because it programs the mind with positive messages. Making frequent positive statements or affirmations about the self creates a more confident person. An example would be, “I know I can learn this new equipment rapidly enough to increase my productivity within five days.”

Business coach Gary Lockwood emphasizes that positive self-talk is also useful for getting people past difficult times. “It’s all in your head,” he said. “Remember you are in charge of your feelings. You are in control of your attitude.” Instead of berating yourself after making a mistake, learn from the experience and move on. Say to yourself, “Everyone makes mistakes,” “Tomorrow is another day,” or “What can I learn from this?” [31]

Positive self-talk is included in  self-compassion , or treating yourself kindly. Self-compassion can be useful in boosting self-confidence beause you view yourself in positive terms, and therefore feel more confident of your abilities. A series of studies by Mark Leary, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University, have found that self-compassionate people are happier. They also are more likely to accept the challenge of public speaking because they do not condemn themselves for looking foolish. [32]  Self-compassion also includes regularly making lists of all the positive things you have done lately, as well as compliments you have received.

Despite the many advantages of positive self-talk, as with optimism, there can be times when thinking too positively can create problems. Negative thoughts are often useful in alerting us to potential problems, and prompting us to develop a plan of correction. Imagine that Lisa is job hunting, and that she has urgent need of employment. She has a promising interview, and her positive thinking prompts her to think, “There is no doubt that I will receive an offer real soon.” Her positive thinking blocks her from continuing her job search. When the offer in question does not come through, Lisa has lost momentum in her job search. In the words of author John Derbyshire, we must be “vigilantly realistic” toward the potential dangers of positive thinking. [33]

Avoid Negative Self-Talk

As implied, you should minimize negative statements about yourself to bolster self-confidence. A lack of self-confidence is reflected in statements such as “I may be stupid but . . .,” “Nobody asked my opinion,” “I know I’m usually wrong, but . . .,” and “I know I don’t have as much education as some people, but. . . .” Self-effacing statements like these serve to reinforce low self-confidence.

It is also important not to attribute to yourself negative, irreversible traits, such as “idiotic,” “ugly,” “dull,” “loser,” and “hopeless.” Instead, look on your weak points as areas for possible self-improvement. Negative self-labeling can do long-term damage to your self-confidence. If a person stops that practice today, his or her self-confidence may begin to increase.

Practice Public Speaking

Dale Carnegie, the original popularizer of human relations, built his empire on the foundation of the importance of public speaking in building self-confidence. [34]  In the age of communication technology, this basic technique holds true. If you can stand in front of an audience, even a small meeting, and deliver your thoughts effectively, you will gain in self-confidence. However, just reading PowerPoint slides to the group is not enough. You have to look at the facial expressions of the audience and speak directly to them. Making a successful presentation to the class has been a self-confidence builder for millions of students. Presentations in the workplace, to community groups, religious groups, and sports groups can also be self-confidence builders.

Stockbyte/Thinkstock

Use Positive Visual Imagery

Assume you have a situation in mind in which you would like to appear confident and in control. An example would be a meeting with a major customer who has told you by e-mail that he is considering switching suppliers. Your intuitive reaction is that if you cannot handle his concerns without fumbling or appearing desperate, you will lose the account. An important technique in this situation is  positive visual imagery , or picturing a positive outcome in your mind. To apply this technique in this situation, imagine yourself engaging in a convincing argument about why your customer should retain your company as the primary supplier. Imagine yourself talking in positive terms about the good service your company offers and how you can rectify any problems.

Visualize yourself listening patiently to your customer’s concerns and then talking confidently about how your company can handle these concerns. As you rehearse this moment of truth, create a mental picture of you and the customer shaking hands over the fact that the account is still yours.

Positive visual imagery helps you appear self-confident because your mental rehearsal of the situation has helped you prepare for battle. If imagery works for you once, you will be even more effective in subsequent uses of the technique.

Set High Expectations for Yourself (the Galatea Effect)

If you set high expectations for yourself and you succeed, you are likely to experience a temporary or permanent boost in self-confidence. The Galatea effect is a type of self-fulfilling prophecy in which high expectations lead to high performance. Similar to positive self-talk, if you believe in yourself you are more likely to succeed. You expect to win, so you do. The Galatea effect may not work all the time, but it does work some of the time for many people.

Workplace behavior researchers D. Brian McNatt and Timothy A. Judge studied the Galatea effect with 72 auditors within three offices of a major accounting firm over a three-month period. The auditors were given letters of encouragement to strengthen their feelings of self-efficacy. Information in the letters was based on facts about the auditors, such as information derived from their résumés and company records. The results of the experiment showed that creating a Galatea effect bolstered self-efficacy, motivation, and performance. However, the performance improvement was temporary, suggesting that self-expectations need to be boosted regularly. [35]

Develop the Explanatory Style of Optimists

According to the research and observations of consultant and trainer Price Pritchett, optimism is linked to self-confidence. Explaining events in an optimistic way can help preserve self-confidence and self-esteem. When experiencing trouble, optimists tend to explain the problems to themselves as temporary. Bad events are expected to be short-lived, and optimists look to the future when times will be better. Another aspect of optimists’ explanatory style protects their self-confidence. Rather than condemn themselves for failures, they look for how other factors or circumstances have contributed to the problem. Optimists then do not take all the blame for a problem, but look to external factors to help explain what went wrong.

Interpreting difficulties in this way gives the optimists a sense of control. Instead of looking at the unfortunate situation as hopeless, they have faith in their ability to deal with the problem. [36]  Suppose an optimist purchases a computer workstation that comes packed in a box with many parts along with directions. A problem arises in that some of the screws and dowels do not fit, and the directions are unclear. A pessimist might suffer a drop in self-confidence and self-esteem, saying “What a fool I am. I can’t even assemble a piece of office furniture.” In contrast, the optimist might say, “I’m doing something wrong here, and I will get a buddy to help show me my mistake. But the manufacturer can also be blamed. The instructions are terrible, and all the parts may not fit together.” In this way, the optimist does not take such a big hit to self-confidence and self-esteem.

Strive for Peak Performance

A key strategy for projecting self-confidence is to display  peak performance , or exceptional accomplishment in a given task. The experience is transient, but exceptionally meaningful. Peak performance refers to much more than attempting to do your best. Experiencing peak performance in various tasks over a long period of time would move a person toward self-actualization. [37]  To achieve peak performance, you must be totally focused on what you are doing. When you are in the state of peak performance, you are mentally calm and physically at ease. Intense concentration is required to achieve this state. You are so focused on the task at hand that you are not distracted by extraneous events or thoughts. To use an athletic analogy, you are in the zone while you are performing the task. In fact, many sports psychologists and other sports trainers work with athletes to help them attain peak performance.

The mental state achieved during peak performance is akin to a person’s sense of deep concentration when immersed in a sport or hobby. On days when tennis players perform way above their usual game, they typically comment, “The ball looked so large, I could read the label as I hit it.” On the job, focus and concentration allow the person to sense and respond to relevant information coming both from within the mind and from outside stimuli. When you are at your peak, you impress others by responding intelligently to their input. While turning in peak performance, you are experiencing a mental state referred to as flow.

Although you are concentrating on an object or sometimes on another person during peak performance, you still have an awareness of the self. You develop a strong sense of the self, similar to self-confidence and self-efficacy, while you are concentrating on the task. Peak performance is related to self-confidence in another important way. Achieving peak performance in many situations helps you develop self-confidence.

Skill-Building Exercise 3-3  gives you the opportunity to work on enhancing your self-confidence.

Bounce Back from Setbacks and Embarrassments

Resilience is a major contributor to personal effectiveness. Overcoming setbacks also builds self-confidence, as implied from the description of the explanatory style of optimists.

Human Relations Skill-Building Exercise 3-3

1.  

Building Your Self-Confidence and Self-Efficacy

Most people can use a boost to their self-confidence. Even if you are a highly confident individual, perhaps there is room for building your feelings of self-efficacy in a particular area, such as a proud and successful business owner learning a new skill such as editing digital photos or speaking a foreign language. This skill-building exercise enhances your self-confidence or self-efficacy in the next two weeks by trying out one of the many suggestions for self-confidence building described in the text.

As part of planning the implementation of this exercise, think about any area in which your self-confidence could use a boost.A candid human relations student, who was also a confident cheerleader, said, “Face it. I’m terrible at PowerPoint presentations. I put up so many details on my slides that the audience is trying to read my slides instead of looking at me. I have to admit that my PowerPoint presentation consists mostly of my reading my slides to the audience. I’m much better at cheerleading.” So this student studied information in her human relations text about making better graphic presentations. She revamped her approach to using her slides as headlines and talking points. She tried out one presentation in class, and one at her church. She received so many compliments about her presentations that now she has much higher self-efficacy with respect to PowerPoint presentations.

Your instructor might organize a sharing of self-confidence building episodes in the class. If the sharing does take place, look for patterns of what seemed to work in terms of self-confidence or self-efficacy building. Also, listen for any patterns in failed attempts at self-confidence building.

An effective self-confidence builder is to convince yourself that you can conquer adversity such as setbacks and embarrassments, thus being resilient. The vast majority of successful leaders have dealt successfully with at least one significant setback in their careers, such as being fired or demoted. In contrast, crumbling after a setback or series of setbacks will usually lower self-confidence. Three major suggestions for bouncing back from setbacks and embarrassments are presented next.

Get Past the Emotional Turmoil

Adversity has enormous emotional consequences. The emotional impact of severe job adversity can rival the loss of a personal relationship. The stress from adversity leads to a cycle of adversity followed by stress, followed by more adversity. A starting point in dealing with the emotional aspects of adversity is to accept the reality of your problem. Admit that your problems are real and that you are hurting inside.

A second step is not to take the setback personally. Remember that setbacks are inevitable so long as you are taking some risks in your career. Not personalizing setbacks helps reduce some of the emotional sting. If possible, do not panic. Recognize that you are in difficult circumstances under which many others panic. Convince yourself to remain calm enough to deal with the severe problem or crisis. Also, get help from your support network. Getting emotional support from family members and friends helps overcome the emotional turmoil associated with adversity. Two professors of psychiatry who specialize in resiliency, Steven Southwick and Dennis Charney, believe that social support is a key factor in developing resiliency. They say that knowing someone you can count on is essential for bouncing back. [38]

Find a Creative Solution to Your Problem

An inescapable part of planning a comeback is to solve your problem. You often need to search for creative solutions. Suppose a person faced the adversity of not having enough money for educational expenses. The person might search through standard alternatives, such as applying for financial aid, looking for more lucrative part-time work, and borrowing from family members. Several students have solved their problem more creatively by asking strangers to lend them money as intermediate-term investments. An option the investors have is to receive a payback based on the future earnings of the students.

Strive to Develop Positive Psychological Capital

A comprehensive way of becoming more self-confident is to develop positive psychological capital, a positive psychological state of development in which you have hope, self-efficacy, optimism, and resilience. Note that self-efficacy and resilience have already been included in our study of self-confidence. In more detail, the components of positive psychological capital are as follows:

· Hope refers to persevering toward goals and, when necessary, redirecting paths to a goal in order to succeed. In everyday language, don’t give up when pursuing your goals.

· Self-efficacy refers to having the confidence to take on and invest the necessary effort to succeed at challenging tasks. Experience is a big help here, because if you have successfully completed the same task, or a similar one, previously, you will be more confident that you can succeed.

· Optimism refers to making a positive attribution about succeeding now and in the future. If you are a natural pessimist, you will have to work harder at looking for the positive aspects of a given situation.

· Resiliency refers to dealing with problems and adversity by sustaining effort and bouncing back to attain success. Conquering a major setback would be an enormous contributor to your self-confidence.

An encouraging note about positive psychological capital is that people can develop it. An experiment conducted with 187 working adults found that a Web-based, highly-focused two-hour training program raised the average level of psychological capital. The increase in psychological capital was measured by more positive responses after training to such statements as, “If I should find myself in a jam at work, I could think of many ways to get out of it” (hope). [39]  Should the participants in the study really do a better job of getting out of jams in the future, you could be even more confident about how well training improves psychological capital.

Concept Review and Reinforcement

Key Terms

1. self-esteem   53

2. self-compassion   67

3. positive visual imagery   68

4. peak performance   69

Summary

Self-esteem refers to the overall evaluation people make about themselves. People with high self-esteem develop a positive self-concept. Self-esteem develops from a variety of early-life experiences. People who were encouraged to feel good about themselves and their accomplishments by key people in their lives are more likely to enjoy high self-esteem. Of major significance, self-esteem also results from accomplishing worthwhile activities, and then feeling proud of these accomplishments. Praise and recognition for accomplishments also help develop self-esteem.

Extremes in self-esteem have many important consequences. High self-esteem often results in career success (including a high income), organizational prosperity, good mental health, and profiting from feedback, and serves as a guide for regulating social relationships. One of the links between good mental health and self-esteem is that high self-esteem helps prevent many situations from being stressful.

High self-esteem can sometimes have negative consequences such as narcissism and envying too many people. Our own reference group has the biggest impact on self-esteem. Low self-esteem can result in romantic relationship problems including distancing oneself from one’s partner.

Self-esteem can be enhanced in many ways: (a) attain legitimate accomplishments, (b) be aware of personal strengths, (c) rebut the inner critic, (d) practice self-nurturing, (e) minimize settings and interactions that detract from your feelings of competence, (f) get help from others, including talking and socializing frequently with people who boost your self-esteem, (g) model the behavior of people with high self-esteem, and (h) create a high self-esteem living space.

Various studies have shown that people with a high sense of self-efficacy tend to have good job performance, so self-confidence is important for your career. There is an optimum level of self-confidence, with too much self-confidence appearing as arrogance. Our feelings of self-confidence stem from five sources of information: actual experiences, or things that we have done; experiences of others, or modeling; social comparison, or comparing yourself to others; social persuasion, the process of convincing another person; and emotional arousal, or how we feel about events around us and manage our emotions.

A general principle of boosting your self-confidence is to experience success (goal accomplishment) in a variety of situations. The specific strategies for building self-confidence described here are: (a) develop a solid knowledge base, (b) use positive self-talk, (c) avoid negative self-talk, (d) practice public speaking, (e) use positive visual imagery, (f) set high expectations for yourself (the Galatea effect), (g) develop the explanatory style of optimists, (h) strive for peak performance, (i) bounce back from setbacks and embarrassments, and (j) strive to develop positive psychological capital. Self-compassion is included in positive self-talk.

Questions for Discussion and Review

1. Why does holding an important job contribute to a person’s self-esteem?

2. A study by economists indicated that workers with higher levels of self-esteem tended to be more productive. What would be an explanation for this finding?

3. Why are people with high self-esteem to the point of being a narcissist often disliked by many other people?

4. The criticism is often heard that the American emphasis on building the self-esteem of children has resulted in a generation of young adults who expect to be strongly praised by their bosses, no matter what they accomplish. What is your opinion of this criticism?

5. Why is self-confidence considered to be so important for being an effective leader?

6. What positive self-talk can you use after you have failed on a major assignment?

7. In what way does your program of studies contribute to building your self-esteem and self-confidence?

8. Many pharmaceutical firms actively recruit cheerleaders as sales representatives to call on doctors to recommend their brand of prescription drugs. The firms in question say that cheerleaders make good sales reps because they are so self-confident. What is your opinion on this controversial issue?

9. What is it about success in public speaking that tends to boost the self-confidence of the public speaker?

10. Interview a person whom you perceive to have a successful career. Ask that person to describe how he or she developed high self-esteem. Be prepared to discuss your findings in class.

The Web Corner

1. www.athealth.com/Consumer/disorders/self-esteem.html

2. (Measuring and building your self-esteem)

3. www.self-confidence.co.uk

4. (Developing your self-confidence)

5. www.mindtools.com/selfconf.html

6. (The difference between self-confidence and low self-confidence)

Internet Skills Builder: Learning More about Your Self-Esteem

1. The Self-Esteem Checklist in this chapter gave you one opportunity to assess your self-esteem. To gain additional insights into your self-esteem, visit  www.more-selfesteem.com . Go to “quizzes” under Free Resources, and take the self-esteem test. How does your score on this quiz compare to your score on The Self-Esteem Checklist? If your level of self-esteem as measured by the two quizzes is quite different (such as high versus low), explain why this discrepancy might occur.

Developing Your Human Relations Skills

Interpersonal Relations Case 3.1

High Self-Esteem Brandy

As Brandy Barclay navigated the challenging highways toward her job interview in Los Angeles, she rehearsed in her mind the importance of communicating that she is a unique brand. “I have to get across the idea that I am special, even if my brand is not as well established as Godiva Chocolates or Dr. Pepper. [A brand is a basket of strengths that sets you apart from others.] This administrative assistant position at the hotel and resort company will be a good way to launch my career and brand. After all, I am a very special person.”

An excerpt of her job interview with the hiring manager Gloria Gomez follows:

Gomez: Welcome Brandy, I am pleased that you made it through the online job application and the telephone screening interview. Tell me again why you would like to join our hotel company as an administrative assistant.

Barclay: Oh, I really don’t want to join you as an administrative assistant. I would prefer a vice president job, but I have to start somewhere. (Smiling) Seriously, I like the hotel field. It fits my brand called Brandy. I am a great support person, and a great people person. I’m so unique because I’m great with details and great with people. Many people have told me that I am a very special person.”

Gomez: Tell me specifically what key strengths would you bring to this job?

Barclay: As found in my brand called Brandy, I am high info tech and high touch. I’m a whiz at Microsoft Office Suite, and I’m sweet with people. Kind of catchy, don’t you think? Come to think of it, have you seen my business card? It contains loads of details about my skills and strengths on the back. The card is laminated so it will last, and it contains my photo, and even is like a hologram with a 3-D look.

Gomez: Yes, Brandy, I do have your card. You gave one to the receptionist, and she gave it to me. And why do you keep referring to yourself as a brand? Is this just a gimmick to get you noticed?

Barclay: Being a brand is the modern way to tell you that Brandy Barclay is one of a kind. I’ve got a skill set that is hard to beat. Besides, I want to build a reputation fast that will propel me to the top as an executive in the hotel field. I am quite proud of who I am.

Gomez: On your trip to the top, what do you plan to do for us as an administrative assistant?

Barclay: I will live up to the brand called Brandy by getting the job done big time. Just ask me to do something, and it will be done. Don’t forget I will be building my brand image while in this beginning assignment.

Gomez: Now let’s talk about details like the job assignment, salary, and benefits.

Barclay: Fine with me. We have to deal with the mundane at some point.

Case Questions

1. How effectively is Brandy Barclay presenting herself as a brand (or a unique individual)?

2. What suggestions can you offer Barclay for presenting herself as a strong individual more effectively?

3. To what extent do you think that Brandy’s high self-esteem has reached the point of narcissism?

Interpersonal Relations Case 3.2

Anthony Needs a Boost

“I’m losing my mojo,” said Anthony, a salesman who sells cargo space on ocean liners to companies all over the world who want to ship goods to or from the United States. After five consecutive years of being one of the top sales reps in his company, Anthony’s sales had plunged 25 percent. Quincy, his manager, was sympathetic, but he wanted to see Anthony sell more cargo space. A ship crossing the ocean with too much empty cargo space usually loses money for the shipper. Anthony explained to Quincy that he too wanted to boost sales, but you cannot force a company to ship goods he or she has not sold. Part of Anthony’s problem was the fact that many manufacturers in the United States were now doing more of their manufacturing in the United States, resulting in less demand for shipments of manufactured goods from other countries.

“My personal life is in a bigger slump than my sales performance,” explained Anthony. Two months ago Anthony totaled his car when he slipped off the road and hit a tree while driving 10 miles per hour beyond the speed limit. In addition to getting a speeding ticket, his insurance company raised his auto insurance premium by 25 percent. Another discouraging problem Anthony faced was that his fiancée broke off their engagement two months ago. She claimed that she suddenly felt trapped by the prospects of a committed relationship as well as marriage.

Anthony’s golf game life has suffered also suffered recently. “Maybe I’m bringing too much of my outside life onto the golf course. I’ve been shooting about six strokes higher than my average game recently. A big part of my problem is that it is difficult for me to concentrate on golf, particularly the putting. I keep thinking about my work and personal problems when I line up the ball.

“I want to get my life back on track, but I don’t know where to begin. I’m losing faith in my abilities.”

Case Questions

1. To what extent is Anthony facing a self-confidence problem?

2. What do you recommend that Anthony do to regain his self-confidence?

3. How might Anthony’s manager be able to help Anthony boost his self-confidence?

Interpersonal Relations Role-Play

Quincy Attempts to Boost Anthony’s Self-Confidence

Quincy is worried about the loss in self-confidence that Anthony appears to be experiencing, and believes that as Anthony’s manager he should attempt to be helpful. Quincy decides to conduct a one-on-one session with Anthony to do whatever he can to help the sales representative regain some of his self-confidence. Quincy believes that his knowledge of human relations should be useful in helping Anthony. Although Anthony is surprised about the meeting, he is eager to listen to any advice that could possibly help him regain his confidence.

Conduct this role-play for about seven minutes. Observers rate the role players on two dimensions, using a 1-to-5 scale from very poor to very good. One dimension is “effective use of human relations techniques.” Focus on the technique Quincy uses to attempt to booses Anthony’s self-confidence. The second dimension is “acting ability.” A few observers might voluntarily provide feedback to the role players in terms of sharing their ratings and observations. The course instructor might also provide feedback.

References

1. Michelle K. Duffy, Jason D. Shaw, Kristin L. Scott, and Bennett J. Tepper, “The Moderating Roles of Self-Esteem and Neuroticism in the Relationships Between Group and Individual Undermining Behavior,” Journal of Applied Psychology, September 2006, p. 1067.

2. April O’Connell, Vincent O’Connell, and Lois-Ann Kuntz, Choice and Change: The Psychology of Personal Growth and Interpersonal Relationships, 7th ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2005), p. 3.

3. “Better Self-Esteem,” http://www.utexas.edu/student/cmhc/booklets/selfesteem/selfest.html, 1999, p. 2.

4. Ibid.

5. Cited in Randall Edwards, “Is Self-Esteem Really All that Important?” The APA Monitor, May 1995, p. 43.

6. Research reported in Jeffrey Zaslow, “The Most-Praised Generation Goes to Work,” The Wall Street Journal, April 20, 2007, p. W7.

7. David De Cremer et al., “Rewarding Leadership and Fair Procedures as Determinants of Self-Esteem,” Journal of Applied Psychology, January 2005, pp. 3–12.

8. Timothy A. Judge, Charlice Hurst, and Lauren S. Simon, “Does It Pay to Be Smart, Attractive, or Confident (or All Three)? Relationships Among General Mental Ability, Physical Attractiveness, Core Self-Evaluation, and Income,” Journal of Applied Psychology, May 2009, pp. 742–755. The definition of core self-evaluations is from Christian J. Resick et al., “The Bright-Side and the Dark-Side of CEO Personality: Examining Core Self-Evaluations, Narcissism, Transformational Leadership, and Strategic Influence,” Journal of Applied Psychology, November 2009, p. 1367.

9. Adam M. Grant and Amy Wrzenesniewki, “I Won’t Let You Down . . . Or Will I? Core Self-Evaluations, Other-Orientation, Anticipated Guilt and Gratitude, and Job Performance,” Journal of Applied Psychology, January 2010, pp. 108–121.

10. Nathaniel Branden, Self-Esteem at Work: How Confident People Make Powerful Companies (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998); Timothy A. Judge and Joyce E. Bono, “Relationship of Core Self-Evaluations Traits—Self-Esteem, Generalized Self-Efficacy, Locus of Control, and Emotional Stability—With Job Satisfaction and Job Performance: A Meta-Analysis,” Journal of Applied Psychology, February 2001, pp. 80–92.

11. Research reported in Melissa Dittman, “Study Links Jealousy with Aggression, Low Self-Esteem,” Psychology Today, February 2005, p. 13.

12. As quoted in Erika Casriel, “Stepping Out,” Psychology Today, March/April 2007, p. 73.

13. Ibid.

14. Jon L. Pierce, Donald G. Gardner, Larry L. Cummings, and Randall B. Dunman, “Organization-Based Self-Esteem: Construct Definition, Measurement, and Validation,” Academy of Management Journal, September 1989, p. 623.

15. Andrew J. DuBrin, Narcissism in the Workplace: Research, Opinion, and Practice (Cheltenham UK: Edward Elgar, 2012), p. 1.

16. Cited in Brown, “The Boom and Bust Ego,” p. 73.

17. Cited in Julia M. Klein, “The Illusion of Rejection,” Psychology Today, January/February 2005, p. 30.

18. ”Building Self-Esteem: A Self-Help Guide,” http://store.samhsa.gov/product/Building-Self-Esteem-A-Self-Help-Guide/SMA-3715, p. 2, accessed July 22, 2013.

19. Research mentioned in book review by E. R. Snyder in Contemporary Psychology, July 1998, p. 482.

20. Research cited in Elizabeth Bernstein, “Are We All Braggarts Now?” The Wall Street Journal, August 14, 2012, p. D1.

21. Research cited in Harriet Brown and Dan Winters, “The Boom and Bust Ego,” Psychology Today, January/February 2012, p. 69.

22. “Better Self-Esteem,” pp. 3–4.

23. Ibid., pp. 4–5.

24. Cited in “Self-Esteem: You’ll Need It to Succeed,” Executive Strategies, September 1993, p. 12.

25. Eugene Raudsepp, “Strong Self-Esteem Can Help You Advance,” Career Journal.com (The Wall Street Journal) August 10, 2004.

26. ”Building Self-Esteem: A Self-Help Guide,” http://store.samhsa.gov/product/Building-Self-Esteem-A-Self-Help-Guide/SMA-3715, p. 2, accessed July 22, 2013.

27. Marilyn E. Gist and Terence R. Mitchell, “Self-Efficacy: A Theoretical Analysis of Its Determinants and Malleability,” Academy of Management Review, April 1992, pp. 183–211.

28. Cited in Erika Napoletano, “Confidence vs. Arrogance,” Entrepreneur, June 2011, p. 20.

29. George P. Hollenbeck and Douglas T. Hall, “Self-confidence and Leader Performance,” Organizational Dynamics, Issue 3, 2004, pp. 261–264.

30. Jay T. Knippen and Thad B. Green, “Building Self-Confidence,” Supervisory Management, August 1989, pp. 22–27.

31. Quoted in “Entrepreneurs Need Attitude: Power of Being Positive Can Help You to Succeed In Spite of Setbacks,” Knight Ridder, September 16, 2002.

32. Research reported in Elizabeth Bernstein, “Self-Help for Skeptics,” The Wall Street Journal, August 28, 2012, p. D1.

33. John Derbyshire, We Are Doomed (New York: Crown Forum, 2009).

34. Daniel Okrent, “The Best Salesman in Business,” Fortune, May 3, 2010, p. 204.

35. D. Brian McNatt and Timothy A. Judge, “Boundary Conditions of the Galatea Effect: A Field Experiment and Constructive Replication,” Academy of Management Journal, August 2004, pp. 550–565.

36. Price Pritchett, Hard Optimism: Developing Deep Strengths for Managing Uncertainty, Opportunity, Adversity, and Change (Dallas, TX: Pritchett, 2004), p. 16.

37. Frances Thornton, Gayle Privette, and Charles M. Bundrick, “Peak Performance of Business Leaders: An Experience Parallel to Self-Actualization Theory,” Journal of Business and Psychology, Winter 1999, pp. 253–264.

38. Steve Southwick and Dennis Charney, Resilience: The Science of Mastering Life’s Greatest Challenges (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012); Julia Savacool, “Anyone Can Learn to Be More Resilient,” USA Weekend, November 16–18, 2012, p. 4.

39. Fred Luthans, James R. Avey, and Jaime L. Patera, “Experimental Analysis of a Web-Based Training Intervention to Develop Positive Psychological Capital,” Academy of Management Learning and Education, June 2008, pp. 209–221.

Chapter 4 Interpersonal Communication

stockyimages/Fotolia

Learning Objectives

After reading and studying this chapter and completing the exercises, you should be able to:

1. Explain the basic steps in the communication process.

2. Explain the relationship-building aspect of interpersonal communication.

3. Understand nonverbal communication and improve your nonverbal communication skills.

4. Understand barriers to communication, including gender differences, and know how to overcome them.

5. Enhance your listening skills.

Maria is the director of e-commerce for a company in Brooklyn, New York, that was a reseller of a variety of specialty machines used in manufacturing. Many of the machines the company sells are new, and many refurbished. Competition from overseas manufacturers, particularly those in China, is making the sales of machines more difficult. Almost all of Maria’s contacts with customers and prospective customers are over the Internet, including e-mail and Facebook.

Maria noticed a year ago that she had not received an order from one of the company’s largest customers, a successful machine tool company in Detroit, Michigan. Maria wrote a few e-mails to her contact at the company, Larry, the chief operating officer, asking if there was any way her company could help his company. Larry basically ignored the e-mail messages, except for one response that his company was in good shape with respect to machinery.

Maria decided to telephone Larry and ask if she could visit him at his office. Larry responded, “We’ve done everything over the Internet so far. I had never thought of seeing you in person. But if you think the trip is worth your time and money, let’s schedule a date.” Maria did visit her customer in Detroit, and her visit lasted two hours. Larry proudly showed Maria how his company was expanding, and how her company’s machines were being deployed. Larry also went into detail about what he liked and did not like about the machines he had bought from Maria’s company.

Within three months after the visit, Maria’s company received two orders for machines that would help the Detroit company expand on a new product line. Larry also wrote to Maria, explaining that it was refreshing to see an e-commerce manager in person.

The story about the e-commerce manager actually making an in-person visit to a customer illustrates that in this era of high technology, face-to-face communication still plays an important role in business.  Communication  is the sending, receiving, and understanding of messages. It is also the basic process by which managers, customer-contact workers, and professionals accomplish their work. For example, a customer service representative cannot resolve a thorny customer problem without carefully receiving and sending information. Communication is also important because communication skills are a success factor for workers in a wide variety of jobs.

The subject of this chapter is interpersonal, or face-to-face, communication rather than electronic communication, such as e-mail, instant messaging, text messaging, and videoconferencing; however, almost all principles of interpersonal communication also apply to electronic communication.  Chapter 5  deals with the interpersonal aspects of communication in the digital world.  Chapter 8  includes a section about coping with cross-cultural communication barriers.

The importance of face-to-face communication has increased in the age of electronic communication. Many companies have discovered that the subtle aspects of communication possible in face-to-face communication can help productivity. A key example is talking to a person to help build a good working relationship. As illustrated in the case opener, there is not yet a good substitute for face-to-face contact in building relationships. Entrepreneurship consultant Jim Blasingame reports, “There is a comfort level that is achieved when you’ve met the person you’re doing business with.” [1]

A conference held with representatives from major American manufacturing companies pointed directly to the importance of communication skills for employability. One of the key subjects at the conference was the difficulty in finding qualified job candidates. Several industry representatives said that sometimes simply finding someone who could properly answer a telephone was a challenge. [2]

The information in this chapter is aimed at reducing communication problems among people and helping you enhance your communication effectiveness. The chapter approaches these ends in two ways. First, it explains the nature of a few key facets of interpersonal communication. Second, it presents guidelines for improving your effectiveness, along with skill-building exercises. We lay particular emphasis on listening as part of achieving good communication. Keep in mind that communication underlies almost every human relations activity, as much as running supports almost every sport. You need good communication skills to get through job interviews, perform well on the job, and get promoted.

Steps in the Communication Process

1. Learning Objective 1

One way to understand how people communicate is to examine the steps involved in transmitting and receiving a message, as shown in  Figure 4-1 . For effective communication to take place, six components must be present: a sender, a message, a channel, a receiver, feedback, and the environment. In addition, a seventh component, noise, affects the entire communication process. To help understand the communication process, assume that a production manager in a bicycle factory wants to inform a team leader that productivity in her department slipped last month.

1. Sender (or source): The sender in a communication event is usually a person (in this case the production manager) attempting to send a spoken, written, sign language, or nonverbal message to another person or persons. The perceived authority and credibility of the sender are important factors in influencing how much attention the message will receive.

2. Message: The heart of the communication event is the  message , a purpose or idea to be conveyed. Many factors influence how a message is received. Among them are clarity, the alertness of the receiver, the complexity and length of the message, and how the information is organized. The production manager’s message will most likely get across if he says directly, “I need to talk to you about last month’s below-average productivity figures.”

message

A purpose or idea to be conveyed.

3. Channel (medium): Several communication channels, or media, are usually available for sending messages in organizations. Typically, messages are written (usually

Figure 4-1 A Basic Model of the Communication Process

electronically), spoken, or a combination of the two. Some kind of nonverbal signal such as a smile or hand gesture accompanies most spoken messages. In the production manager’s case, he has chosen to drop by the team leader’s cubicle and deliver his message in a serious tone.

4. Receiver: A communication event can be complete only when another party receives the message and understands it properly. In the example here, the team leader is the receiver. Perceptual distortions of various types act as filters that can prevent a message from being received as intended by the sender. If the team leader is worried that her job is at stake, she might get defensive when she hears the production manager’s message.

5. Feedback: Messages sent back from the receiver to the sender are referred to as  feedback . Without feedback it is difficult to know whether a message has been received and understood. The feedback step also includes the reactions of the receiver. If the receiver takes action as intended by the sender, the message has been received satisfactorily. The production manager will know his message got across if the team leader says, “Okay, when would you like to review last month’s productivity reports?” Effective interpersonal communication, therefore, involves an exchange of messages between two people. The two communicators take turns being receivers and senders.

feedback

In communication, messages sent back from the receiver to the sender.

6. Environment: A full understanding of communication requires knowledge of the environment in which messages are transmitted and received. The organizational culture (attitudes and atmosphere) is a key environmental factor that influences communication. It is easier to transmit controversial messages when trust and respect are high than when they are low.

7. Noise: Distractions such as noise have a pervasive influence on the components of the communication process. In this context,  noise  is anything that disrupts communication, including the attitudes and emotions of the receiver. Noise includes such factors as stress, fear, negative attitudes, and low motivation.

noise

Anything that disrupts communication, including the attitudes and emotions of the receiver.

Relationship Building and Interpersonal Communication

1. Learning Objective 2

Another way of understanding the process of interpersonal communication is to examine how communication is a vehicle for building relationships. According to Ritch Sorenson, Grace DeBord, and Ida Ramirez, we establish relationships along two primary dimensions: dominant–subordinate and cold–warm. In the process of communicating, we attempt to dominate or subordinate. When we dominate, we attempt to control communication. When we subordinate, we attempt to yield control, or think first of the wishes and needs of the other person. Dominators expect the receiver of messages to submit to them; subordinate people send a signal that they expect the other person to dominate. [3]

We indicate whether we want to dominate or subordinate by the way we speak and write, or by the nonverbal signals we send. The dominator might speak loudly or enthusiastically, write forceful messages filled with exclamation points, or gesture with exaggerated, rapid hand movements. He or she might write a harsh e-mail message such as, “It’s about time you started taking your job seriously, and put in some real effort.”

In the subordinate mode, we might speak quietly and hesitantly, in a meek tone, and be apologetic. A subordinate person might ask, “I know you have better things on your mind than to worry about me, but I was wondering when can I expect my reimbursement for travel expenses?” In a work setting, we ordinarily expect people with more formal authority to have the dominant role in conversations; however, in more democratic, informal companies, workers with more authority are less likely to feel the need to dominate conversations.

The cold–warm dimension also shapes communication because we invite the same behavior that we send. Cold, impersonal, negative messages evoke similar messages from others. In contrast, warm verbal and nonverbal messages evoke similar behavior from others. Getting back to the inquiry about the travel-expense check, here is a colder versus warmer response by the manager:

Colder: Travel vouchers really aren’t my responsibility. You’ll just have to wait like everybody else.

Warmer: I understand your problem. Not getting reimbursed on time is a bummer. I’ll follow up on the status of your expense; check sometime today or tomorrow.

The combination of dominant and cold communication sends the signal that the sender of the message wants to control and limit or even withdraw from a personal relationship. A team leader might say that she cannot attend a Saturday morning meeting because she has to go out of town for her brother’s wedding. A dominant and cold manager might say, “I don’t want to hear about your personal life. Everyone in this department has to attend our Saturday meeting.”

Subordinate actions combined with warm communication signal a desire to maintain or build the relationship while yielding to the other person. A manager communicating in a warm and subordinate manner in relation to the wedding request might say, “We’ll miss you on Saturday morning because you are a key player in our department. However, I recognize that major events in personal life sometimes take priority over a business meeting.”

Figure 4-2  summarizes how the dual dimensions of dominant–subordinate and cold–warm influence the relationship-building aspects of communication. Rather than regarding these four quadrants of relationships as good or bad, think of your purposes. In some situations, you might want to dominant and be cold, yet in most situations you might want to submit a little and be warm in order to build a relationship. For example, being dominant and cold might be necessary for a security officer who is trying to control an unruly crowd at a sporting event.

Observe that the person in the quadrant dominant–cold has an impersonal relationship with the receiver, and the person in the warm–subordinate quadrant has a supportive relationship with the receiver. Being dominant and warm leads to a personal relationship, whereas being subordinate and cold leads to an accepting relationship.

Figure 4-2 Communication Dimensions of Establishing a Relationship

Source: Sorenson, Ritch; Debord, Grace; Ramirez, Ida, Business and Management Communication: A Guide Book, 4th Edition, p. 7. © 2001. Adapted by permission of Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker adds additional insight into how warm acquaintances communicate. They go out of their way to look as if they are presuming not a dominant–subordinate relationship but instead a relationship of equals. [4]  Your friend who values your relationship might say, “If you are going to the recycling center today, is there any chance you might be able to take along my old cell phone and laptop with you?”

An acquaintance not interested in maintaining a relationship with you might communicate in a cold, dominant–subordinate fashion by saying, “When you visit the recycling center today, take along my old cell phone and laptop with you.”

Nonverbal Communication in Organizations

1. Learning Objective 3

A substantial amount of communication between people takes place at the nonverbal level.  Nonverbal communication  refers to the transmission of messages through means other than words. These messages accompany verbal messages, or sometimes they stand alone. The general purpose of nonverbal communication is to communicate the feeling behind a message. For instance, you can say no with either a clenched fist or a smile to communicate the intensity of your negative or positive feelings. Workers who rely solely on verbal messages to communicate with employees miss what the majority of what work associates are saying. [5]

nonverbal communication

The transmission of messages through means other than words.

Observing the nonverbal communication of others is useful in understanding whether they are sending a mixed message. In this context, a  mixed message  is a discrepancy between what a person says and how he or she acts. If teammate Rex says he is eager to contribute to a rush project, yet looks angry and distracted and slams his writing pad on the table, you may not get the cooperation you need. To clarify whether Rex is going to put forth full effort today, you might ask, “Rex, you tell us that you are going to work full force today, but you look upset. Is there anything I can do to help?”

mixed message

A discrepancy between what a person says and how he or she acts.

The following paragraphs summarize the major modes of transmission of nonverbal communication and provide guidelines for improving nonverbal communication.  Chapter 8 , about cross-cultural relations, describes cultural differences in nonverbal communication.

Modes of Transmission of Nonverbal Communication

Nonverbal communication can be transmitted in many modes. You may be surprised that certain factors, such as dress and appearance, are considered part of nonverbal communication.

Environment

The setting or environment in which you send a message can influence how that message is received. Assume that your manager invites you out to lunch at an upscale restaurant to discuss a problem. You will think it is a more important topic under these circumstances than you would if the manager had lunch with you in the company cafeteria.

Other important environmental silent messages include room color, temperature, lighting, and furniture arrangement. A person who sits behind a large, uncluttered desk, for example, appears more powerful than a person who sits behind a small, messy desk.

Interpersonal Distance

The placement of one’s body in relation to someone else is widely used to transmit messages (see  Figure 4-3 ). In general, getting physically close to another person conveys a positive attitude toward that person. Putting your arm around someone is generally interpreted as a friendly act. (Some people, however, recoil when touched by someone other than a close friend. Touching others on the job can also be interpreted as sexual harassment.) Watch out for cultural differences in preferences for interpersonal distance, such as French people standing much closer to each other while conversing than do Americans.

Closely related to interpersonal distance is where and how you sit in relation to another person during a meeting. Sitting across the table from a person during a negotiation session creates a defensive, competitive atmosphere, often leading to each party taking a firm stand on his or her point of view. The table becomes a tangible and psychological barrier between both parties. Recognition of this observation leads many managers and salespeople to sit down with another person with either no table or a coffee

Figure 4-3 Four Circles of Intimacy

table between the two. Even when seated on separate chairs instead of a sofa, removal of a large table or desk separating the two parties leads to a friendlier, more open negotiation or sales discussion.

Posture

Posture communicates a variety of messages. Standing erect usually conveys the message that the person is self-confident and experiencing positive emotion. Slumping makes a person appear to be lacking in self-confidence or down in the dumps. Another interpersonal message conveyed by posture involves the direction of leaning. Leaning toward the sender suggests that you are favorably disposed toward his or her message; leaning backward communicates the opposite. Openness of the arms or legs serves as an indicator of liking or caring. In general, people establish closed postures (arms folded and legs crossed) when speaking to people they dislike.

Can you think of an aspect of your posture that conveys a specific message?

Hand Gestures

Frequent hand movements show positive attitudes toward another person. In contrast, dislike or disinterest usually produces few gestures. An important exception is that some people wave their hands furiously while arguing. Gestures are also said to provide clues to a person’s levels of dominance and submission. The gestures of dominant people are typically directed outward toward the other person. Examples include a steady, unwavering gaze and touching one’s partner. Submissive gestures are usually protective, such as touching oneself or shrugging one’s shoulders. A person who tucks his or her thumbs under his arms so that only the fingers are exposed is resisting what is being said. [6]

Facial Expressions and Eye Contact

Using your head, face, and eyes in combination provides the clearest indications of interpersonal attitudes. Looking at the ceiling (without tilting your head), combined with a serious expression, almost always communicates the message “I doubt what you’re saying is true.” Maintaining eye contact with another person improves communication. To maintain eye contact, it is usually necessary to move your face and eyes to follow the other person. Moving your face and eyes away from the other person is often interpreted as defensiveness or a lack of self-confidence.

Kinga/Shutterstock

The face is often used as a primary source of information about how we feel. We look for facial clues when we want to determine another person’s attitude. You can often judge someone’s current state of happiness by looking at his or her face. The term “sourpuss” attests to this observation. Happiness, apprehension, anger, resentment, sadness, contempt, enthusiasm, and embarrassment are but a few of the emotions that can be expressed through the face.

Voice Quality

Often more significance is attached to the way something is said than to what is said. A forceful voice, which includes a consistent tone without vocalized pauses, connotes power and control. Closely related to voice tone are volume, pitch, and rate of speaking. Anger, boredom, and joy often can be interpreted from voice quality. Anger is noted when the person speaks loudly, with a high pitch and at a fast rate. Boredom is indicated by a monotone. Joy is indicated by loud volume. Avoiding an annoying voice quality can make a positive impact on others. The research of voice coach Jeffrey Jacobi provides some useful suggestions. He surveyed a nationwide sample of 1,000 men and women and asked, “Which irritating or unpleasant voice annoys you the most?” The most irritating was a whining, complaining, or nagging tone.

Jacobi notes that we are judged by the way we sound. He also notes that careers can be damaged by voice problems such as those indicated in the survey. “We think about how we look and dress,” says Jacobi, “and that gets most of the attention. But people judge our intelligence much more by how we sound than how we dress.” [7]  Complete  Self-Assessment Quiz 4-1  to apply Jacobi’s findings to your development.

More recent research also supports the importance of voice quality in the workplace. The sound of a speaker’s voice has an impact twice as much as the content of a message, according to a study of 120 business executives’ speeches by a communication analytics company. Researchers used software to analyze the voices of speakers, then collected feedback from a panel of experts as well as 1,000 listeners. Voice quality accounted for 23 percent of listeners’ evalations, whereas content accounted for 11 percent of the evaluations. Other evaluation factors were the speakers’ passion, knowledge, and presence. [8]  These findings do not mean that a person with a high-quality voice can speak nonsense and still make a good impression. A more accurate interpretaton is that voice quality creates a bigger impact than content, assuming that you have a worthwhile message to deliver.

Personal Appearance

Your external image plays an important role in communicating messages to others. Job seekers show recognition of the personal appearance aspect of

Self-Assessment Quiz 4-1

1.  

Voice Quality Checkup

The voice quality study cited a number of annoying voice qualities, including those ahead. A couple of extra voice problems are contained in the list.

· Whining, complaining, or nagging tone

· High-pitched, squeaky voice

· Mumbling

· Very fast talking

· Weak and wimpy voice

· Flat, monotonous tone

· Frequent coughing

· Frequent clearing of throat

Directions:

Ask yourself and two other people familiar with your voice whether you have one or more of the preceding voice-quality problems. If your self-analysis and feedback from others does indicate a serious problem, get started on self-improvement. Record your voice on video and attempt to modify the biggest problem. Another avenue of improvement is to consult with a speech coach or therapist.

nonverbal communication when they carefully groom for a job interview. People pay more respect and grant more privileges to those they perceive as being well dressed and neatly groomed. The meaning of being well dressed depends heavily on the situation. In an information technology firm, neatly pressed jeans, a stylish T-shirt, and clean sport shoes might qualify as being well dressed. The same attire worn in a financial services firm would qualify as being poorly dressed.

A current tendency is a return to more formal business attire, to suggest that a person is ambitious and successful. Even business casual is losing some acceptance, particularly when business casual resembles everyday casual (such as jeans and a T-shirt). The best advice for using appearance to communicate nonverbal messages is to size up the environment to figure out what type of appearance and dress connotes the image you want to project.

As you may have noticed, many men choose to shave their heads even when they are not experiencing natural baldness. A study conducted at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School suggests that men with shaved heads are perceived to be more dominant, and in some cases to have greater leadership potential, than their counterparts with longer hair or thinning hair. [9]  For women, hair of moderate length often connotes more professionalism and leadership potential than does long, flowing hair.

Attention Paid to Other Person

The more attention paid to the other person during face-to-face interaction, the more valued and important that person feels. Paying attention to another individual includes other modes of nonverbal communication such as eye contact, an interested facial expression, and moving toward the other person. In a society that increasingly accepts and values multitasking, a natural tendency is to divide your attention between the person you are communicating and a computer screen, cell phone message, or a text message. Such multitasking is acceptable and natural to some people, yet makes many others feel unimportant and marginalized.

Research using electronic data supports the idea that the appropriate type of nonverbal communication has a positive impact on effectiveness. MIT professors Sandy Pentland and Daniel Olguín outfitted executives at a party with electronic devices that recorded data on their nonverbal signals, including tone of voice, gesticulation, and proximity to others. Five days later the same executives presented business plans to a panel of judges in a contest related to business plans. Without reading or hearing the presentations made to the judges, Pentland correctly predicted the winners, using only data collected at the party. The presence of a larger number of positive nonverbal signals was used to predict success in presenting a business plan. [10]

Guidelines for Improving Nonverbal Communication

Nonverbal communication, like verbal communication, can be improved. Here are eight suggestions to consider.

1. Obtain feedback on your body language by asking others to comment on the gestures and facial expressions you use in conversations. Be videotaped conferring with another individual. After studying your body language, attempt to eliminate those mannerisms and gestures that you think detract from your effectiveness. Common examples include nervous gestures such as moving knees from side to side, cracking knuckles, rubbing the eyes or nose, head scratching, and jingling coins.

2. Learn to relax when communicating with others. Take a deep breath and consciously allow your body muscles to loosen. Tension-reducing techniques should be helpful here. A relaxed person makes it easier for other people to relax. You are likely to elicit more useful information from other people when you are relaxed. Also, you will appear more confident and credible when you are relaxed to an appropriate degree.

3. Use facial, hand, and body gestures to supplement your speech, but don’t overdo it. A good starting point is to use hand gestures to express enthusiasm. You can increase the potency of enthusiastic comments by shaking the other person’s hand, nodding approval, or smiling.

4. Avoid using the same nonverbal gesture indiscriminately. If you want to use nodding to convey approval, do not nod with approval when you dislike what somebody else is saying. Also, do not pat everybody on the back. Nonverbal gestures that are used indiscriminately lose their communication effectiveness.

5. Use role-playing to practice various forms of nonverbal communication. A good starting point would be to practice selling your ideas about an important project or concept to another person. During your interchange, supplement your spoken messages with appropriate nonverbal cues, such as posture, voice intonation, gestures, and so forth. Later, obtain the other person’s perception of the effectiveness of your nonverbal communication.

6. Use mirroring to establish rapport. Nonverbal communication can be improved through  mirroring , or subtly imitating someone. The most successful mirroring technique is to imitate the breathing pattern of another person. If you adjust your own breathing rate to match someone else’s, you will soon establish rapport with that individual. Another effective mirroring technique is to adopt the voice speed of the person with whom you are communicating. If the other person speaks more slowly than you typically do, slow down to mirror him or her.

mirroring

Subtly imitating someone.

You can also use mirroring by imitating a manager to win favor. Many subordinates have a relentless tendency to copy the boss’s mannerisms, gestures, way of speaking, and dress. As a consequence, without realizing why, your manager may think more favorably of you.

Caution: Do not use mirroring to the extent that you appear to be mocking another person, thereby adversely affecting rapport. Do  Skill-Building Exercise 4-1  to get started developing your mirroring skills.

8. Check to see if your appearance fits the message you want to send to others in a work environment. It may take considerable courage, but ask several people to provide you with feedback on how well your appearance fits the image you want to portray, and the message you want to send in a work setting. Obtain impressions of your clothing style, grooming, and hairstyle (baldnesss included). If your appearance is lacking, make appropriate adjustments by observing a few role models as well as seeking written and spoken advice.

9. To appear in control and self-confident when standing, plant both feet firmly on the floor and with a distance between the feet of approximately twleve inches. Executive coach Sharon Sayler says that any other stance could send the message that you are off balance personally or professionally. [11]

Skill-Building Exercise 4-1

1.  

The Mirroring Technique

To practice mirroring, during the next 10 days each class member schedules one mirroring session with an unsuspecting subject. An ideal opportunity would be an upcoming meeting on the job. Another possibility would be to ask a friend if you could practice your interviewing techniques with him or her—but do not mention the mirroring technique. A third possibility would be to sit down with a friend and conduct a social conversation.

While holding an interview or discussion with the other party, use the mirroring technique. Imitate the person’s breathing pattern, rate of speech, hand movements, eye movements, leg movements, or any other noticeable aspect of behavior.

After the mirroring sessions have been conducted, hold a class discussion about the results. Questions include the following:

1. Did the other person notice the mirroring and comment on the behavior of the person doing the mirroring?

2. Was the rapport enhanced (or hindered) by the mirroring?

3. How many of the students intend to repeat the mirroring technique in the future?

Guidelines for Detecting Lying through Nonverbal Communication

Another interpersonal skill related to nonverbal communication is the ability to detect lying. A conservative approach is to regard certain indicators to suggest that a person might by lying, and then to investigate further the truthfulness of certain statements. For example, an employee suspected of selling employee social security numbers to an outside party might respond to any questioning about this theft with a quick, seemingly rehearsed answer. Further investigation, perhaps using a private detective, might be warranted.

It is important to recognize that surefire behavioral indicators of deception do not exist—that the behavior of liars is not consistently revealing. A team of three researchers who reviewed the evidence about human behavior and deception detection concluded that no researcher has documented a “Pinocchio response.” (The nose of the fairy tale character Pinocchio grew when he told a lie.) The finding means that there is no behavior or pattern of behavior that in all people, in all situations indicates deception.

What is known with reasonable certainty is that lying requires extra mental effort. The liar must think quite hard to cover up and create events that have not happened. The extra effort will show up in the nonverbal forms of longer pauses between thoughts, and the use of hand and head movements that accompany speech will be less frequent. Part of the extra effort stems from the liar changing his or her typical behavior.

With respect to emotions, liars do appear to be more nervous than truth tellers. The facial expressions of liars tend to be less pleasant, and also show higher vocal pitch, more tension in their voice, greater pupil dilation, and more fidgeting. [12]  A related cue is that the vocal pitch suddenly going up or down is frequently associated with lying.

The scientific evidence about nonverbal indicators of lying therefore supports the generally-accepted belief that liars touch their face more, twitch more, avoid eye contact, and fidget considerably. [13]

Guidelines for Overcoming Communication Problems and Barriers

1. Learning Objective 4

Communication problems in organizations are ever present. Some interference usually takes place between ideation and action, as suggested earlier by the noise factor in  Figure 4-1 . The type of message influences the amount of interference. Routine or neutral messages are the easiest to communicate. Interference is most likely to occur when a message is complex, emotionally arousing, or clashes with a receiver’s mental set.

An emotionally arousing message deals with topics such as money or a relationship between two people. A message that clashes with a receiver’s mental set requires the person to change his or her typical pattern of receiving messages. Try this experiment. The next time you visit a restaurant, order dessert first and the main meal second. The server probably will not receive your dessert order because it deviates from the normal sequence.

1. Communicate honestly. 2. Understanding the receiver. 3. Minimize defensive communication. 4. Repeat your message and use multiple channels. 5. Check comprehension and feelings via verbal and nonverbal feedback. 6. Display a positive attitude. 7. Communicate persuasively. 8. Engage in active listening. 9. Prepare for stressful conversations. 10. Engage in metacommunication. 11. Recognize gender differences in communication style.

Figure 4-4 Overcoming Communication Problems and Barriers

Here we will describe strategies and tactics for overcoming some of the more frequently observed communication problems in the workplace, as outlined in  Figure 4-4 . A useful guideline is that the communicator should take the initiative to increase the probability that his or her message will get across as intended. In the words of Jess Thomas, the chairman, president, and CEO of Molina Healthcare of Michigan, “A sobering reality in communication is that the greater burden and basis for breakdown in effective communication rests with the communicator. The communicator has to be very articulate in communicating what he or she wants.” [14]

Communicate Honestly

A major reason many communicators are not taken seriously, and that their messages do not get across as intended, is because they are not trusted. When people lie, a communication barrier is erected. A similar perspective is that when people are trusted, their messages are more likely to be received. A person who communicates honestly is also more likely to receive honest communications from others. When people trust you, they are more likely to present you with accurate information. [15]  For example, a team leader is more likely to be informed of a problem if the informer does not think he or she will be blamed for the problem. The subject of trust will be explored in more depth in relation to characteristics of a leader in  Chapter 10 .

Understand the Receiver

Understanding the person you are trying to reach is a fundamental principle of overcoming communication barriers. The more you know about your receiver, the better you are able to deliver your message effectively. Three important aspects of understanding the receiver are (1) developing empathy, (2) recognizing his or her motivational state, and (3) understanding the other person’s frame of reference.

Developing  empathy  requires placing yourself in the receiver’s shoes. To accomplish this, you have to imagine yourself in the other person’s role and assume the viewpoints and emotions of that individual. You have to imagine how you would feel if placed in that situation. For example, if a supervisor were trying to communicate the importance of customer service to sales associates, the supervisor might ask himself or herself, “If I were a part-time employee being paid close to the minimum wage, how receptive would I be to messages about superior customer service?” To empathize, you have to understand another person. Sympathy means that you understand and agree.

empathy

In communication, imagining oneself in the receiver’s role and assuming the viewpoints and emotions of that individual.

Research suggests that subtle patterns of brain cells, called mirror neurons, help us empathize with others. These brain circuits reflect the actions and intentions of others as if they were our own. Neuroscientist Marco Iacoboni explains that the mirror system gives us an open-mindedness and a propensity to understand others and other cultures. The cells work in this manner: When another person smiles or wrinkles his or her nose in distaste, motor cells in your own brain linked to those expressions resonate in response like a tuning fork. As a result, you get a hint of the feeling itself. The more empathy you have, the stronger the motor neuron response. [16]

The biological component to empathy should not lead you to conclude that empathy is not a skill that can be acquired. It is conceivable that as you develop empathy, your mirror neurons grow in number or become better developed, just as your calf muscles become better defined if you run frequently.

The receiver’s  motivational state  could include any active needs and interests operating at the time. People tend to listen attentively to messages that show promise of satisfying an active need or interest. Management usually listens attentively to a suggestion framed in terms of cost savings or increased profits. A coworker is likely to be attentive to your message if you explain how your idea can lead to a better year-end financial bonus for the group.

motivational state

Any active needs and interests operating at a given time.

People perceive words and concepts differently because their vantage points and perspectives differ. Such differences in  frame of reference  create barriers to communication. A frame of reference can also be considered a lens through which we view the world. A manager attempted to chastise a team member by saying, “If you continue to make these technical errors, we are going to have to assign you to a less technical role.” The technician replied, “That’s good news,” because he was becoming frustrated with doing technical work for the entire workday. Understanding another person’s frame of reference requires empathy.

frame of reference

The fact that people perceive words and concepts differently because their vantage points and perspectives differ.

On a day-by-day basis, understanding another person’s frame of reference often translates into figuring out his or her mindset. A woman telephoned a tech support center located in India with a sense of frustration in her voice. She said she was instructed by her computer to “press any key to continue,” and was upset that her keyboard didn’t have an “any” key. The caller’s mindset was that she had to search for the “any” key. [17]  Of course, a more perceptive person might have noticed that the instructions did not say press the any key to continue, but any key.

Minimize Defensive Communication

An important general communication barrier is  defensive communication —the tendency to receive messages in such a way that our self-esteem is protected. Defensive communication is also responsible for people sending messages to make them look good. For example, when being criticized for low production, a financial sales consultant might blame low mortgage rates, which are encouraging many people to invest in a new home rather than in the stock market.

defensive communication

The tendency to receive messages in such a way that our self-esteem is protected.

Overcoming the barrier of defensive communication requires two steps. First, people have to recognize the existence of defensive communication. Second, they have to try not to be defensive when questioned or criticized. Such behavior is not easy because of the unconscious or semiconscious process of  denial —the suppression of information we find uncomfortable. For example, the sales consultant just cited would find it uncomfortable to think of himself or herself as being responsible for below-average performance.

denial

The suppression of information we find uncomfortable.

Repeat Your Message Using Multiple Channels (in Moderation)

Repetition enhances communication, particularly when different channels are used to convey the same message. Effective communicators at many job levels follow spoken agreements with written documentation. Since most communication is subject to at least some distortion, the chances of a message being received as intended increase when two or more channels are used. Many firms have a policy of using a multiple-channel approach to communicate the results of a performance evaluation. The worker receives an oral explanation from the manager of the results of the review. The worker is also required to read the form and indicate by signature that he or she has read and understands the meaning of the review. Another useful way of using multiple channels is to follow up a telephone call or in-person conversation with an e-mail or text message summarizing key facts or agreements. Such an approach helps overcome the communication problem of a person saying, “I never received your e-mail (or text message). Maybe it was placed in my junk mail.”

When repeating your message or using multiple channels, use moderation to avoid contributing to the problem of information overload—a phenomenon that occurs when people are so overloaded with information that they cannot respond effectively to messages. Research consistently suggests that the expanding volume of information can not only create stress, but also negatively affect decision making, innovation, and productivity. [18]

Check Comprehension and Feelings through Verbal and Nonverbal Feedback

Ask for feedback to determine whether your message has been received as intended. A frequent managerial practice is to conclude a meeting with a question such as, “Okay, what have we agreed upon?” Another useful form of feedback after a meeting is to have participants post on a company Web page (such as an intranet) what message they took away from the meeting. Unless feedback of this nature is obtained, you will not know whether your message has been received until the receiver carries out your request. If the request is carried out improperly, or if no action is taken, you will know that the message was received poorly.

Obtaining feedback is important because it results in two-way communication in which people take turns being sender and receiver, thereby having a dialogue. Dialogues take time because they require people to speak more slowly and listen more carefully. Obtaining feedback also contributes to an interactional encounter between two (or among several) people. By interacting with the other person, the other person is more likely to perceive you positively and support your ideas. [19]  An easy way to prompt an interaction is to ask a question. For example, the store manager might make the following statement followed by a question: “We need to get more customers signing up for our warranty program. Why do you think so many customers are not signing up for the program?”

Feedback is also important because it provides reinforcement to the sender, and few people will continue to communicate without any reinforcement. The sender is reinforced when the receiver indicates understanding of the message. When the original receiver indicates that he or she understands the message, that person becomes the sender. A nod of approval would be an appropriate type of nonverbal reinforcement for the sender to receive.

In addition to looking for verbal comprehension and emotions when you have delivered a message, check for feelings after you have received a message. When a person speaks, we too often listen to the facts and ignore the feelings. If feelings are ignored, the true meaning and intent of the message is likely to be missed, thus creating a communication barrier. Your boss might say to you, “You never seem to take work home.” To clarify what your boss means by this statement, you might ask, “Is that good or bad?” Your boss’s response will give you feedback on his or her feelings about getting all your work done during regular working hours.

When you send a message, it is also helpful to express your feelings in addition to conveying the facts. For example, “Our defects are up by 12 percent (fact), and I’m quite disappointed about those results (feelings).” Because feelings contribute strongly to comprehension, you will help overcome a potential communication barrier.

Display a Positive Attitude

Being perceived as having a positive attitude helps melt communication barriers. This is true because most people prefer to communicate with a positive person. Being positive helps make you appear more credible and trustworthy, whereas being consistently negative makes you less credible and trustworthy. As one coworker said about a chronic complainer in his office, “Why take Margot seriously? She finds something wrong with everybody and everything.”

Communicate Persuasively

A powerful tactic for overcoming communication barriers is to communicate so persuasively that obstacles disappear. Persuasiveness refers to the sender convincing the receiver to accept his or her message. Persuasion thus involves selling to others. Hundreds of articles, books, audiotapes, and videos have been developed to help people become more persuasive. The following are 11 representative suggestions for becoming a more persuasive communicator, both in speaking and in writing. [20]

1. Know exactly what you want and communicate directly: Your chances of selling an idea increase to the extent that you have clarified the idea in your own mind. The clearer and more committed you are at the outset of a selling or negotiating session, the stronger you are as a persuader. After knowing what you want, you are in a position to communicate directly. Suppose you do not want to join your coworkers for lunch today because you are overloaded with work. An indrect statement would be, “It looks like the restaurants would be very crowded because it is St. Patrick’s Day.” You would be more persuasive if you said, “Thanks for the invitation, but I would prefer to join some other time. I am overloaded today.”

2. Never suggest an action without explaining its end benefit: In asking for a raise, you might say, “If I get this raise, I’ll be able to afford to stay with this job as long as the company likes. I will also increase my productivity because I won’t be distracted by thinking about meeting my expenses.”

3. Get a yes response early on: It is helpful to give the persuading session a positive tone by establishing a “yes pattern” at the outset. Assume that an employee wanted to convince the boss to allow the employee to perform some work at home during normal working hours. The employee might begin the idea-selling questions with “Is it important for the company to obtain maximum productivity from all its employees?”

4. Use power words: An expert tactic for being persuasive is to sprinkle your speech with power (meaning powerful) words. Power words stir emotion and bring forth images of exciting events. Examples of power words and expressions include consequences, impact, engagement, bonding with customers, surpassing previous profits, building customer loyalty, and sustainability. Using power words is part of having a broad vocabulary.

5. Minimize raising your pitch at the end of sentences: Part of being persuasive is not to sound unsure and apologetic. In English and several other languages, a convenient way to ask a question or to express doubt is to raise the pitch of your voice at the end of a sentence or phrase. As a test, use the sentence “You like my ideas.” First say ideas using approximately the same pitch and tone as with every other word. Then say the same sentence by pronouncing ideas with a higher pitch and louder tone. By saying ideas loudly, you sound much less certain and are less persuasive.

6. Talk to your audience, not the screen: Computer graphic presentations have become standard practice even in small-group meetings. Many presenters rely so heavily on computer-generated slides and transparencies that they basically read the slides and transparencies to the audience. In an oral presentation, the predominant means of connection between sender and receiver should be eye contact. When your audience is frequently distracted by movement on the screen, computer sounds, garish colors, or you looking at the screen, eye contact suffers. As a result, the message is weakened, and you are less persuasive. [21]  Many companies have virtually banned PowerPoint presentations because so many presenters use this technique poorly.

7. Back up conclusions with data: You will be more persuasive if you support your spoken and written presentations with solid data. You can collect the data yourself or quote from a printed or electronic source. Relying too much on research has a potential disadvantage, however. Being too dependent on data could suggest that you have little faith in your intuition. For example, you might convey a weak impression if, when asked your opinion, you respond, “I can’t answer until I collect some data.”

8. Minimize “wimp” phrases and words: Persuasive communicators minimize statements that make them appear weak and indecisive. Such phrases convey the impression that they are not in control of their actions. Wimp phrases include: “It’s one of those days,” “I’m not sure about that,” “Don’t quote me on that,” and “I’ll try my best to get it done.” (It is better to commit yourself forcibly by saying, “I’ll get it done.”) Wimpy words include “sort of,” “hopefully,” and “maybe.” A word that borders on being wimpy, or that is at least not strong, is “if” in place of “when.” Notice the difference between the two following statements: “If I get this report done this week, I’ll send you an e-mail” and “When I get this report done this week . . . . .”

Another problem with wimp words and phrases is that they can mar your image, or make you appear not in control of your work. Three examples follow:

· “I’m too busy/I don’t have time/I’m just swamped.”

· “I’m having one of those days/Things are crazy here/You have caught me at a bad time.”

· “We’ll see how it goes/I’ll try my best.” [22]

Although wimp phrases and words should be minimized, there are times when they reflect honest communication, such as a team leader saying to the manager, “Maybe we can get this crash project completed by the end of the month.”

9. Avoid or minimize common language errors: You will enhance your persuasiveness if you minimize common language errors because you will appear more articulate and informed. Here are several common language errors:

i. “Just between you and I” is wrong. “Just between you and me” is correct.

i. Irregardless is not a word; regardless is correct.

i. Avoid double negatives when you want to express the negative, despite the increasing popularity of double negatives. Common examples of double negatives are “I got no nothing from my best customer this week” and “We don’t have no money in the budget for travel.” If expressed with the right inflection, a double negative can be correct. For example, to say “We don’t have no money” with an emphasis on no money means that the budget is not completely depleted. Yet in general, double negatives make the sender appear so ill-informed that they fail to persuade.

i. “Ask your guest what they want for lunch” is incorrect despite the widespread use of using a plural pronoun instead of the singular. “Ask your guest what he (or she) wants” is correct. A caution here is that it appears about 90 percent of Americans including the well-educated confuse the singular and plural today, so using “they” instead of “he” or “she” is not a dreadful error in grammar; however, using “themselves” instead of “him” or “her” is a dreadful error. An example of this misuse is, “I prefer a coworker who can speak up for themselves.”

1. Avoid overuse of jargon and clichés. To feel “in” and hip, many workers rely heavily on jargon and clichés, such as referring to their “fave” (for favorite) product, or saying that “At the end of the day” something counts, or that software is “scalable” (meaning it can get bigger). Add to the list “a seamless company” to mean the various departments cooperate with one another. The caution is that if a person uses jargon and hip phrases too frequently, the person appears to be too contrived and lacking in imagination. [23]

1. Avoid converting too many nouns into verbs: A frequent error in the workplace and in personal life is to convert too many nouns into verbs. Many

Skill-Building Exercise 4-2

11.  

I Want this Position

The purpose of this exercise is to practice your persuasive skills using a topic of interest to many people—being hired for an attractive position. One by one, students make a presentation in front of the class, presenting a persuasive argument for why they merit the attractive position they applied for. The instructor will decide whether to use a handful of volunteers or the entire class. The audience represents the hiring manager. The student will first explain the nature of the position. (Use your imagination here.) Next, make a three-minute convincing argument as to why you merit a job offer. You will probably have about fifteen minutes to prepare, inside or outside of class.

After the presentations, volunteers will offer feedback on the effectiveness of selected presentations. During the presentations of the other students, make a few notes about the presenter’s effectiveness. You may need a couple of minutes between presenters to make your notes. Consider these factors:

. Overall, how convincing was the presenter? If you were the hiring manager, would you give him or her a favorable recommendation for being hired?

. Which techniques of persuasion did he or she use?

. What aspect of the presentation was unconvincing or negative?

What lessons did you take away from this exercise about persuasive communication?

nouns have become verbs, such as, “I will phone you tomorrow.” (The noun is phone.) Another positive example is, “We need to hammer home this point.” (The noun is hammer.) In contrast, a questionable communication practice is to say, “I’ll Skype you tonight,” or “I will W2 you tommorrow.” (W2 is the statement of wages and taxes given to employees as well as the Internal Revenue Service.)

If you can learn to implement most of the preceding 11 suggestions, you are on your way toward becoming a persuasive communicator. In addition, you will need solid facts behind you, and you will need to make skillful use of nonverbal communication. If you are looking for an example of a persuasive communicator in business, check out David A. Brandon, the former CEO of Domino’s Pizza. Brandon is such a great motivator and communicator that many people have encouraged him to run for public office. He is now the director of intercollegiate athletics at the University of Michigan. See if you can find a video of Brandon on the Internet.

Skill-Building Exercise 4-2  provides you with an opportunity to practice persuasive communication.

Engage in Active Listening

1. Learning Objective 5

Persuasion deals primarily with sending messages. Improving one’s receiving of messages is another part of developing better communication skills. Unless you receive messages as they are intended, you cannot perform your job properly or be a good companion. A major challenge in developing good listening skills is that we process information much more quickly than most people speak. The average speaking rate is about 130 words per minute. In contrast, the average rate of processing information is about 300 words per minute. [24]  So, you have to slow down mentally to listen well. A related problem is that many people like to dominate conversations, making it difficult to listen. As expressed by investment banker Herb Allen, “It’s tough to listen when you’re talking.” [25]

Communication consultant Connie Kieken observes that in today’s time-pressed workplaces many people attempt to listen at high speed, causing their minds to fade in and fade out. To prevent this problem, focus on the other person’s meaning and motivation. [26]

Listening can be even more essential than talking when engaged in face-to-face communication. Listening is a particularly important skill for anybody whose job involves troubleshooting, because one needs to gather information to solve problems. Listening is also regarded as the front-end of decision making, because you need to absorb relevant facts before making a decision. [27]  Another reason that improving the listening skills of employees is important is that insufficient listening is extraordinarily costly. Listening mistakes lead to reprocessing letters, rescheduling appointments, reshipping orders, and recalling defective products. Effective listening also improves interpersonal relations because the people listened to feel understood and respected.

A major component of effective listening is to be an  active listener . The active listener listens intensely, with the goal of empathizing with the speaker. Several important skills and behaviors associated with active listening are presented next.

active listener

A person who listens intensely, with the goal of empathizing with the speaker.

Show Respect

A cornerstone of effective listening, including active listening, is to show respect for others in the form of being eager to receive their input. To actively listen to another person is to respect him or her as well as that person’s ideas. A good example is the chief operating officer of a large medical institution who was known to be an excellent listener. The executive in question said he could not run an operation as complex as a hospital without seeking input from workers at all levels, from the chief of surgery to the custodial crew. [28]

Accept the Sender’s Figure of Speech

A useful way of showing empathy is to accept the sender’s figure of speech. By so doing, the sender feels understood and accepted. Also, if you reject the person’s figure of speech by rewording it, the sender may become defensive. Many people use the figure of speech “I’m stuck” when they cannot accomplish a task. You can facilitate smooth communication by a response such as, “What can I do to help you get unstuck?” If you respond with something like, “What can I do to help you think more clearly?” the person is forced to change mental channels and may become defensive. [29]

Paraphrase and Listen Reflectively

As a result of listening actively, the listener can give feedback to the speaker on what he or she thinks the speaker meant. Feedback of this type relies on both verbal and nonverbal communication. Feedback is also important because it facilitates two-way communication. To be an active listener, it is also important to paraphrase, or repeat in your own words what the sender says, feels, and means. Paraphrasing is also referred to as reflective listening, because the listener reflects back what the sender said. You might feel awkward the first several times you paraphrase. Therefore, try it with a person with whom you feel comfortable. With some practice, it will become a natural part of your communication skill kit. Here is an example of how you might use paraphrasing:

Other Person: I’m getting ticked off at working so hard around here. I wish somebody else would pitch in and do a fair day’s work.

You: You’re saying that you do more than your fair share of the tough work in our department.

Other Person: You bet. Here’s what I think we should be doing about it.

Life coach Sophronia Scott advises that, after you have paraphrased, it is sometimes helpful to ask the person you listened to whether your impression of what he or she said is correct. Your goal is not to make others repeat themselves, but to extend the conversation so that you can obtain more useful details. [30]

Minimize Distractions

If feasible, keep papers, mobile devices, and your computer screen out of sight when listening to somebody else. Having distractions in sight creates the temptation to glance away from the message sender. Avoid answering a phone call unless you are anticipating an emergency call. At the start of your conversation, notice the other person’s eye color to help you establish eye contact. (But don’t keep staring at his or her eyes!)

Ask Questions

A major technique of active listening is to ask questions rather than make conclusive statements. Asking questions provides more useful information. Suppose a teammate is late with data you need to complete your analysis. Instead of saying, “I must have your input by Thursday afternoon,” try, “When will I get your input?”

Allow Sender to Finish His or Her Sentence

Be sure to let others speak until they have finished. Do not interrupt by talking about yourself, jumping in with advice, or offering solutions unless requested. Equally bad for careful listening is to finish the sentence of a receiver. Almost all people prefer to complete their own thoughts, even though there are two curious traditions that run counter to this idea. One is that business partners who have been working together for many years, and understand each other well, have a tendency to finish the other partner’s sentence. Couples in personal life behave similarly. Also, have you noticed how when you start to enter a phrase into a major search engine, suddenly you are given about 10 choices that are not necessarily what you are planning to write? (Of course, this is responding to writing, and not really listening, but the overtaking of your thinking is the same.)

Use Nonverbal Communication

Another component to active listening is to indicate by your body language that you are listening intently. When a coworker comes to you with a question or concern, focus on that person and exclude all else. If you tap your fingers on the desk or glance around the room, you send the message that the other person and his or her concerns do not warrant your full attention. Listening intently through nonverbal communication also facilitates active listening because it demonstrates respect for the receiver.

Observing nonverbal communication is another important part of active listening. Look to see if the speaker’s verbal communication matches his or her nonverbal communication. Suppose you ask another person if he or she would like to join your committee. If the person says “yes,” but looks bored and defensive, he or she is probably not really interested in joining your committee. Quite often a person’s nonverbal communication is more indicative of the truth than is verbal communication.

Minimize Words That Shut Down Discussion

A key part of listening is to keep the conversation flowing. According to executive coach Marshall Goldsmith, an especially useful approach to keep conversation going in most work situations is for the listener to minimize certain negatively toned words that frequently shut down conversation. When you say “no,” “but,” or “however,” you effectively shut down or limit the conversation. No matter what words follow, the sender receives a message to the effect, “You are wrong and I am right.” Even if you say “I agree, but . . .” the shutdown message still comes through. The other person is likely to get into the defensive mode. [31]  Another way of shutting down conversation is to say, “I already know that.”

After the person has finished talking, there are times it will be appropriate to say “no,” “but,” or “however.” Assume, for example, that a worker says to the business owner that the company should donate one-third of its profits to charity each year. The owner might then reply, “I hear you, but if we give away all that money our profits will be too slim to grow the business.”

Avoid the Need to Lie or Fake When You Have Not Been Paying Attention

A consequence of active listening is that you will avoid the need to pretend that you have been paying attention. Performance management coach Joe Takash suggests that you remind yourself that other people can sense if you’re not listening. Force yourself to be honest and admit that you didn’t catch everything that was said. That means asking the other person to repeat or requesting clarification. In this way you’re being honest rather than deceitful—and deceit kills results-producing relationships fast. [32]

Specific suggestions for improving active listening skills are summarized in  Figure 4-5 . These suggestions relate to good listening in general, as well as active listening. Many suggestions reinforce what has already been described. As with any other suggestions for developing a new skill, considerable practice (with some supervision) is needed to bring about actual changes in behavior. One of the problems a poor listener would encounter is the difficulty of breaking old habits to acquire new ones. To practice your listening skills, do  Skill-Building Exercise 4-3 .

Figure 4-5 Suggestions for Active Listening

Prepare for Stressful Conversations

Communication barriers will frequently surface when two or more people are engaged in conversation fraught with emotion, such as giving highly negative performance feedback, rejecting a person for membership in your team, or firing an employee. Praising is another exchange that can make either or both parties uncomfortable. The sender might feel that he or she is patronizing the receiver, and the receiver might feel unworthy of the praise. One technique for reducing the stress in potentially stressful conversations is to prepare for them in advance.

A starting point in preparing for a stressful conversation is self-awareness about how you react to certain uncomfortable exchanges. For example, how do you feel when the receiver of the negative feedback reacts with hostility? Do you clam up, or do you become counterhostile? If you anticipate a hostile reception to an upcoming conversation, rehearse the scenario with a neutral friend. Deliver the controversial content that you will be delivering during the real event. Practice the body language you will use when you deliver a phrase such as, “As team leader, I must tell you that you have contributed almost nothing of value to our current project.” Another part of the rehearsal is to practice delivering clear content—be explicit about what you mean. “Almost nothing of value to our current project” is much more explicit than “Your contribution has much room for improvement.”

Also, practice temperate phrasing, or being tactful while delivering negative feedback. Communications specialist Holly Weeks suggests the following. Instead of snapping at someone—“Stop interrupting me”—try this: “Can you hold on a minute? I want to finish before I lose my train of thought.” Temperate phrasing will take some of the sting out of a stressful conversation. [33]

Skill-Building Exercise 4-3

1.  

Listening to a Coworker

Before conducting the following role-plays, review the suggestions for effective listening presented in the text and  Figure 4-5 . Restating what you hear (summarization) is particularly important when listening to a person who is talking about an emotional topic.

The Elated Coworker:

One student plays the role of a coworker who has just been offered a six-month assignment to the Rome, Italy, unit of the company. She will be receiving a 30 percent pay increase during the assignment plus a supplementary living allowance. She is eager to describe the full details of her good fortune to a coworker. Another student plays the role of the coworker to whom the first worker wants to describe her good fortune. The second worker decides to listen intently to the first worker. Other class members will rate the second student on his or her listening ability.

The Discouraged Coworker:

One student plays the role of a coworker who has just been placed on probation for poor job performance. His boss thinks that his performance is below standard and that his attendance and punctuality are poor. He is afraid that if he tells his girlfriend, she will leave him. He is eager to tell his tale of woe to a coworker. Another student plays the role of a coworker he corners to discuss his problems. The second worker decides to listen intently to his problems, but is pressed for time. Other class members will rate the second student on his or her listening ability.

When evaluating the active listening skills of the role players, consider using the following evaluating factors, on a scale of 1 (low) to 5 (high):

Evaluation Factor	Rating 1 2 3 4 5
1. Maintained eye contact
2. Showed empathy
3. Summarize what the other person said
4. Focused on other person instead of being distracted
5. Asked questions
6. Let other person speak until he or she was finished

Engage in Metacommunication

Sometimes the best way to overcome a communication barrier with another person is to describe the nature of the relationship between you two at the moment.  Metacommunication  is to communicate about your communication to help overcome barriers or resolve a problem. If you, as a team leader, are facing heavy deadline pressures, you may say to a team member, “I might appear brusque today and tomorrow. Please don’t take it personally. It’s just that I have to make heavy demands on you because the team is facing a gruesome deadline.” A more common situation is when the person with whom you are attempting to communicate appears angry or indifferent. Instead of wasting the communication event, it would be better to say, “You do not seem receptive to listening to me now. Are we having a problem? Should I try again later?”

metacommunication

To communicate about your communication to help overcome barriers or resolve a problem.

Recognize Gender Differences in Communication Style

A trend in organizations for many years has been to move toward gender equality. Despite this trend, substantial interest has arisen in identifying differences in communication styles between men and women. People who are aware of these differences face fewer communication barriers between themselves and members of the opposite sex. As we discuss these differences, recognize that they are group stereotypes. Please do not be offended by these stereotypes; they are exaggerations noticed by some researchers and observers. To cite one example that runs counter to the stereotype, some women dominate meetings, whereas some men focus on listening to and supporting others during a meeting. Individual  differences in communication style usually are more important than group (men vs. women) differences. Here we will discuss nine major findings of gender differences in communication patterns. [34]

1. Women prefer to use conversation for rapport building. For most women, the intent of conversation is to build rapport and connections with people. Women are therefore more likely to emphasize similarities, to listen intently, and to be supportive.

2. Men prefer to use talk primarily as a means to preserve independence and status by displaying knowledge and skill. When most men talk, they want to receive positive evaluation from others and maintain their hierarchical status within the group. Men are therefore more oriented to giving a report while women are more interested in establishing rapport.

3. Women want empathy, not solutions. When women share feelings of being stressed out, they seek empathy and understanding. If they feel they have been listened to carefully, they begin to relax. When listening to the woman, the man may feel blamed for her problems or feel that he has failed the woman in some way. To feel useful, the man might offer solutions to the woman’s problems.

4. Men prefer to work out their problems by themselves, whereas women prefer to talk out solutions with another person. Women look upon having and sharing problems as an opportunity to build and deepen relationships. Men are more likely to look upon problems as challenges they must meet on their own. The communication consequence of these differences is that men may become uncommunicative when they have a problem.

5. Women are more likely to compliment the work of a coworker, whereas men are more likely to be critical. A communication problem may occur when a woman compliments the work of a male coworker and expects reciprocal praise.

6. Men tend to be more directive in their conversation, whereas women emphasize politeness. Women are therefore more likely to frequently use the phrases “I’m sorry” and “Thank you,” even when there is no need to express apology or gratitude. For example, a supermarket manager notices that the store has suddenly become busy. She would therefore say to a store associate unpacking boxes, “I’m sorry Pedro, but we’ve become busy all of a sudden. Could you please open a new lane up front? Thank you.” A manager who is a stereotypical male might say, “Pedro, we need you to open a line up front, pronto. Put down the boxes and get up there.”

7. Women tend to be more conciliatory when facing differences, whereas men become more intimidating. Again, women are more interested in building relationships, whereas men are more concerned about coming out ahead.

8. Men are more interested than women in calling attention to their accomplishments or hogging recognition. In one instance, a sales representative who had already made her sales quota for the month turned over an excellent prospect to a coworker. She reasoned, “It’s somebody else’s turn. I’ve received more than my fair share of bonuses for the month.”

9. Men tend to dominate discussions during meetings. One study of college faculty meetings found that women’s longest turns at speaking were, on average, of shorter duration than men’s shortest turns. A possible explanation here is that women are still less assertive than men in the workplace.

How can the information just presented help overcome communication problems on the job? As a starting point, remember that these gender differences often exist. Understanding these differences will help you interpret the communication behavior of people. For example, if a male coworker is not as effusive with praise as you would like, remember that he is simply engaging in gender-typical behavior. Do not take it personally.

A woman can remind herself to speak up more in meetings because her natural tendency might be toward diffidence. She might say to herself, “I must watch out to avoid gender-typical behavior in this situation.” A man might remind himself to be more complimentary and supportive toward coworkers. The problem is that although such behavior is important, his natural tendency might be to skip the praise.

A woman should not take it personally when a male coworker or subordinate is tight-lipped when faced with a problem. She should recognize that he needs more encouragement to talk about his problems than would a woman. If the man persists in not wanting to talk about the problem, the woman might say, “It looks like you want to work out this problem on your own. Go ahead. I’m available if you want to talk about the problem.”

Men and women should recognize that when women talk over problems, they might not be seeking hard-hitting advice. Instead, they might simply be searching for a sympathetic ear so that they can deal with the emotional aspect of the problem.

A general suggestion for overcoming gender-related communication barriers is for men to improve communication by becoming more empathic (showing more empathy) listeners. Women can improve communication by becoming more direct.

Concept Review and Reinforcement

Key Terms

1. communication   77

2. message   78

3. feedback   79

4. noise   79

5. nonverbal communication   81

6. mixed message   81

7. mirroring   85

8. empathy   87

9. motivational state   88

10. frame of reference   88

11. defensive communication   88

12. denial   88

13. active listener   93

14. metacommunication   96

Summary

Communication is the basic process by which managers, customer-contact workers, and professionals accomplish their work. Communication is also important because communication skills are a success factor for workers in a wide variety of jobs. Communication among people is a complex process that can be divided into six components: sender or source, message, channel (or medium), receiver, feedback, and environment. Noise, or interference, can disrupt communication within any component.

Communication is a vehicle for building relationships. We establish relationships along two primary dimensions: dominant–subordinate and cold–warm. In the process of communicating, we attempt to dominate or subordinate. We indicate whether we want to dominate or subordinate by the way we speak or write or by nonverbal signals we send. The four combinations of the two primary dimensions lead to different types of relationship—dominant–cold (impersonal), cold–subordinate (accepting), subordinate–warm (supportive), and warm–dominant (personal).

Nonverbal communication plays an important part in sending and receiving messages and is especially important for imparting the emotional aspects of a message. The modes of nonverbal communication include the environment in which the message is sent, interpersonal distance, posture, hand gestures, facial expressions and eye contact, voice quality, personal appearance, and attention paid to the other person.

Nonverbal communication can be improved through such means as obtaining feedback, learning to relax, using gestures more discriminately, role-playing, and mirroring. The latter refers to subtly imitating someone. Another interpersonal skill related to nonverbal communication is the ability to detect lying, such as nonverbal indicators of extra effort including longer pauses between thoughts.

Methods of overcoming communication barriers include the following: (1) communicate honestly, (2) understand the receiver, (3) minimize defensive communication, (4) repeat your message using multiple channels, (5) check comprehension and feelings via verbal and nonverbal feedback, (6) display a positive attitude, (7) use persuasive communication, (8) engage in active listening, (9) prepare for stressful conversation, (10) engage in metacommunication (communicating about your communication), and (11) recognize gender differences in communication styles.

Skills and behaviors associated with active listening include the following: (1) show respect, (2) accept the sender’s figure of speech, (3) paraphrase and listen reflectively, (4) minimize distractions, (5) ask questions, (6) allow the sender to finish his or her sentence, (7) use nonverbal communication, (8) minimize words that shut down discussion, and (9) avoid the need to lie or fake when you have not been paying attention.

Questions for Discussion and Review

1. Why are communication skills important in the field you are in or intend to enter?

2. What is your opinion on the importance of face-to-face communication in the business world of today? For example, with all the new communication technology tools, is it still important to have face-to-face meetings and sales representatives calling on customers?

3. Identify several suggestions about communication contained in this chapter that you think are particularly important in communicating with deaf and hard-of-hearing coworkers.

4. What type of voice quality do you think would be effective in most work situations?

5. In what way might you have ever experienced information overload? What did you do, or what are you doing, to cope with the situation?

6. Should a person use power words when he or she is not in a powerful job? Explain.

7. Why does giving employees training in listening often lead to increased productivity and profits?

8. Professional listeners such as counselors, psychotherapists, and life coaches often say that they are exhausted after a day of listening. Why might listening be exhausting?

9. Assuming that you are a good listener, would you put this observation under the skills section in your job résumé? Why or why not?

10. Suppose your manager does not listen to your suggestions for job improvements. How would you metacommunicate to deal with this problem?

The Web Corner

1. http://www.optimalthinking.com/quiz-communication-skills.asp

2. (Rate your level of communication)

3. http://www.queendom.com

4. (Look for the Interpersonal Communication Skills Test)

5. http://nonverbal.ucsc.edu

6. (Explore nonverbal communications, and test your ability to read nonverbal communication)

7. http://center-for-nonverbal-studies.org

1. (Nonverbal dictionary of gestures, signs, and body language cues—includes YouTube links)

Internet Skill Builder: Practicing Listening Skills

1. Infoplease offers some practical suggestions for improving your listening skills that both support and supplement the ideas offered in this chapter. Infoplease divides listening into three basic steps: hearing, understanding, and judging. Visit the site at  www.infoplease.com/homework/listeningskills1.html

Developing Your Human Relations Skills

Interpersonal Relations Case 4.1

Why Am I Not Getting Through to These People?

A few years ago, Laura left her position as a supervisor in a health insurance company to start a lawn care, landscaping, and snow removal business. She started the business by taking care of the lawns and snow removal for a few relatives and friends. Laura charged them approximately half price just so that she could establish the legitimacy of her business and get started seeking customers. Her first employees were a 16-year-old nephew, an 18-year-old niece, and an uncle.

After passing out hundreds of flyers in her neighborhood, and three adjoining neighborhoods, Laura finally developed a big enough customer base to start obtaining referral business. After two years running her firm, “Laura’s Property Service,” Laura was breaking even, including paying herself a modest salary. Her firm had grown to taking care of more than 100 customers, with three full-time and six part-time employees.

When asked about her biggest challenge in operating her business, Laura replied:

Getting through to my workers is my biggest headache, no doubt. A big money drain in my business is repairing the damage we do to people’s lawn and driveway in the process of removing snow. Also, the fellows and gals sometimes bang into garages and drain pipes with our lawnmowers when they are cutting grass.

I keep telling the gang to be careful, but I am not making much of a dent in terms of reducing customer complaints about damage. The typical response I get when I deliver my message about being careful is, “Yeah, yeah, I’ll be careful.”

Case Questions

1. What kind of communication problem does Laura appear to be facing?

2. What do you recommend Laura do so that her employees act positively in response to her message?

Interpersonal Skills Role-Play 4.1

Getting through to a Property Specialist

One person plays the role of Laura, who is somewhat frustrated. It is early spring, and five different customers have called to complain about the damage the snow removal team did to their driveways and lawn during the winter. Laura has gathered three of her workers (Tammy, Jud, and Ben) to explain once again the need for doing less damage to customer lawns and driveways while snow plowing. Three other students play the roles of Tammy, Jud, and Ben, and are wondering why Laura is complaining because they think such damage is inevitable.

Conduct this role-play for about seven minutes. Observers rate the role players on two dimensions, using a 1-to-5 scale from very poor (1) to very good (5). One dimension is “effective use of human relations techniques.” Focus on the communication skill that Laura demonstrates. The second dimension is “acting ability.” A few observers might voluntarily provide feedback to the role players in terms of sharing their ratings and observations. The course instructor might also provide feedback.

Interpersonal Relations Case 4.2

Troy, the Aspiring Hotel Manager

Troy spent the first two years in his hotel management career performing entry-level responsibilities. The tasks included working the front desk and helping in the dining room during banquets provided for customers such as business groups and wedding parties. Troy was then promoted to assistant manager in another hotel within the same chain, in the same city. Six months later, Troy met with Sharon, the hotel manager, to discuss his progress as assistant manager.

Sharon opened the conversation by asking Troy how he was enjoying his work as the new assistant manager at the hotel. Troy answered, “Thanks for even asking me how I like my job. I mean, an assistant manager isn’t really such an important person. I kind of like my job, even if it’s not the best in the world.”

“What could make this job better for you?” asked Sharon.

“I’m not exactly sure,” said Troy. “Well, maybe if I didn’t have so many different responsibilities to handle at once, my job could possibly be better.”

“Could you possibly be more specific?” asked Sharon.

“Well, I don’t exactly like to accuse anybody of anything,” said Troy. “But maybe, perhaps maybe, some of the other people around here could recognize that an assistant manager can’t work on five problems at the same time.”

“Are you sure about that?” asked Sharon.

“Oh well, perhaps I am overstating things a little,” replied Troy. “I’m sorry.”

With an exasperated expression, Sharon said, “Troy, if you want to be a success in hotel management, you’ve got to come across with more conviction.”

Case Questions

1. What evidence do you see that Troy needs to come across with more conviction?

2. What do you recommend that Troy do to become a more persuasive communicator?

Interpersonal Relations Role-Play 4.2

1.  

Troy Communicates Persuasively

One student plays the role of Troy, who has requested another meeting with Sharon to further discuss his progress as an assistant manager; however, Troy has taken quite seriously Sharon’s recommendations that he communicate more persuasively. The student who plays the role of Sharon will listen attentively to and judge his ability to communicate persuasively. Conduct the role-play for about seven minutes, and provide feedback to both role players about their communication effectiveness.

References

1. Jim Blasingame, “There Are No Handshakes ‘In the Clouds,’” The Wall Street Journal (Special Advertising Feature), October 13, 2009, B5.

2. Nick Schultz, “Hard Unemployment Truths About ‘Soft’ Skills,” The Wall Street Journal, September 20, 2012, p. A15.

3. Ritch Sorenson, Grace DeBord, and Ida Ramirez, Business and Management Communication: A Guide Book, 4th edition (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001), pp. 6–10.

4. Steven Pinker, The Stuff of Thought (New York: Viking, a Member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc., 2007).

5. Linda Talley, “Body Language: Read It or Weep,” HR Magazine, July 2010, p. 64.

6. Ibid., p. 65.

7. Jeffrey Jacobi, The Vocal Advantage (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996).

8. Research reported in Sue Shellenbarger, “Is This How You Really Talk?” The Wall Street Journal, April 24, 2013, p. D1.

9. Study reported in Rachel Emma Silverman, “Bald Is Powerful,” The Wall Street Journal, October 3, 2012, p. B1.

10. Research presented in “We Can Measure the Power of Charisma,” Harvard Business Review, January–February 2010, p. 34.

11. Cited in “Body Language Do’s and Don’ts,” McClatchy Newspapers (MCT), July 25, 2012.

12. Mark G. Frank, Melissa A. Menasco, and Maureen O’Sullivan, “Human Behavior and Deception Detection,” in John G. Voeller, editor, Handbook of Science and Technology Security, Volume 5, (New York: Wiley, 2008), pp. 2–3.

13. Eric Benac, “Nonverbal Ways to Tell Someone is Lying,” retrieved February 2, 2013, from  http://ehow.com .

14. Benice Atufundwa, “The Art of Effective Communication,” Black Enterprise, November 2009, p. 47.

15. Randy G. Pennington, “Trust Is an Action Verb,”HR Magazine, February 2012, pp. 90–91.

16. Robert Lee Hotz, “How Your Brain Allows You to Walk in Another’s Shoes,” The Wall Street Journal, August 17, 2007, p. B1.

17. Jared Sandberg, “‘It Says Press Any Key. Where’s the Any Key?’” The Wall Street Journal, February 20, 2007, p. B1.

18. Paul Hemp, “Death by Information Overload,”Harvard Business Review, September 2009, p. 83.

19. Marty Stanley, “Focus on Communication Interactions,” Communication Briefings (Briefings Bonus), April 2011, p. 1.

20. Steve Tobak, Speak Up Without Being Kicked Out,” Communication Briefings, June 2011, p. 8; Frank Luntz, “Words That Pack Power,” Business Week, November 3, 2008, p. 106; Roberta H. Karapels and Vanessa D. Arnold, “Speaker’s Credibility in Persuasive Work Situations,” Business Education Forum, December 1997, pp. 24–26; Interview by Alyssa Danigelis, “Like, Um, You Know,” Fast Company, May 2006, p. 99; “Rid Your Speech of Weak Words,” Executive Leadership, October 2012, p. 5.

21. Jean Mausehund and R. Neil Dortch, “Communications—Presentation Skills in the Digital Age,” Business Education Forum, April 1999, pp. 30–32.

22. “Avoid Words That Mar Your Image,” Administrative Professional Today, January 2009, pp. 1–2.

23. For more details, see Brian Fugere, Chelsea Hardaway, and Jon Warshawsky, Why Business People Speak Like Idiots (New York: Free Press, 2005).

24. Joann Baney, Guide to Interpersonal Communication (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2004), p. 7.

25. Quoted in Jessica Shambora, “Stop Talking and Start Listening,” Fortune, November 9, 2009, p. 24.

26. Cited in “Improve Listening Skills to Boost Career,” Tribune Media Services ( http://www.chicagotribune.com ), July 7, 2012, p. 3.

27. Bernard T. Ferrari, “The Executive’s Guide to Better Listening,” McKinsey Quarterly, February 2012, p. 1.

28. Ibid, p. 2.

29. Daniel Araoz, “Right Brain Management (RBM): Part 2,” Human Resources Forum, September 1989, p. 4.

30. Cited in Matthew S. Scott “Five Keys to Effective Listening,” Black Enterprise, March 2005, p. 113.

31. Ideas from Marshall Goldsmith cited in “Eliminate Bad Words,” Manager’s Edge, special issue, 2008, p. 5.

32. Quoted in Mimi Whitefield, “Listen Up—Your Job Could Depend on It,” Miami Herald (http://www.miamiherald.com), April 20, 2009.

33. Holly Weeks, “Taking the Stress Out of Stressful Conversations,” Harvard Business Review, July–August 2001, pp. 112–119. The quote is from p. 117.

34. Deborah Tannen, Talking from 9 to 5 (New York: William Morrow, 1994); Tannen, “The Power of Talk: Who Gets Heard and Why,” Harvard Business Review, September–October 1995, pp. 138–148; Daniel J. Canary and Kathryn Dindia, Sex Differences and Similarities in Communication (Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 1998), p. 318; John Gray, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus (New York: HarperCollins, 1992).

Chapter 5 Interpersonal Skills for the Digital World

Shutterstock

Learning Objectives

After reading and studying this chapter and doing the exercises, you should be able to

1. Describe interpersonal skills related to one-on-one interactions in the digital world.

2. Describe interpersonal skills related to social networking.

3. Describe interpersonal skills related to working with small audiences with respect to digital devices.

Trevor worked as a product designer for Sensor Products, based in Portland, Oregon. The company designs and manufactures electronic controls used in automobiles, trucks, and related vehicles. His wife, Rita, an executive assistant, had to relocate back to Boston because her mother and father were in poor health. So, Trevor and Rita made the decision to move to an apartment in Boston.

Rita felt confident that she could find employment in Boston, but Trevor did not want to leave his position as a senior product designer. Because of Trevor’s reputation as a talented and dedicated worker, a top-level manager at Sensor agreed to let Trevor work mostly from home, spending about three days per month in Portland.

After several weeks of working from home in their cramped Boston apartment, Trevor began to feel uncomfortable. “I was going stir-crazy,” he said. “I enjoy my technical work, but I’m also a people person. Much of my career success stems from my enjoyment of interacting with people. Doing my designs on a computer and interacting with colleagues through e-mail is not enough for me. I kind of feel starved for human interaction.”

After some careful thought, Trevor modified his idea of working from home. He found a place called Galaxy Towers just 15 minutes from his apartment in Boston, where he was able to share office space, have his own desk, Internet, a conference room, and coffee and tea for $350 per month. Trevor would become what is now called a co-worker. His company agreed to pay the bill to keep Trevor happy and productive.

Trevor was now able to interact with other workers on occasion, even if they were working for different companies. As Trevor puts it, “Just shooting the breeze with intelligent, working adults stimulates by thinking. Our dog Lila is wonderful, but she doesn’t provide the kind of warm, human presence that I need to be at my professional best. Also, I can even brainstorm a bit with a few of the other tenants at Galaxy.” [1]

The story about the senior product designer illustrates one of the ways in which interpersonal skills figure into the digital age. Trevor’s ability to interact positively with others stimulates his own thinking—making him productive—and also contributes to his job satisfaction. In this chapter, we examine the interpersonal skill aspects of working in the digital age, an often-neglected aspect of making good use of the communication and information technology surrounding us in the workplace. This subject increases in importance as more companies permit, or even encourage, workers to conduct company business with their mobile devices.

We organize information about interpersonal skills for the digital world into two broad categories. First, we describe interpersonal skills for using digital devices in one-on-one interaction. Second, we examine the interpersonal skill aspects of using communication technology for social networking and small audiences.

To begin thinking through interpersonal skills in relation to the digital world, you are invited to take  Self-Assessment Quiz 5-1 . The statements in the quiz cover many of the behaviors relevant to digitally based interactions

Interpersonal Skills for One-on-One Interactions

1. Learning Objective 1

As with interpersonal skills in general, interactions with people one at a time create the majority of opportunities for displaying interpersonal skills related to the digital age. In this section, we describe four such settings or scenarios in which the communication is typically (not always) directed toward one person: cell phones (including smartphones) and text messaging, e-mail messages and instant messaging, webcam job interviews, and interpersonal aspects of multitasking.

Human Relations Self-Assessment Quiz 5-1

1.  

The Interpersonal Skills for the Digital World Checklist

Indicate whether each of the following statements is mostly true or mostly false as it applies to you (or would apply to you if you were in the situation indicated by the statement). Even if your reaction to a particular statement is “duh,” remember that all the statements reflect incidents of real behavior.

Statement	Mostly True	Mostly False
1. I get really upset if I send a coworker an instant message (IM), and I do not receive an answer within five minutes.
2. While being interviewed for a job, I receive and send text messages to a work associate or friend.
3. While working in a group, I regularly check my e-mail and text messages.
4. I often check Web sites such as ESPN, Facebook, Twitter, or home-shopping channels on my laptop while at a meeting.
5. I often eat while talking on my cell phone.
6. I typically check my e-mail, text messages, or a Web site while talking on my cell phone.
7. If I made a webcam presentation for work purposes, I would make sure that my grooming was at its best.
8. I would bring a pet such as a cat, dog, or parrot along to a webcam conference for business purposes.
9. If I were giving a presentation at a business banquet, I would keep my smart phone in my hand.
10. I keep my bottle of water in my hand at all times when making a PowerPoint presentation.
11. When making a PowerPoint presentation, I use the information on the slides as headlines for talking points rather than reading the slides to the audience.
12. If I attended a two-hour videoconference, I would see no problem in leaving the room from time to time just for a break.
13. I have posted, or would be willing to post, some outrageous videos of myself on Facebook, such as driving a vehicle with a bottle of beer in my hand.
14. I use, or would use, a social networking site to really blast a company whose product proved to be faulty.
15. For me, social networking sites are a useful place to post nasty things about people I do not like.
16. Older workers who are not savvy about information technology deserve nicknames like “Mr. Depends” or “Ms. Dinosaur.”
17. I laugh when I see somebody doing something as old-fashioned as reading a newspaper or consulting a telephone book.
18. I have received compliments about my ability to explain how to use technology to another worker.
19. I am patient and polite when a tech support person cannot resolve my technology problem right away.
20. I have sent hand-written thank-you notes to people even if they use e-mail and text messaging.

Scoring and Interpretation:

Give yourself one point (11) for each statement you gave in agreement with the keyed answer. The keyed answer indicates a positive interpersonal skill for the digital world.

1. Mostly false

2. Mostly false

3. Mostly false

4. Mostly false

5. Mostly false

6. Mostly false

7. Mostly true

8. Mostly false

9. Mostly false

10. Mostly false

11. Mostly true

12. Mostly false

13. Mostly false

14. Mostly false

15. Mostly false

16. Mostly false

17. Mostly false

18. Mostly true

19. Mostly true

20. Mostly true

· 15–20: If your answers are an accurate reflection of your behavior, you have better-than-average interpersonal skills related specifically to digital technology.

· 6–14: If your answers are an accurate reflection of your behavior, you have average interpersonal skills related specifically to digital technology.

· 1–5: If your answers are an accurate reflection of your behavior, you have let the use of digital technology interfere with having good interpersonal skills. You need to think through carefully how you can blend the use of communication technology with solid human relations skills.

Smartphones, Cell Phones, and Text Messaging

Smartphones have become such an integrated part of life both on and off the job that many photographs in magazines and newspapers of business people show them using their phones. Television advertisements also often depict workers using a smartphone, even when the advertisement is not for phones. In the business section of most cities, it appears that approximately two-thirds of the people in business attire on the street are using a mobile device. Cell phones, and their ability to send text messages, therefore represent an enormous opportunity for displaying good, as well as poor, interpersonal skills.

Positive Interpersonal Skills While Using Smartphones

The many positive behaviors possible when using smartphones and cell phones for one-on-one interaction usually are a question of doing the opposite of negative behaviors. The behaviors in the following list illustrate how positive interpersonal skills can be demonstrated while using smartphones and text messaging during one-on-one interactions. [2]

1. Use a standard ringtone instead of a loud, unusual tone. In this way, if your phone rings in the presence of a work associate, your behavior will not provoke surprise or laughter.

2. Inform the caller that you are receiving his or her call on a cell phone. If you let the caller know that you are on a cell phone, the caller will not be surprised when the reception fades in and out, or when you are interrupted by honking horns or other background noises, including the conversations of people walking by.

3. Inform work associates ahead of time if you are waiting for a call from a medical professional or in reference to an urgent home situation. Assume, for example, that you and a coworker are discussing a customer problem. Let your coworker know that your conversation might be interrupted by the type of urgent call just described. In this way, accepting a call will not be interpreted as rudeness.

4. Ask your work associate if he or she would like you to access an item of work-related information using your smartphone. Assume that sales rep Ashley is talking with customer Todd, and Todd wants to know if her company would have a large quantity of a specific product in stock. Ashley would be displaying good interpersonal skills by saying, “Todd, would you like me to access this information on my iPhone? It will take just a minute.” Todd will inevitably agree, and he will also understand why Ashley is using her iPhone in the middle of their conversation.

5. Inform your coworker that you are shutting off your cell phone or smartphone during your conversation. Because so many people do not think to, or refuse to, turn off their cell phones or smartphones, you can gain some psychological capital by mentioning your courteous behavior. You tell your work associate, “Our meeting is important, so just one second—I want to turn off my phone and put it out of view.”

6. For business purposes, use a fully functioning phone, and stay current with your cell phone bill. You will appear much more professional to work associates when your cell phone call is not interrupted by a disappearing voice or reception much like you are in heavy traffic or a shower. Keeping current with your bill avoids the unprofessional image created by a message that your phone number is “temporarily out of service” or your inability to send an outgoing message.

7. When making calls from outside the office, search for a relatively quiet environment so that your message will be clearer, and you will not have to ask the receiver to repeat information. Even in a busy environment like an airport, it is possible to find a relatively quiet alcove from which to make a call. The interpersonal skill link here is that you appear more professional when your communication is relatively free of environmental noise.

8. If absolutely necessary to take a cell phone call while interacting with a work associate, excuse yourself and move at least 15 feet away to process the call. Work associates who are themselves polite will appreciate your display of polite behavior.

9. When you are the driver of a vehicle, explain to your work associate that for safety’s sake you are putting your cell phone away. Point out that just as you would not be the driver when you are drunk, you will not use your cell phone for voice communication or text messaging while you are driving. Although many coworkers might think you are eccentric, the data are convincing about the dangers of cell phone use while driving. On balance, your concern for the safety of your passenger will be interpreted as a positive interpersonal skill.

10. When at work, make any personal cell phone calls on break and away from your assigned physical location, such as outside the building or in an employee lounge (but not in the restroom!). Blocking your personal calls and making them outside your assigned work area shows that you have enough interpersonal skill to care about the need of other workers for a tranquil work environment.

Negative Interpersonal Skills While Using Smartphones and Cell Phones

The dissatisfaction with, and anger toward, people who abuse mobile phones in the workplace continues to appear in articles, books, blogs, and letters to the editor. All this negativity, however, must be placed in the proper context. If the person with whom you are interacting does not perceive a particular use of the cell phone as rudeness, then it is not rude. For example, if your coworker smiles at you while you receive a phone call in his or her presence, you are probably not being perceived as displaying negative interpersonal behavior. The following is a list of frequent smartphone and text messaging behaviors that many (not all) people will interpret as rudeness and insensitivity. As a result, the person engaging in the act will be perceived as showing negative interpersonal skill. [3]

1. Accepting a call during a work conversation. You communicate the fact that your coworker or other work associate is less important than the caller when you allow a call to interrupt your conversation. Some people interpret making a call as even more insensitive than receiving a call, but both behaviors are dismissive of the importance of the work associate with whom you are interacting. Customers are likely to be irritated even more so than coworkers if you interrupt your conversation to accept or make a phone call. CEOs who use their cell phones while talking to other workers are likely to be perceived as power abusers and therefore arrogant. In short, by accepting a cell phone call in the presence of others, you diminish the status of the person who is physically present—hardly an impressive interpersonal skill.

2. Wearing a cell phone earpiece in the presence of a coworker when not on the phone. Wearing an earpiece while interacting with a coworker suggests that you do not intend to remain fully engaged in your conversation. Also, when wearing a phone earpiece, the person in your physical presence is never sure if you are listening to another call at the same time. Building rapport with a work associate includes making him or her feel important. The fact that you appear to be ready to connect to the outside world trivializes that person.

3. Making frequent personal calls on your phone in earshot of coworkers. A major complaint of people who work in cubicles is that someone in an adjoining cubicle spends much of the day making calls loudly on a cell phone. The same practice would be possible on a landline phone, but many people perceive using their cell phone for personal calls as more justified than using the office phone. Loud, personal calls made throughout the day suggest lack of consideration for others, as well as a low work ethic and an unwillingness to contribute a fair share of work.

4. Talking loudly and shouting on the cell phone. Whether in one-on-one interactions or in the middle of a group of work associates, talking loudly and shouting on the cell phone is widely disliked. Particularly annoying for many people is the compulsion many cell phone shouters have to repeatedly say “Okay” in a especially loud voice. Talking so loudly on the cell phone suggests insensitivity to the feelings of others as well as being egocentric.

5. Eating while making a phone call. Eating with the mouth open in a restaurant is a major violation of etiquette. Equally annoying and disgusting to many receivers of these messages is the sender eating while talking. Although the practice of eating while talking on the phone is widespread, its vulgarity to many people is not diminished, and will not be tolerated by many customers. On display is the negative interpersonal skill of poor etiquette.

6. Constant handling of or looking at the cell phone, even when not in use. Many workers have become so dependent on their mobile phones that they handle them during conversations, as well as keeping the phone in constant view. Workers have also been observed placing their smartphones on their laps while speaking with others. One manager frequently polishes his chrome-covered smartphone while talking to subordinates.

The physical attachments just mentioned all suggest the negative trait of being so dependent on a physical device that it interferes with concentrating on others. The constant physical or visual contact with the phone also has the negative impact of making the worker appear immature. An explanation offered for the physical attachment so many people have to their cell phones is that the phones have become “electronic pets.” A technology reporter observed, “You constantly see people taking their little pets out and stroking the scroll wheel, coddling them basically petting them.” [4]

7. Driving a work associate while under the influence of a smartphone, including text messaging. A positive interpersonal skill is not using your cell phone while driving a vehicle in which a work associate is present. A negative interpersonal skill is doing the opposite, even if you live in a state, province, or country in which cell phone use is permitted for drivers. A study published in a British medical journal reported that talking on the cell phone while driving quadruples your risk of being in an accident. Using a hands-free device does little to reduce the risk of an accident. [5]  Many work associates will accept driving while using a cell phone, including sending text messages, as typical and appropriate behavior. Yet others will interpret your behavior as a propensity to engage in senseless risks.

8. Accepting and sending phone messages from restrooms. A widely reported form of cell phone rudeness is sending and receiving cell phone calls from public restrooms. Many receivers of these calls who hear the water running from the faucets or toilets flushing will be appalled and disgusted. The restroom cell phone user will therefore be perceived as insensitive and lacking in social graces—both quite negative interpersonal skills.

Skill-Building Exercise 5-1  gives you an opportunity to practice a core skill with the use of a cell phone and text messaging in the office.

E-Mail Messages and Instant Messaging

E-mail messages and instant messages (IMs) provide another opportunity for displaying positive as well as negative interpersonal skills linked to the digital age. Many people believe that formality and careful use of language can be neglected when sending messages by e-mail, using instant messaging, and when sending text messages. Remember, however, that the way in which any message is sent tells something about the sender.

Skill-Building Exercise 5-1

1.  

The Important Message

Two coworkers are discussing a joint assignment about preparing a spreadsheet related to product returns. The analysis needs to be completed by 5 p.m. One student plays the role of the worker who is intently focusing on the task. Another student plays the role of the worker who feels the smartphone attached to his or her belt vibrate. The worker notices a text message from the bank indicating that five checks have bounced, which appears to be a bank mistake. The worker with the text message does not want to be totally rude, yet this is an urgent problem. Run the role-play for about four minutes. Observers might provide feedback on the quality of the interpersonal skills displayed in dealing with this text message challenge.

E-mail messages should be proofread, should be sent only when necessary, and generally should be no longer than one screen—not including attachments. Although many e-mail users rely on a strikingly informal and casual writing style, such informality for business correspondence is poor etiquette. For example, avoid confirming a meeting with your CEO in these words: “C U LTR, 4 sure.☺.” Overloading the company system with attachments containing space-consuming graphics is often considered rude. Text messaging, because of its limited space, can be more casual than other electronic messages.

Sending e-mails indscriminantly also contributes to stress from information overload, particularly if many people also send large numbers of unnecessary e-mail messages. The negative interpersonal skill here is that engaging in activities that create stress for coworkers is inconsiderate and rude. Here is an e-mail message sent during the workday that many people would perceive to be unessential: “Look out the window. The snow is coming down heavy.”

An e-mail etiquette problem with legal implications is that company e-mail messages are the property of the company, not the sender. So avoid sending insulting, vulgar, or inflammatory comments through e-mail because even deleted e-mail messages can be retrieved. Be careful not to forward an e-mail message that has negative comments about the recipient. For example, a customer service representative sent an e-mail to a customer attempting to resolve a complaint. However, instead of beginning with a fresh e-mail, the representative included an e-mail from her boss that said, “Give this idiot what she wants to get her off our back.” The customer later sued the company, then agreed to a small financial settlement.

Instant messaging has created additional challenges for e-mail etiquette. Because instant messaging allows you to intrude on coworkers anytime—and allows them to drop in on you—the opportunities to be rude multiply. Managers should not intrude upon workers through instant messaging unless it is urgent. Think before you send, and make sure the message has real value to the recipient. Suggest politely to “buddies” who are taking up too much of your time with messages that they contact you after work.

Many companies are shifting from extensive use of e-mail to having some of the written communication among people placed on intranets and internal Web sites similar to Facebook. For example, you can inform all your work associates at once that you are going on a business trip for three days and will not be able to respond to their messages. (Of course, this is a good way to invite criminals to burglarize your home.) All of the comments about the polite use of language apply to these replacement technologies for e-mail.

Figure 5-1  summarizes a large amount of information about etiquette related to e-mails and instant messaging. Following this accumulated wisdom will enhance your interpersonal skills linked to the digital age.

Webcam Job Interviews

Yet another interpersonal skill useful in the digital age is to perform well during a webcam interview. Performing well in such an interview combines interpersonal skills with those related to communication technology. On occasion, a hiring manager or human resource representative will request that an interview be conducted by webcam. The job candidate might have a webcam, or use one owned by a friend or the college placement office. (Skype is the leading software to communicate via webcam.) A challenge in being interviewed via a webcam is that some job candidates do not come across as strongly as they believe.

Observing the following tips will enhance your e-mail etiquette and electronic communication effectiveness, as well as enhancing your interpersonal skills. Address and sign your e-mail messages. Many people neglect to mention a person’s name in an e-mail, or sign their own name. Giving your e-mail a personal touch is a useful interpersonal micro-skill. Keep it simple. Each message should have only one piece of information or request for action so that it’s easier for the receiver to respond. However, avoid sending an e-mail with an attachment without some type of greeting or explanation. Do not allow e-mail threads longer than a couple of pages. E-mail messages longer than one screen often are filed instead of read. Brief e-mails messages show compassion for the recipient’s workload. Include an action step. Clearly outline what type of reply you’re looking for as well as any applicable deadlines. Use the subject line to your advantage. Generic terms such as “details” or “reminder” do not describe the contents of your message or whether it’s time sensitive, and so the receiver may delay opening it. “Came in Under Budget” illustrates a specific (and joyful) title. Do not forward a long chain of e-mails without changing the subject; otherwise, you might have a confusing subject line, such as “RE: FW: RE: FW: RE: FW.” Take care in writing e-mails. Clearly organize your thoughts to avoid sending e-mails with confusing, incomplete, or missing information. Use business writing style and check carefully for grammatical and typographical errors. (Also, generally avoid the trend to refer to yourself as “I” in lowercase [“i”].) When in doubt, use traditional formatting rather than bright colors and unusual fonts; many people prefer standard formatting. Inform receivers when sending e-mails from a mobile device. If you use a mobile phone, include a tagline informing people that you are using such a device; it will help explain your terseness. Without explanation, you might project an image of rudeness or limited writing skill. Be considerate. Use “please” and “thank you” even in brief messages. Part of being considerate, or at least polite, is to begin your e-mail with a warm salutation, such “Hello Gina,” rather than jumping into the subject with no greeting. Avoid profane or harsh language. Another way of being considerate is to send e-mails only when necessary, to help combat information overload. Sending copies to only recipients who need or want the information is part of being considerate. Don’t include confidential information. The problem is that e-mail is occasionally forwarded to unintended recipients. If your message is in any way sensitive or confidential, set up a meeting or leave a voice mail in which you request confidentially. Also, avoid including gossip such as negative rumors in e-mail messages because the subject of the gossip could voice a major complaint. Do not use e-mail to blast a coworker, and send copies to others. Criticizing another person with e-mail is equivalent to blasting him or her during a large meeting. Ask before sending huge attachments. Do not clog e-mail systems without permission. Encourage questions and demands for clarification. E-mail functions best when it is interactive, so ask receivers to send along questions they might have about your message, including any requests for clarification. Consider the timing of e-mail messages. An e-mail that makes a major request should be sent earlier in the day so that the person has time to process the request. Good news can be sent almost anytime. For some recipients, bad news is best sent early in the day so that they can ask for your support in dealing with the problem. However, very bad news (such as being laid off) is best delivered in person. Some people prefer to receive bad news later in the day so that it will not interrupt their entire workday. Avoid keeing a personal e-mail account on the job unless welcomed by management. An estimated one-quarter of e-mails received at work are for personal purposes. To resist the temptation of spending too much time with personal e-mails, it is best not to have a personal e-mail account, such as Gmail, on the office computer. You will appear more professional if you avoid the temptation to spend a lot of work time sending and receiving personal e-mails and instant messages. Minimize “BIF” messages in the evening and on weekends. In today’s demanding workplace, it is easy to send “before I forget” messages in the evening, on weekends, and during holidays. Some people will regard you as insensitive to their lifestyle if you badger them outside of regular working hours with e-mail messages. Save your urgent messages for the next workday—unless an immediate exchange of information is essential. Instant messaging requires a few additional considerations for practicing good electronic etiquette: Use instant messaging sparingly because it is interruptive. An instant message is likely to interrupt a person’s concentration on an important task, so it should be sent infrequently. Be careful not to send an instant message to a coworker who you know is working on an analytical task. However, if the company culture encourages the use of instant messaging, you display good interpersonal skill by going with the flow. Don’t be Big Brother. Some bosses use instant messaging to check up on others, to make sure that they are seated at their computer. Never intrude on workers unless it is urgent. Lay down the instant-messaging law. Make sure that your message has some real value to the recipient before jumping right in front of someone’s face. Instant messaging is much like walking into someone’s office or cubicle without an appointment or without knocking. Take it offline. When someone on your buddy list becomes too chatty, don’t vent your frustration. By phone, in person, or through regular e-mail, explain tactfully that you do not have time for processing so many instant messages. Suggest that the two of you might get together for lunch or coffee soon. Set limits to avoid frustration. To avoid constant interruptions, use a polite custom status message, such as “I will be dealing with customers today until 4:40.”

Figure 5-1 E-Mail and Messaging Etiquette

Source: “Communicating Electronically: What Every Manager Needs to Know,” Communication Solutions, Sample Issue, 2008, p. 2; Heinz Tschabitscher, “The Ten Most Important Rules of Email Etiquette,”  http://email.about.com/cs/netiquettetips/tp/core_netiquette.htm , accessed September 9, 2013; Monte Enbysk, “Bosses: 10 Tips for Better E-mails,” Microsoft Small Business Center, www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/resources/technology/communications/bossess_10, 2006; Nancy Flynn, “50% of Bosses Ban Personal E-mail Accounts,” Workplace Communication Examiner ( http://www.examiner.com ), July 28, 2009; “5 Tactics to Curb E-Mail Overload,” Manager’s Edge, June 2008, p. 6.

As webcam technology continues to improve, and more managers are familiar with the technique, the number of these computer-based interviews is likely to increase. (Unless both parties in a Skype conversation have current hardware and software, the video and audio can be poor.) Some companies use webcam interviews to reduce travel costs, and this type of interview provides more data than a phone call. Christa Foley, recruiting manager at  Zappos.com , says, “If you see facial expressions and body language, you have a different sense of what a person is saying.” [6]  After candidates are interviewed by webcam, the strongest ones are typically invited for an in-person visit to the company. Foley says that Zappos looks for job candidates who are a little weird and fun. [7]

Above all, a webcam interview is still an interview; so review the interview suggestions in  Chapter 17  to appear at your best. In addition, keep in mind the following positive suggestions, all of which imply mistakes to avoid at the same time. [8]

1. Use even lighting. As with all forms of photography, lighting is a big part of making a successful webcam appearance. A bright light behind you is particularly poor because your face will be in shadow. Lighting bounced off the ceiling works the best for a soft, even image, yet side lighting will often suffice. Do not place a bright light on the computer in front of you to avoid too much glare on your face, particularly if you are light skinned.

2. Wear appropriate clothing. Dress as if you were having an in-person interview, and minimize the color white because it comes across poorly on computer screens. Loud patterns are also distracting. Unless otherwise directed, it is best to wear a business suit or dress. Investigate what type of clothing job applicants typically wear. For example, if you were applying for a management training position at Home Depot, business casual dress might be appropriate.

3. Do your best to appear relaxed and not overly stressed. Light exercise and a shower about 30 minutes before the interview will help give you a refreshed look. Use your favorite stress reduction technique shortly before the webcam interview. Familiarity with the webcam technology will help you feel relaxed.

4. Use or create an uncluttered area free of personal belongings, pets, and television sets. Although your living quarters may be the locale of your interview, you still want to simulate the appearance of a professional office. Tidy up the interview area, and move away as much clutter as possible. Background noise, including a ringing telephone or a television set turned on, would detract from a professional image.

5. Sit tall with good posture, and stay at approximately the same distance from the computer screen that you do for most of you computer work. The worst posture error webcam interviewees typically make is to move the head within a few inches of the screen. A close-up shot of this nature distorts the face and looks a little bizarre to most interviewers.

6. Rehearse so that you will be better able to implement the previous five suggestions. Collaborate with someone in your network of contacts to interview each other on webcam. The rehearsal will familiarize you with the technology, and you can also get feedback on the adequacy of the lighting, and how natural and positive you appeared. As was often said in the early days of photography, “Smile, you’re on camera.”

A fundamental reason that rehearsal for a webcam interview is important is that people have a tendency to overrate the image they project on video. A webcam image is, of course, a variation of a video image. Karen Friedman, a video presentation trainer, has this to say about the importance of getting accurate feedback on the video image you project:

People will tell you that they’re perceived as dynamic, engaging, and interesting, with full command of the material. And when they see themselves on videotape or DVD and it’s a rude awakening, because they see how other people really see them. You can pick up odd mannerisms you’re not aware of. You may have the words down and the verbal techniques, but your body language might give away that you’re nervous or unsure of yourself. [9]

“Your multitasking skills are second to none. You process information at lightning speed and have the organizational skills to manage multiple projects at once. Rising to the top under pressure while managing many different initiatives will set you apart from the crowd.”

—Brandi Blades, vice president of marketing at Gen Y talent acquisition agency Brill Street + Company, talking about how young professionals can use their youth to advantage during the job hunt and in the workplace [10]

Interpersonal Aspects of Multitasking

Multitasking  has two meanings, and the difference is of major significance for interpersonal relationships. One meaning of multitasking is that you have two or more projects that you are working on, but you do not work on these projects at the same time. For example, a person might be responsible for investigating customer complaints as well as purchasing new furniture for the office. In the morning she works on the complaints, and in the afternoon she negotiates a furniture purchase. The other type of multitasking creates more potential interpersonal problems. With this type of multitasking, the person does two or more things simultaneously, such as visiting an office furniture Web site while talking on the phone with a dissatisfied customer.

Multitasking

(a) Having two or more projects that you are working on, but you do not work on these projects at the same time. (b) Doing two or more tasks simultaneously.

Chapter 16  deals with the productivity problems often associated with multitasking. Also, the The earlier discussion of cell phone use described the insensitivity of accepting and sending calls while talking to another person (a frequent type of multitasking). Here we explain how multitasking might have (a) a positive influence on interpersonal relationships and (b) a negative influence on interpersonal skills.

Multitasking and Positive Interpersonal Skills

In some situations, performing two tasks at once can enhance interpersonal skills because you are helping another person. Imagine that Sally asks Fernando for help in inserting accents into Spanish words, such as wanting to convert “carino” into “cariño” (with caring). Fernando sits down next to Sally at her computer, and says, “Watch me, Sally. I’m moving my hand over to the Num Lock keyboard. With a finger on my left hand, I press Alt. Then with a finger on my right hand, I press 0241 in sequence. See, we have an ñ. Next, I will show you how to use the character map that will get you all the Spanish accents you will ever need.”

Fernando is indeed doing two tasks at once—manipulating the keyboard and talking to Sally. If he had not multitasked, he would not have been a good tutor. Fernando is also not being rude because he has Sally’s implicit permission to multitask. A lot of coaching and tutoring requires multitasking of the nature just described.

The scenario of Sally and Fernando illustrates another key principle of using multitasking to enhance interpersonal skills. When two people are holding a conversation for purposes of joint problem solving, multitasking will sometimes enhance the problem solving, thereby creating a stronger interpersonal relationship. Visualize Mike and Tammy driving together on a business trip. Mike is driving, and his vehicle is not equipped with a GPS. Mike says to Tammy, “I think we may have missed the Liberty Road exit on this highway. It would be a nightmare to exit and find the way back. What should we do?”

“Hold on Mike,” says Tammy. I’ll access the GPS app on my BlackBerry and get us centered in a minute.” Fifty seconds later, Tammy says to Mike while still looking at the screen on her BlackBerry, “We’re good. The Liberty Road exit is 5.6 miles down the road. We’ll make a right turn off the exit ramp.”

Multitasking and Negative Interpersonal Skills

The major negative interpersonal skill aspect of multitasking is that it trivializes the person with whom you are interacting, as described with cell phone abuse. Imagine you are listening to a coworker who is describing a proposed solution to a problem. You shift your gaze to your computer so that you can seek who just “poked” you on Facebook. This immediately sends the message that your “poker” is more important at the moment than your coworker who wanted to discuss a legitimate work problem.

Another negative interpersonal skill associated with multitasking is more subtle. When you respond to an electronic interruption, such as an instant message or an e-mail alert, your attention is sapped for more time than it takes to read the message. You have to recover from the interruption and refocus your attention on your work associate. While you are in the recovery mode, perhaps even 30 seconds, you are paying less than full attention to the other person. [11]  This inattentiveness is made obvious by the blank stare on your face or recovery murmurs such as “yeah, yeah.”

Multitasking can be particularly disruptive to others when working in the open spaces used by so many companies to foster collaboration. Coworkers are subject to a constant stream of people talking on the phone while performing other tasks. The noise level alone may create stress for others, leading to strained interpersonal relationships. [12]

A major contributing factor to the negative intepersonal consequences of multitasking is that many people today suffer from  nomophobia , the fear of being without a mobile phone. (The term stems from “no mobile.”) Nomophobics feel anxious when not using or touching a smartphone or even when the phone battery is low. A lost phone can result in a panic attack. It therefore becomes difficult for many people to engage in interactions with others unless they are using a mobile gadget.

Nomophobia

The fear of being without a mobile phone.

Harassment of Others

A negative consequence of communication technology in the workplace is that it is easier to harass coworkers than in the analog age. To harass coworkers in the past, it was necessary to say nasty things to them in person, telephone them in a menacing way, write them threatening notes, or send them upsetting words on paper or photographs. The Internet, including e-mail and the Web, has made it much easier to harass people.

Creating a hostile environment by displaying pornography to coworkers who do not want to see it has become one of the most frequent forms of harassment. Aside from being rude, sexual harassment through pornography has frequently been ruled as illegal. A representative example is that the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York State consistently has ruled that “the mere presence of pornography in a workplace can alter the ‘status’ of women and may be objective proof of a hostile environment.” [13]  (A hostile environment is one of the two forms of sexual harassment as described in  Chapter 9 .)

An employee can be accused of hostile environment harassment by simply leaving open a porn site on his or her desktop. Sending coworkers sexually oriented jokes by e-mail can result in similar accusations. If you work for a company that distributes adult films, pornography would be part of your job, and you therefore might be excluded from the harassment accusation.

Harassment can also deal with a person’s race or ethnicity, such as making insulting comments or jokes about a person’s race. Age is another demographic factor that could possibly lead to a person being harassed, such as continuous joking by e-mail that a senior worker was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

Harassing others through communication technology is a negative interpersonal skill. A possible positive twist would be that the person who abstains 100 percent from any computer-related actions that could be interpreted as harassment is demonstrating a positive interpersonal skill. A behavioral specific would be to delete without opening an advertisement for adult videos that made its way past the company spam filter.

Interpersonal Skills for Social Networking and Small Audiences

1. Learning Objective 2

1. Learning Objective 3

Interpersonal skills related to the digital age are also demonstrated while interacting with large numbers of people, as well as groups. Among these settings are social networking by Internet, using laptop and netbook computers and smartphones during a meeting, making electronic presentations, videoconferencing, telecommuting, and preserving your online reputation. You will notice that a couple of these settings could be focused more on an individual than a large number of people or a group. For example, you might be sending a message on a social networking site to one person, and while telecommuting you might be interacting with one person.

Social Networking by Internet

Almost infinite knowledge exists about social networking, including its technology, application for building a personal network, and marketing. [14]  Included in this abundance of information is how Twitter and Facebook have completely transformed the way we live,

PBNJ Productions/Getty Images

and how e-mail has now become obsolete because of social networking sites. Our aim here is to simply list a few of the positive and negative interpersonal skills associated with the use of social networking sites.

Positive Interpersonal Skills and Social Networking

The use of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and the like provides the serious worker with several opportunities for displaying positive interpersonal skills, as follows:

1. Demonstrate your loyalty by posting gracious comments about your employer. Social networking sites include a heavy component of being mini-blogs, and therefore present an open forum for your ideas about the company. You can demonstrate empathy and compassion for the mission of your company by commenting on an action taken by the company that you perceive as positive. An example: “I’m proud to work for the Jeep division of Fiat/Chrysler. My wife and our three children were caught in a snow storm. I put my Cherokee into four-wheel drive and made it through the storm until we could find a motel. There were dozens of overturned vehicles, but we made it to safety. The vehicle stabilization feature really functions.”

2. Display your compassion for people in need. Post on the company social networking site, and also a public site, that you want to help people in need in some specific way. For example, you might state that you have a bunch of clothing that you want to give to a needy family in any way associated with the company. Or explain that you have developed your language tutoring skills, and you are willing to help for free any person who needs help in learning to read. Compassion might be considered a value, but it also translates into a skill in terms of helping people.

3. Demonstrate professional-level communication skills. When making entries on Twitter in particular, many people feel compelled to write carelessly, foolishly, and viciously. Demonstrate your professionalism by writing in a style suited for a printed newspaper or a term paper. Remember that many influential people regard written communication skills as a subset of interpersonal skills.

4. Demonstrate a willingness to collaborate with others. A major purpose of business networking Web sites is to foster collaboration and cooperation among workers. [15]  A worker therefore displays positive interpersonal skills by taking the initiative to demonstrate a willingness to collaborate with others. When asked for information by another worker, respond promptly and positively. A related positive approach is to ask to collaborate, such as taking the initiative to ask to contribute when you are made aware of a project being undertaken that fits your skill set and knowledge. Assume that a person works at Godiva, the luxury chocolate maker. He notices a posting about the company getting ready to expand into Hungary. A worker whose family is from Hungary might post the following: “I know the Hungarian culture pretty well. Can I be of help in this expansion of Godiva?”

5. Pay deserved compliments to company personnel. The ability to compliment others in a sensible way is an advanced interpersonal skill. Complimenting a person in private may be useful, but public compliments are welcome also. An example of a Facebook post of this nature: “I want everybody to know that Tom Barnes, our facilities manager, spearheaded the planting of a garden on the office building roof. We are saving the planet, one petunia at a time.”

6. Establish meaningful contact with workers far and wide. The major purpose of social networking is to develop valuable contacts with many people with whom it would be difficult to maintain person-to-person or phone contact. Selective use of social networking sites enables you to relate, at least on a written level, to a variety of people in your fields. You might be able to enhance your cross-cultural skills by interacting with professionals in different countries. (LinkedIn is particularly good for this purpose because virtually all of its members have a professional intent.)

7. Display a desire to help others grow and develop. Social networking sites afford an easy opportunity to point others toward helpful information, such as referring friends to useful Web sites and books. You can also alert people to dangers, such as a new scam related to the sale of gold. Although the same type of alerts can be accomplished by e-mail, social networking sites do not require long distribution lists. By pointing people in the direction of useful information, you will be demonstrating part of a useful interpersonal skill of helping others grow and develop. Instead of just writing about yourself on your post, include information that will help others.

Negative Interpersonal Skills and Social Networking

Social networking provides a setting for displaying negative as well as positive interpersonal skills. In general, all of the positive opportunities mentioned previously could be reversed to become negative. For example, instead of helping others grow and develop with postings on your site or their site, you slam and demean these people. Several adolescent suicides have been reported that appeared to have been triggered by being insulted on a teen-oriented social networking site. The following list presents a few ways in which negative interpersonal skills are sometimes displayed on social networking sites.

1. Using social networking sites to eliminate face-to-face interactions with work associates. As with e-mail, social networking sites provide an opportunity to avoid face-to-face interaction with coworkers, managers, and customers. However, the temptation is even greater with social networking sites because they tout the concept of being “friends” with people on your list of electronic contacts. A person might think consciously or subconsciously, “If my customer is already my friend, why should I have to talk to or personally visit him? Our relationship is already good.” If all relationships could be built and maintained electronically, you would not need to be studying human relations.

2. Showing the same casual attitude and approach on social business networks that is often used on public social networking sites. Social networking sites for business purposes such as  Salesforce.com  and Yammer are designed for company-wide information sharing and collaboration. Because these Web sites have the feel and look of general social networking sites, it is easy for many workers to communicate to coworkers and managers in an overly casual, cavalier, and often offensive manner. [16]  An example is this post: “Are you there? Why the       haven’t u answered me?”

3. Posting confidential or derogatory information about your employer. In the words of technology writer Bridget Carey, “Employees need to realize some conversations are privileged. Just because you’re in a meeting about a new product, or worse, layoffs, doesn’t mean you should be broadcasting to the world.” [17]  Posting negative information and insults about your employer demonstrates even lower emotional intelligence. Nasty comments about the employer, even if deserved, are often made out of uncontrolled anger. Thousands of employees have been fired because of making inflammatory comments on social networking sites (particularly Facebook) about their employers. [18]  Poor interpersonal skill is also displayed by joining a social networking group dedicated to destroying the reputation of your employer.

4. Posting extremely negative online reviews about other companies because of dissatisfaction with their products or services. It is almost inveitable that people will occasionally be frustrated with their customer experience at a given store or on the phone. The online reviews on social networks have become a natural place to post rants condemning the company that delivered a defective product or service. [19]  For example, “The name of this phone service provider should be ‘The Pits.’ The staff is stupid and uncooperative. Avoid this company like the plague.” Not only does a rant like this project rudeness toward the company in question, it might make you appear emotionally immature to your own employer (assuming the the post is viewed by a representative of your employer.) If you are job hunting, hiring managers and recruiters may not take kindly to your rants.

5. Posting derogatory information about and photos of a coworker. Social networking site administrators generally do not edit posts, so anybody registered on the site can post dreadful comments about another person as a mean prank or a deliberate effort to ruin the target’s reputation. YouTube can serve a similar evil purpose. Some of these negative posts reflect backstabbing because another person encourages you to engage in embarrassing behavior. He or she may quote you, or post a photo or video of you engaged in outrageous behavior.

6. Engaging in social networking at inappropriate times. Many “Tweeters” in particular are so habituated to visiting their favorite social networking site that they do so at inappropriate times, such as during work. Several NFL teams, including the Miami Dolphins, had to clamp down on players tweeting during practice. Many office workers access their social networking sites during meetings. The interpersonal skill deficiency of accessing a social network site for nonbusiness purposes during working hours is that it reflects insensitivity and immaturity. (Print-related distractions would also be unwelcome, such as doing crossword puzzles during a football practice or in a meeting.)

7. Bragging too much about being an “online celebrity.” A small percentage of the workforce has so many followers, contacts, and friends on social media that they view themselves as online celebrities or as having an Internet brand of their own. [20]  A person who is willing to spend endless hours at the task can usually accumulate thousands of Internet contacts. It is even possible to purchase thousands of these contacts for a few hundred dollars. The negative interpersonal skill in question is when the worker with thousands of contacts brags about being a brand as important as the employer or being an online celebrity. An example of this type of bragging is informing your coworkers, “Hooray for me. My followers on Twitter now number 10,000, and the number is growing by the hour.”

Laptop and Smartphone Use during Meetings

Whether the use of laptop and netbook computers as well as smartphones during meetings enhances your interpersonal skills depends on company custom and why you are using your computer. Some companies welcome computer use during meetings, while in other companies such practice is considered distracting and inconsiderate. Laptops are widely used during meetings at the business process consulting company Accenture.

At Ford Motor Company, CEO Alan Mulally is adamant about meetings not being interrupted by people using their BlackBerrys or laptop computers or by holding side conversations. [21]  Another example of a company intent on boosting the productivity of meetings by banning digital devices is Adaptive Path, a design firm in San Francisco. Meeting participants must leave their laptops on their desks, and they must place mobile phones on a counter or in a box. [22]

The practice of consulting a smartphone during a meeting has the potential to annoy, therefore detracting from the image of the smartphone user. An example is Joel L. Klein, the former New York City schools chancellor. He has gained such a negative reputation for checking his BlackBerry during meetings that some parents joke that they might be better off sending him an e-mail message. [23]

As with cell phones, when laptop computers and smartphones are used at meetings to facilitate information gathering (with permission), they can enhance interpersonal skills. If you contribute to the purpose of the meeting and are not being rude or interruptive, you are displaying good interpersonal skill. Imagine you are present at a marketing meeting of a swimsuit designer and manufacturer. The head of marketing says, “We have been thinking of finding a distributor in Alaska, but I wonder what percentage of Alaskans own a swimsuit?” You say, “If you would like, give me five minutes to search the Internet for a factual answer to your question.” Particularly if you find a plausible answer, you will be perceived as constructive.

The etiquette aspect of laptops, netbooks, and smartphones at meetings has created a spirited debate. People with traditional attitudes about etiquette say the use of smartphones at meetings is as gauche as ordering out for pizza. In contrast, techno-evangelists insist that to ignore real-time text messages invites peril because so many people demand an immediate response to these messages. [24]  Again, to avoid being perceived as gauche (rude), follow the corporate culture.  Skill-Building Exercise 5-2  deals with this issue.

Skill-Building Exercise 5-2

1.  

Justifying Laptop Use during a Meeting

Five students play the role of a group of workers who are developing a marketing campaign for a new energy drink, Vitalize27. Ideas are flying around the meeting room. One student plays the role of a member of the group who suddenly opens a laptop computer and begins watching the screen. By mistake the audio is turned on, and the other members of the group can easily hear that the laptop user has accessed a sports channel,  ESPN.com . The laptop user gets a few frowns and some stern questioning from the team leader. The student playing the role of the laptop user must present a sensible and diplomatic excuse as to why he or she was tuned into ESPN during the meeting. Another student plays the role of the team leader, who is disappointed with the behavior he or she has observed. The other three role players might make any comments they deem to be appropriate.

Observers rate the role players on two dimensions, using a 1-to-5 scale from very poor (1) to very good (5). One dimension is “effective use of human relations techniques.” The second dimension is “acting ability.” A few observers might voluntarily provide feedback to the role players in terms of sharing their ratings and observations. The course instructor might also provide feedback.

Interpersonal Aspects of Presentation Technology

Presentation technology has become almost synonymous with PowerPoint and other computer graphics programs. However, presentation technology also includes laptops, data projectors, remote controls, and presentation software. The use of presentation technology provides an exceptional opportunity to display interpersonal skills—good or poor. In the words of Whitey Bluestein, an advisor to technology companies, “. . . the best presentations are based on the value of the content, the skill of the delivery, and the charisma of the speaker.” [25]

The biggest challenge in using presentation technology is to maintain a human presence while still making effective use of the technology. Among the obvious indicators of good interpersonal skill during an electronic presentation are to maintain eye contact with the audience, smile, show a sense of humor, and interact with the audience. Among the potential displays of negative interpersonal skills are reading detailed slides to the audience, not maintaining eye contact, and continuous fiddling with your equipment, thereby ignoring participants at the meeting.

A practical way of maintaining a human presence is to tell a story, and use a few slides to support the story. [26]  For example, a cost accountant making a PowerPoint presentation might tell a story about a pharmaceutical firm that went bankrupt because it did not carefully track how much it cost to make the drugs. The accountant might present a graph showing how costs began to outpace revenue for a drug that reduced inflammation in the joints.

All you have learned about making presentations (or public speaking) applies even though you might be tapping a key on your laptop computer while making a presentation.  Self-Assessment Quiz 5-2  presents a checklist of behaviors that summarizes major points of demonstrating effective interpersonal skills during a presentation. Many people who are watching you make a presentation will be making judgments about your interpersonal and cognitive skills. One reason is that the digitized workplace has decreased other opportunities, such as visits to your work area, to form judgments about you.

Videoconferencing and Telepresence

Videoconferencing and teleconferencing place extra demands on making a good first impression and demonstrating good interpersonal skills. Telepresence is an advanced form of videoconferencing that comes closer to simulating a face-to-face meeting. Some telepresence meetings are set up in studios with a bank of high-definition screens and cameras. Others telepresence meetings are accomplished through robots containing the necessary electronics. Images are presented on giant screens, much like high-end television receivers. Keep the following considerations in mind for creating a good impression and demonstrating sensitivity to the situation at a videoconference: [27]

1. Choose your clothing carefully. Some participants expect the screen to display only their upper torso, and therefore wear business attire above the waist and perhaps shorts and sports shoes below. Busy patterns do not look good on camera.

Self-Assessment Quiz 5-2

1.  

The Presentation Technology Checklist of Interpersonal Behaviors

Directions: Indicate whether each of the following statements is mostly true or mostly false as it applies to you (or would apply to you if you were in the situation indicated by the statement).

Statement Number	Mostly True	Mostly False
1. I make frequent eye contact with as many members of theaudience as feasible.
2. I like to present a large number of slides in rapid sequence justto dazzle the audience.
3. I tend to get irritated if a member of the audience disagreeswith one of my points.
4. I will often attempt to loosen up the audience by telling a jokerelated to nationality, age, or hair color.
5. I attempt to pack as much information onto a slide as possible, even it requires using a 10-point font.
6. If somebody in the audience complains about not being able tohear me, I like to retort with a negative comment like, “Have you had your hearing checked lately?”
7. I smile frequently during my presentation.
8. I explain to the members of the audience that they can revisitmy presentation on a specific Web site, or that I am willing to send them an e-mail attachment of the presentation.
9. At the end of the presentation, I will typically thank the audiencefor having watched.
10. I will ask the audience an open-ended question such as, “Whatquestions do you have?” rather than a close-ended question like, “Any questions?”

Scoring and Interpretation:

Give yourself one point (11) for each statement you gave in agreement with the keyed answer. The keyed answer indicates a positive interpersonal skill for presentation technology.

2. Mostly true

3. Mostly false

4. Mostly false

5. Mostly false

6. Mostly false

7. Mostly false

8. Mostly true

9. Mostly true

10. Mostly true

11. Mostly true

. 9–10: You have good skills related to the interpersonal aspects of presentation technology.

. 1–8: You have much room for improvement in terms of your skills related to the interpersonal aspects of presentation technology.

Clothing may be more superficial than interpersonal skill, but your choice of clothing reflects on your judgment and how seriously you take the conference.

· Speak in crisp, conversational tones, and pay close attention. Maintain eye contact with live participants and remote viewers; this is an important interpersonal skill, as it is with presentation technologies. Getting up to leave the room looks particularly bad on camera.

· Never forget the powerful reach of the video camera. Behavior such as falling asleep or rolling the eyes in response to an executive’s suggestions are readily seen by associates in the same and other locations. Such behavior is likely to be interpreted as indicative of immaturity. It is also important to stay within reach of camcorders in both videoconferencing and telepresence. A recurring problem is that when a person stands to stretch or simply to pause from sitting down, the person may appear headless—hardly a way to establish rapport with people at other sites.

· Avoid culturally insensitive gestures. For example, large hand and body motions make many Asians uncomfortable. Also, extreme behaviors sometimes appear magnified on video camera, although they might be less distracting in person.

· Decrease nervousness about video interviews by rehearsing. Use a camcorder to see how you appear and sound during a practice interview, engaging the help of a friend. Solicit his or her feedback about your performance. Appearing relaxed during a videoconference helps you project the important interpersonal skill of being self-confident.

Interpersonal Skills Linked to Telecommuting

As illustrated in the chapter introduction, people who work from home face challenges to their interpersonal skills related to communication. Telecommuters can communicate abundantly via electronic devices, but they miss out on the face-to-face interactions so vital for dealing with complex problems. Another communication problem telecommuters face is feeling isolated from activities at the main office and missing out on the encouragement and recognition that take place in face-to-face encounters. (Of course, many telecommuters prefer to avoid such contact.) Many telecommuters have another communications problem: Because they have very little face-to-face communication with key people in the organization, they believe that they are passed over for promotion. Most telecommuters spend some time in the traditional office, yet they miss the day-by-day contact.

Another communication problem with telecommuting is that it lacks a solid human connection. As one telecommuting marketing consultant put it, face time is critical for building empathy. “It’s a human connection. It takes time, and human beings need visual cues, the symbols of being together and caring for one another.” [28]  To combat the problem of isolation, most companies schedule some face time with remote workers perhaps every few months. At a minimum, a supervisor might phone the teleworkers at least once a week, or hold a monthly videoconference. [29]

To display positive interpersonal skills as a worker from home or other remote location, the individual should make good use of the limited face-to-face contact he or she has with other workers. Display warmth toward and interest in work associates. Staying in touch online with a human relations twist is also important. Occasionally asking how the other person is doing is helpful, as is an occasional question about the person’s interests or family life. Co-working (using shared office space) places extra demands on being cordial and friendly because the other people who rent co-working space came there in part for the opportunity to interact with other remote workers. [30]  Also, because the space is so cramped, negative behaviors such as shouting on the phone and swearing in frustration should be minimized.

Many telecommuters are asked to attend an occasional company meeting. On these occasions, it is important to display high enthusiasm. To keep interpersonal skills sharp, it is good to interact with store associates and service workers such as the postal service and package delivery workers. The designer described at the chapter outset kept his interpersonal skills in use by interacting with other workers sharing the same office space.

Successful telecommuters also need the interpersonal skill of being able to work well without supervision. You also need to be able to work well in isolation, and not be dependent on frequent interaction with coworkers or a supervisor. [31]  High-maintenance employees who need frequent praise and attention are much better suited for working in a traditional office than working from home.

Avoiding Damage to Your Online Reputation

Postings on the Internet, including newspaper articles, blogs, and video Web sites, can rapidly broadcast favorable or unfavorable data about your interpersonal skills and judgment. Based largely on the Internet, much more information about a person’s private life has become public. Some aspects of your personal life therefore affect your professional reputation. If an Internet blog contends that a given individual was an accessory to an armed robbery, that person’s job might become in jeopardy. [32]

Matt Zimmerman, senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, explains the importance of having a squeaky clean reputation in these terms: “Now we have this giant megaphone of the Internet, where every little whisper about someone shows up in Google.” [33]

A positive interpersonal and cognitive skill is therefore to avoid having embarrassing information or photographs linked to you accessible through search engines. A CareerBuilder survey found that 65 peercent of the employers surveyed said they visited social media to investigate whether a given job candidate presents himself or herself professionally. [34]  Many career-minded people who are concerned that a photograph of them posted on the Internet might damage their reputation are using a mobile application that deletes the photo within ten seconds. Such software is not designed for desktop computers. [35]

Your reputation can also be damaged by posting extreme viewpoints on the Web because these extreme viewpoints might be unwelcome by employers who want to avoid offending customers or potential customers. Two examples of extreme viewpoints are stating that (a) all people who wear fur coats should be physically attacked, and (b) all investment bankers who earn more than $2 million in an annual bonus should be sent to jail.

Another aspect of your online reputation is that you might need to distance yourself from others who share your name. If you have a LinkedIn or Facebook profile, insert a clear photo of yourself. During a job search, when you send your résumé either as a hard copy by mail or via the Internet, provide a link to your profile. Also, alert present or prospective employers if someone with the same name as yours has a negative online presence. A challenge in terms of job hunting is that an Internet search has become part of the employer’s background investigation. Negative information about oneself on the Web can sometimes be removed by request or by hiring a service for such purposes.

Concept Review and Reinforcement

Key Terms

1. multitasking   113

2. nomophobia   114

Summary

Effective interpersonal skills help make good use of the communication and information technology surrounding us in the workplace. Interactions with people one at a time create the majority of opportunities for displaying interpersonal skills related to the digital age. Smartphones, cell phones, and text messaging represent an enormous opportunity for displaying good, as well as poor, interpersonal skills. An example of a positive skill is to ask your work associate if he or she would like you to access an item of work-related information using your cell phone. An example of a negative skill is work-related driving under the influence of a cell phone, including text messaging.

E-mail messages and instant messaging (IM) provide another opportunity for displaying positive as well as negative interpersonal skills related to the digital age. The way in which a message is sent, positive or negative, tells something about the sender.  Figure 5-1  summarizes a large amount of information about etiquette related to e-mail and instant messaging.

Another interpersonal skill useful in the digital age is to perform well during a webcam interview. Performing well in such an interview combines interpersonal skills with those related to communication technology. In some situations, performing two tasks at once can enhance interpersonal skills because you are helping another person, as is often done in coaching and tutoring. The major negative interpersonal skill aspect of multitasking is that it trivializes the person with whom you are interacting.

A negative consequence of communication technology in the workplace is that it is easier to harass coworkers than in the analog age. Creating a hostile environment by displaying pornography to workers who do not want to see it has become one of the most frequent forms of harassment.

Positive interpersonal skills associated with social networking include (1) demonstrating your loyalty by posting gracious comments about your employer, (2) displaying your compassion for people in need, (3) demonstrating professional-level communication skills, and (4) demonstrating a willingness to collaborate with others.

Negative interpersonal skills associated with social networking include (a) using social networking sites to eliminate face-to-face interactions with work associates, (2) posting confidential or derogatory information about your employer, (3) engaging in social networking at inappropriate times, and (4) bragging too much about being an “online celebrity.”

Whether the use of laptop and notebook computers as well as smartphones during meetings enhances your interpersonal skills depends on company custom and why you are using your computer. When laptop computers and smartphones are used at meetings to facilitate information gathering (with permission), they can enhance interpersonal skills.

The biggest challenge in using presentation technology is to maintain a human presence while still making effective use of the technology. An example of a positive interpersonal skill is maintaining eye contact with the audience; a negative skill is continuous fiddling with the equipment, thereby ignoring the audience.

Videoconferencing and telepresence place extra demands on creating a good first impression and demonstrating good interpersonal skills. A positive skill is to speak in crisp, conversational tones and pay close attention. People who work from home face challenges to their interpersonal skills related to communication. To display positive interpersonal skills, the worker from home should make good use of the limited face-to-face contact he or she has with other workers.

Protecting your online reputation is a skill. A positive interpersonal and cognitive skill is therefore to avoid having embarrassing information and photographs linked to you accessible through search engines. Many employers search social media sites to observe if a job candidate presents himself or herself professionally.

Questions for Discussion and Review

1. You and a coworker are having a work-related conversation, seated on a bench outside the office building during your lunch break. Your friend’s smartphone rings; he notices from the number that the boss is calling, so he answers the call immediately. Explain whether or not it is appropriate for your friend to have answered the call.

2. Assume that you send an instant message to the company CEO stating that you enjoy working for the company. Explain whether you think the CEO is obliged to respond immediately, or at all, to your message.

3. Assume that you send some useful information to a coworker, and he or she sends back an e-mail message or text thanking you. How important is it that you send back a reply that he or she is welcome?

4. Your author posted a message on the White House Web site in 2013, suggesting that the government conduct a nationwide charity drive to help reduce the federal debt. Two months later, President Barack Obama responded with an e-mail from the White House, addressed to “Dear Friend.” The e-mail contained a detailed description of the president’s plans for the economy. What does the interaction just described tell you about the digital interpersonal skills of President Obama (or his staff)?

5. What should a person who is invited for a webcam job interview do if he or she does not feel telegenic (photogenic on TV) to perform well in such an interview?

6. What might you be able to do in the next several days to demonstrate on Facebook or Twitter a positive aspect of your interpersonal skills?

7. Imagine that you are attending an in-person meeting as your favorite sports team is playing a championship game in a different time zone. Explain whether you would take a quick peek at the score from time to time on your smartphone during the meeting.

8. Give an example of one of the best displays of interpersonal skills you have seen in a PowerPoint presentation by one of your professors.

9. How might a person who telecommutes four days a week demonstrate to management that he or she has good interpersonal skills?

10. What could you possibly do to use YouTube to demonstrate to others that you have good interpersonal skills?

The Web Corner

1. http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/28/tech/mobile/netiquette-eight-phone-habits/

2. (Avoiding smartphone rudeness.)

3. http://www.virginmediabusiness.co.uk/Business-needs/Outlook-Magazine/Video-conferencing-Skills/

4. (Presenting yourself well during a videoconference.)

5. http://inspirationfeed.com/articles/blogging/how-to-develop-a-constructive-online-reputation/

6. (Developing a good online reputation.)

Internet Skill Builder: Interpersonal Skills of a Technology Executive

1. Think of a well-known information technology executive, such as the late Steve Jobs at Apple or Marissa Mayer at Yahoo!. Arrive at a judgment about his or her interpersonal skills through video research on the Internet. For example, you might find a brief video of your target executive on YouTube, Hulu, or Facebook. Based on this small sample of behavior, reach any conclusion you can about the technology executive’s interpersonal skills. Two traits to judge would be rudeness and insensitivity to people, because some well-known technology executives have the reputation of treating others poorly. Forget about the opinion of others; you are the judge in this assignment.

Developing Your Human Relations Skills

Interpersonal Relations Case 5.1

Sonya Takes Chances on Yammer

Sonya is a product placement specialist for an international manufacturer and distributor of a wide variety of beverages and snack foods. As a product placement specialist, her key role is to get company products displayed in movies, on TV, in video games, on social media, and even in TV ads for other products. One example would be to have someone in a film waiting for a bus sipping one of the company’s non-carbonated beverages. Another example of product placement would be an advertisement for an automobile in which people seated in the car are holding a bag of tortillas made by the company.

Six months ago Sonya’s company signed on with Yammer, essentially a social network for employees. Top management thought that Yammer would enhance communication among employees, leading to more creativity. Also, employees could quickly access relevant information without having to send so many e-mails to other employees. Along with any employee she spoke to, Sonya enjoyed communicating her ideas so freely and also having quick access to the thoughts of others.

One day Bruce, the director of product placement, sent Sonya an e-mail asking her to meet with him that afternoon in his office to discuss her over-the-top use of Yammer. Two minutes into the meeting, Bruce said to Sonya, “Here is what I’m talking about. I have accessed four of your Yammer postings that I think are over the top in terms of being a little rude and unprofessional.” The Yammer posts in question were as follows:

· I had a great idea this morning. Why not a product placement at an open-coffin funeral? The corpse could be holding a bag of barbeque chips and a bottle of our vitamin water.

· I’m a little worried about our vice president of finance. Have you seen her face lately? It looks like her boyfriend left her or her dog has been diagnosed with a brain tumor.

· I heard an unconfirmed rumor today that our revenues are going to take a big hit next quarter. It seems that consumers are getting tired of paying premium prices for big-brand names and are shifting a little more to store brands.

· Those penny pinchers in the finance department are questioning how much we are paying for product placements. If they knew anything about marketing, they would know that what we are doing has a tremendous return on investment.

Sonya looked at the posts and replied, “Okay, the jokes are a little edgy. But the other comments are totally honest. I thought the purpose of Yammer was for employees to engage in open communication.”

Case Questions

1. What is your evaluation of the criticisms that Bruce made of Sonya’s posts?

2. What suggestions can you make to Sonya to improve her interpersonal skills for the digital world? (Or, does she need any improvement based on the evidence presented in this case?)

Interpersonal Relations Role-Play

Bruce Confronts Sonya about Her Yammer Posts

Bruce decides that he needs a face-to-face meeting with Sonya to discuss her Yammer posts because she continues to write posts that many people might find objectionable. One person plays the role of Bruce, who does not want to violate Sonya’s freedom of expression, but does want her to use better judgment with respect to her Yammer posts. Another student plays the role of Sonya, who believes that open criticism and playfulness is acceptable on Yammer. Run the role-play for about seven minutes, and see if the two role players can resolve this issue about the use of Yammer.

Interpersonal Relations Case 5.2

Kevin, the Twitter Guy

Kevin, a real estate agent specializing in low-priced homes in Detroit, Michigan, is an avid Twitter user. He spends approximately two hours per day checking out his followers and the people he is following. Kevin posts about six tweets a day with the hope of building his reputation as an intelligent professional, as well as obtaining referrals of potential homebuyers. The contents of 10 tweets Kevin posted last month are presented next.

1. The #Detroit Lions might be good this season. Owing a home in downtown is a good investment. [email protected].

2. My buddies love my barbeques. Get in touch to buy a house. [email protected].

3. Looks like I have pinkeye today. Send along your home-hunting friends. [email protected].

4. I tried one of those #electronic cigarettes. No thanks. Home ownership is a great investment. [email protected].

5. My niece sent me a Valentine’s Day card saying she loves me. [email protected].

6. Just advised my folks to get a #reverse mortgage. I told them home ownership is good. [email protected].

7. Keep an eye on your #BMI (body mass index). Did you know that I sell houses? [email protected].

8. I may need a new transmission on my SUV. I’m waiting for a referral from you guys. [email protected].

9. It’s hot and my AC in the SUV is down. Home ownership is the American Dream. [email protected].

10. Did you know that Domino’s has made its pizzas spicier and tastier? Pizza goes great with a house. [email protected].

Case Questions

1. How well is Kevin doing in terms of projecting the image of an intelligent professional?

2. What advice might you give to Kevin so that his tweeting might lead to more referrals?

3. To what extent is Kevin just wasting time with his Twitter activity?

References

1. Several of the facts in this case are from Jessica Marquez, “Corporations Footing the Bill for Co-Working,” Workforce Management, August 11, 2008, pp. 10–11; Jeffrey Blackwell, “Shared Spaces,” RocNext, Democrat and Chronicle, August 19, 2012, pp. 1E, 5E.

2. Many of the ideas in this list are based on the following sources: Louise Lee, “Cell? Well . . . Use Your Phone for Good, Not Evil,” Business Week Small Biz, February/March 2009, p. 22; Catherine Hatcher, “11 Rules For Good Cell Phone Etiquette,” http://cbs1tv.com , Accessed December 30, 2007; Amy Novotney, “Dangerous Distractions,” Monitor on Psychology, February 2009, pp. 32–3; Elizabeth Bernstein, “The Miscommunicators,” The Wall Street Journal, July 3, 2012, pp. D1, D3.

3. The sources in endnote 2 also apply to endnote 3. In addition are the following: Rachel Emma Silverman, “Here’s Why You Won’t Finish This Article,” The Wall Street Journal, December 12, 2012, pp. B1, B6; Alex Williams, “Mind Your BlackBerry or Mind Your Manners,” The New York Times ( http://www.nytimes.com ); “Cell Phone Etiquette at the Office, Articlesbase, April 27, 2009; Lynette Spicer, “Civility in the Workplace,” Iowa State University Extension, (http://www.extension.iastate.edu/mt/civility), May 4, 2009.

4. Quoted in Christine Rosen, “Our Cell Phones, Ourselves,” The New Atlantis, p. 31.

5. Research cited in Novotney, “Dangerous Distractions,” Summer 2004, p. 32.

6. Quoted in Barbara Kiviat, “Résumé? Check. Nice Suit? Check. Webcam?” Time Magazine, November 9, 2009, p. 50.

7. “Christa Foley, Recruiting Manager,  Zappos.com ,”  Chequed.com  ( http://www.chequed.com/hr-interview-series ), April 7, 2011, p. 1.

8. Several of the suggestions for what to do and what not to do during a webcam interview are from Kiviat, “Résumé? Check. Nice Suit? Check. Webcam?” Time Magazine, November 9, 2009, p. 50.

9. Quoted in Abby Ellis, “Auditioning in a Video Résumé,” The New York Times (  http://www.nytimes.com  ), April 21, 2007, p. 3.

10. Quoted in Heather Huhman, “Use Youth to Your Advantage,”  http://www.examiner.com , accessed April 21, 2009.

11. Paul Hemp, “Death by Information Overload,”Harvard Business Review, September 2009, p. 85.

12. Rachel Emma Silverman, “Here’s Why You Won’t Finish This Article,” The Wall Street Journal, December 12, 2012, pp. B1, B6.

13. “Goes Without Saying, but Say It Anyway: No Porn at Work,” HR Specialist: New York Employment Law, June 2008, p. 1.

14. For a useful perspective on how social networking is changing society, see Steven Johnson, “How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live.” Time, June 15, 2009, pp. 32–37.

15. Ronald Deiser and Sylvain Newton, “Six Social-Media Skills Every Leader Needs,” McKinsey Quarterly (  http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com ), February 2013, p. 2.

16. Ashlee Vance, “Trouble at the Virtual Water Cooler,” Bloomberg Businessweek, May 2–May 8, 2011, p. 31.

17. Bridget Carey and Niala Boodhoo, “How to Deal with What Feels Like Online Identity Theft,” The Miami Herald ( http://miamiherald.com ), April 14, 2009.

18. Matthew Miller, “Employers Get a #Boost from @NLRB’s Social Media Report,” Workforce Management, April 2012, p. 10.

19. Kim Komando, “Use Discretion with Online Reviews,” Democrat and Chronicle, RocBusiness, June 25, 2012, pp. 5B, 6B.

20. Alexandria Samuel, “Your Employee Is an Online Celebrity. Now What Do You Do?” The Wall Street Journal, October 20, 2012, pp. B7, B8.

21. Alex Taylor III, “Fixing Up Ford,” Fortune, May 25, 2009, p. 49.

22. “Go ‘Topless,’” Manager’s Edge, August 2008, p. 6.

23. Alex Williams, “Mind Your BlackBerry or Mind Your Manners,” The New York Times ( http://www.nytimes.com ), June 22, 2009.

24. Ibid.

25. Quoted in Dan O’Shea, “How to Get to the Point,” Entrepreneur, October 2011, p. 46.

26. Bob Parks, “Death to PowerPoint,” Bloomberg BusinessWeek, September 3–September 9, 2012, pp. 83–85.

27. Joann S. Lublin, “Some Dos and Don’ts To Help You Hone Videoconference Skills,” The Wall Street Journal, February 7, 2006, p. B1; Drake Bennett, “I’ll Have My Robots Talk to Your Robots,” Bloomberg Businessweek, February 21–February 27, 2011, pp. 52–56.

28. “Work à la Modem,” Businessweek, October 4, 1999, p. 176.

29. “Bridge Gaps with Remote Workers,” Manager’s Edge, July 2008, p. 1.

30. Jeffrey Blackwell, “Shared Spaces,” RocNext, Democrat and Chronicle, August 19, 2012, pp. 1E, 5E.

31. Michelle Conlin, “Telecommuting: Out of Sight, Yes. Out of Mind, No,” Businessweek, February 18, 2008, p. 060.

32. Stephen Behnke, “Ethics in the Age of the Internet,” Monitor on Psychology, July/August 2008, pp. 74–75.

33. Anita Hamilton, “Outsmart Your Haters,” Time, October 6, 2008, pp. 67–68.

34. Debra Auerbach, “Employers Checking Social Sites,” CareerBuilder, May 6, 2012,

35. Felix Gillette, “Snapchat and the Right to be Forgotten,” Businessweek, February 11–February 17, 2013, pp. 42–47.

Chapter 6 Developing Teamwork Skills

Goodluz/Shutterstock

Learning Objectives

After reading and studying this chapter and completing the exercises, you should be able to

Explain the difference between a traditional team and a virtual team.

Understand the advantages and disadvantages of teams.

Identify various team member roles.

Apply interpersonal-related tactics for effective team play.

Apply task-related tactics for effective team play.

Aicha is proud of her position as a construction and building inspector for a large metropolitan area. She and her coworkers are responsible for ensuring that new construction, changes, or repairs comply with local and national building codes as well as contract specifications. Aicha visits many smaller sites on her own, but also participates in team inspections at larger sites.

Aicha is well liked by her teammates and her supervisor, most of all because she combines her professional and technical skills with being a cooperative and friendly team member. Don, her supervisor, explains that after Aicha makes an inspection, she typically posts information the department might be able to use in future inspections. One time, she noted that the battery used in a backup system for a building’s electrical power plant was the same brand that had overheating problems at other installations. Aicha told her team members to be on the lookout for these batteries at other new buildings.

Don also noted that, “Last spring, our department was overloaded because of a lot of new downtown construction. Baxter, one of our experienced inspectors, banged up his knee in a skateboarding crash, so he had to miss work for a week. Aicha told me and the team not to worrry, that she would gladly take over Baxter’s scheduled inspections for the week.

“To top off that kind of willingness to incovenience herself to help the team get its job done, Aicha adds a warm, human touch. Three times this year, she has brought the team cookies that she baked herself.”

The attitude of the construction and building inspector just described illustrates a spirit of teamwork that can help a company prosper. The modern organization depends on teamwork throughout the company. Many firms rely more on teamwork than on individuals acting alone to accomplish work. To be successful in the modern organization, it is, therefore, necessary to be an effective team player. You have to work smoothly with other members of the team to accomplish your goals. Teamwork is more important as people work their way up through the organization; however, even at the top of the organization, members of the executive team are expected to work smoothly together.

The challenges a team member faces come to light when the true nature of a team is recognized. A  team  is a special type of group. Team members have complementary skills and are committed to a common purpose, a set of performance goals, and an approach to the task. In other words, the members of a team work together smoothly, and all pull in the same direction. A workplace team should be more like an effective athletic team than a group of individuals out for individual glory. [1]

team

A small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.

Face-to-Face Versus Virtual Teams

Learning Objective 1

All teams in the workplace have the common elements of people working together cooperatively and members possessing a mix of skills. No matter what label the team carries, its broad purpose is to contribute to a collaborative workplace in which people help each other achieve constructive goals. The idea is for workers to collaborate (a high level of cooperation) rather than to compete with or prevent others from getting their work done. To make collaboration work effectively, team members have to agree to be accountable to one another as peers, and recognize that what they are doing is a joint effort. Each team or group member is expected to commit to specific goals and to expect that each member will follow through.[2] Self-Assessment Quiz 6-2 presents a representative listing of characteristics and attitudes of people that facilitate their being effective team members.

Self-Assessment Quiz 6-1

Team Player Attitudes

Directions:

Describe how well you agree with each of the following statements, using the following scale: disagree strongly (DS); disagree (D); neutral (N); agree (A); agree strongly (AS). Circle the number in the appropriate column.

DS D N A AS

1. I am at my best when working alone. 5 4 3 2 1

2. I have belonged to clubs and teams ever since I was a child. 1 2 3 4 5

3. It takes far too long to get work accomplished with a group. 5 4 3 2 1

4. I like the friendship of working in a group. 1 2 3 4 5

5. I would prefer to run a one-person business than to be a member of a large firm. 5 4 3 2 1

6. It’s difficult to trust others in the group on key assignments. 5 4 3 2 1

7. Encouraging others comes to me naturally. 1 2 3 4 5

8. I like the give and take of ideas that is possible in a group. 1 2 3 4 5

9. It is fun for me to share responsibility with other group members. 1 2 3 4 5

10. Much more can be accomplished by a team than by the same number of people working alone. 1 2 3 4 5

Total score:

Scoring and Interpretation:

Add the numbers you circled to obtain your total score.

41–50: You have strong positive attitudes toward being a team member and working cooperatively with other members.

30–40: You have moderately favorable attitudes toward being a team member and working cooperatively with other members.

10–29: You prefer working by yourself to being a team member. To work effectively in a company that emphasizes teamwork, you may need to develop more positive attitudes toward working jointly with others.

Although many different types of teams exist, a useful distinction is between the traditional teams in which workers share the same physical space and virtual teams in which the team members rarely see each other in person.

Face-to-Face (Traditional) Teams

The best-known workplace team is a group of workers who take some of the responsibility for managing their own work. Face-to-face teams are used in a wide variety of activities, including producing motorcycles, performing complex surgery, producing a major component for a large computer, or launching a new product. Team members interact with other frequently, rather than doing their work in isolation from one another.

Members of a traditional team typically work together on an ongoing, day-by-day basis, thus differentiating it from a task force or a committee. The team is often given total responsibility for or “ownership” of an entire product or service, such as producing a video game. At other times, the team is given responsibility for a major chunk of a job, such as building an airplane engine (but not the entire airplane). Structuring work around self-managing teams has become commonplace in contemporary workplaces, as workers are expected to rely more on their own resources and less on being carefully supervised.[3]

A major hurdle in forming a true team is to help employees overcome the attitude reflected in the statement “I’m not paid to think.” Teams often rely less on supervisors and more on the workers assuming more responsibilities for managing their own activities.

As with all groups, mutual trust among members contributes to team effectiveness. A study conducted with business students, however, showed that if the members trust each other too much, they may not monitor (check up on) each other’s work enough. As a result, group performance will suffer. This problem of too much trust surfaces primarily when the team members have individual assignments that do not bring them into frequent

Self-Assessment Quiz 6-2

Team Member Effectiveness

The following list of behaviors and attitudes are related to team member effectiveness in a wide variety of work and school settings. To personalize the information, note whether each statement appears to be characteristic of you in your activities as a team member. Answer yes or no.

No. Behavior or Attitude Yes No

1. Communicates openly with others. □ □

2. Performs high-quality work beyond expectation. □ □

3. Cares more about team results than individual glory. □ □

4. Acts with integrity. □ □

5. Stays focused on achieving results. □ □

6. Gets individual work done on time. □ □

7. Accepts feedback from teammates in order to improve. □ □

8. Helps another teammate experiencing difficulty. □ □

9. Willing to share useful knowledge with teammates. □ □

10. Listens carefully when ideas are challenged by another team member. □ □

11. Makes good use of professional and technical skills when solving problems. □ □

12. Believes strongly that the team will achieve its goals. □ □

13. Willing to switch assignments with teammates if needed. □ □

14. Cheers the team on toward attaining its goals. □ □

15. Shows sincere interest in the ideas and contributions of teammates. □ □

Interpretation:

The more of these 15 statements to which you responded “Yes,” the higher the probability that you are an effective team member now, were in the past, and will be in the future.

Source: Several of the items in the list are derived from Matthew W. Ohalalnd et al., “The Comprehensive Assessment of Team Member Effectiveness: Development of a Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale for Self- and Peer Evaluation,” Academy of Management Learning & Education, December 2012, pp. 625–626; “Are You a Team Player?” Communication Briefings, November 2011, p. 4.

contact with each other.[4] An example of an individual, or autonomous, project is preparing a statistical report to later be given to the group.

An important observation about face-to-face teams is that they typically contain subgroups, or groups within the team.[5] The larger the group, the more likely that subgroups will be present. The subgroups are often similar in some key attribute such as speciality or a demographic characteristic such as age or gender. Visualize a large product development team. A couple of subgroups might form composed of some people with an engineering background and some with a business background, including finance. Subgroups can be an asset when they solve problems well because they work smoothly together. It is also important for the various subgroups to pull together to achieve the overall group or team goal.

Virtual Teams

Some teams conduct most of their work by sending electronic messages to each other and holding videoconferences rather than conducting face-to-face meetings. A virtual team is a small group of people who conduct almost all of their collaborative work by electronic communication rather than by face-to-face meetings. E-mail, including instant messaging and text messaging, is the usual medium for sharing information and conducting meetings. Groupware is another widely used approach to conducting an electronic meeting. Using groupware, several people can edit a document at the same time, or in sequence. Company social media Web sites might also be classified as groupware.

virtual team

A small group of people who conduct almost all of their collaborative work by electronic communication rather than face-to-face meetings.

Most high-tech companies make some use of virtual teams and electronic meetings. Strategic alliances in which geographically dispersed companies work with each other are ideally suited for virtual teams. It is less expensive for the field technician in Iceland to hold an electronic meeting with her counterparts in South Africa, Mexico, and California than it is to bring them all together in one physical location. Virtual teams are sometimes the answer to the challenge of hiring workers with essential skills who do not want to relocate. Because the members of a virtual team might be working in different countries, they are often considered to be multicultural teams.

With team members geographically dispersed, precise communications are all the more important for virtual teams. The virtual team members usually need a formal document outlining objectives, job responsibilities, and team goals. Another concern about virtual teams is that a lot of work gets accomplished because of relationships, and it is more difficult to build relationships virtually.[6] The team leader as well as team members, therefore, have to put special effort into relationship building, even if only through elecronic communication and the occasional videoconference.

Establishing trust is a major challenge in a virtual team, because the team members have to rely on people they never see to carry out their fair share of the workload and to exchange reliable information. Trust is also needed in terms of what information should be shared outside of the team. For example, if the team is behind schedule on a project, can each member be trusted not to inform outsiders about the problem? For example, one virtual team had an external communication norm (standard of conduct) that prohibited team members from conveying negative information to anyone outside of the team.[7]

Despite the efficiency of virtual teams, there are times when face-to-face (or at least telephone) interaction is necessary to deal with complex and emotional issues. Negotiating a new contract between management and a labor union, for example, is not well suited to an electronic meeting.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Teams and Teamwork

Learning Objective 2

Groups have always been the building blocks of organizations. Yet groups and teams have grown in importance as the basic unit for organizing work. In an attempt to cope with numerous changes in the outside world, many organizations have granted teams increased independence and flexibility. Furthermore, teams are often required to work more closely with customers and suppliers.

The increased acceptance of teams suggests that group work offers many advantages. Nevertheless, it is useful to specify several of these advantages and also examine the potential problems of groups. Being aware of these potential pitfalls can often help a person avoid them. These same advantages and disadvantages also apply to group decision making, to be described in Chapter 7.

George Doyle/Getty Images

Advantages of Group Work and Teamwork

Group work and group decision making offer several advantages over individual effort. Because so much of what is accomplished in organizations is done by groups, it may appear obvious that groups and teams have many advantages. The importance of this topic, however, warrants mentioning a few of the specific advantages of groups, teams, and group decision making.

Synergy

If several knowledgeable people are brought into the decision-making process, a number of worthwhile possibilities may be uncovered. It is also possible to gain synergy, whereby the group’s total output exceeds the sum of each individual’s contribution. For example, it would be a rare person working alone who could build a racing car. At the same time, groups and teams are the building blocks of the larger organization.

synergy

A situation in which the group’s total output exceeds the sum of each individual’s contribution.

Work Accomplishment and High Productivity

Without groups, including teams, an organization could not get its work accomplished. Clarence Otis, Jr., the CEO of Darden Restaurants (which includes Olive Garden, Red Lobster, and Bahama Breeze), says that the thrust of his leadership is to build the team, because the team accomplishes so much of the work.[8]

A major justification for relying on teams in the workplace is that under the right circumstances, they can enhance productivity and profitability. The right circumstances include an atmosphere that promotes teamwork and financial bonuses for high-performing teams. A classic example is American steel maker Nucor Corp. The company is committed to the spirit of teamwork, and bonuses for teams of steelworkers average 170 percent to 180 percent. Since Nucor implemented its team incentive plan in 1966, the company has been profitable each quarter through 2012 despite foreign competition. Also, the company has increased the dividend to shareholders for 37 consecutive years.[9]

A broad perspective about the advantages of groups is that because of groups and teams, large organizations can be built that provide useful goods and services to the world. For example, a company such as Coca Cola, Inc., or Volkswagen is only possible because of group effort. Furthermore, the existence of large organizations, including business firms, colleges, universities, and hospitals, helps advance civilization.

Acceptance and Commitment

Group decision making is also helpful in gaining acceptance and commitment. The argument is that people who contribute to making a decision will feel some ownership about implementing the decision. Under these conditions, it becomes more difficult to object to a decision because your contribution is included in the decision. At times, managers will deliberately ask for input into a decision they have already made as a manipulative way of gaining acceptance for and commitment to the decision.

Avoidance of Major Errors

Team members often evaluate each other’s thinking, so the team is likely to avoid major errors. An advertising specialist was developing an advertising campaign to attract seniors to live in a retirement community. The proposed ads had photographs of senior citizens engaged in playing shuffleboard, visiting the pharmacy, and sleeping in a hammock. Another team member on the project pointed out that many seniors perceive themselves to be energetic and youthful. Ads emphasizing advanced age might, therefore, backfire. A successful advertising campaign was then developed that featured seniors in more youthful activities, such as jogging and dancing.

Increased Job Satisfaction

Working in teams and groups also enhances the job satisfaction of members. Being a member of a work group makes it possible to satisfy more needs than working alone. Among these needs are affiliation, security, self-esteem, and self-fulfillment. (Chapter 11 provides more details about psychological needs.)

A major reason that groups and teams contribute to worker satisfaction is that many people find working in groups to be a natural way of life. In school, sports, and the community, they have been accustomed to working collaboratively and therefore feel more comfortable in groups than in individual effort.

Disadvantages of Group Work and Teamwork

Group activity has some potential disadvantages for both individuals and the organization, as described in the following paragraphs. Some of these disadvantages serve as alerts for preventing problems.

Time Wasting

Teams and other groups often waste time because they talk too much and act too little. Committees appear to suffer from more inaction than teams. Abigail Johnson, president of Fidelity Employer Services Division, says that committees are not effective decision makers. “They have tended to be slow and overly risk averse. Even worse, I believe, they can drain an organization of talent, because the group can only be as good as the average.”[10]

Pressures toward Conformity

A major problem is that members face pressures to conform to group standards of performance and conduct, as just implied. Some teams might shun a person who is much more productive than his or her coworkers. Also, to be liked by coworkers, as well as to avoid conflict, a group member will sometimes agree with the opinion of other group or team members. Group members will often use the same jargon, whether or not it is precise. For example, workers at Microsoft refer to e-mail as “mail,” thereby snubbing postal mail.

Conformity in dress and appearance is also apparent in many work groups. You might want to examine a photo of Google or Apple employees and observe how much conformity in dress you find. Conformity in dress, however, is not much of a disadvantage, except when a group member is dissatisfied because of the pressure to dress in the same manner as coworkers.

Self-Assessment Quiz 6-3 gives you an opportunity to think about your tendencies toward conformity.

Shirking of Individual Responsibility (Social Loafing)

Shirking of individual responsibility is another problem frequently noted in groups. Unless work is assigned carefully to each team member, an undermotivated person can often squeeze by without contributing his or her fair share to a group effort. Social loafing is the psychological term for shirking individual responsibility in a group setting. The social loafer risks being ostracized (shunned) by the group, but may be willing to pay the price rather than to work hard. Loafing of this type is sometimes found in groups such as committees and project teams. Have you ever encountered a social loafer on a group project at school?

social loafing

The psychological term for shirking individual responsibility in a group setting.

Fostering of Conflict

At their worst, teams and other groups foster conflict on the job. People within the work group often bicker about such matters as doing a fair share of the undesirable tasks within the department. Cohesive work groups can also become xenophobic (fearful of outsiders). As a consequence, they may grow to dislike other groups and enter into conflict with them. A customer service group might put considerable effort into showing up a sales group because the latter makes promises to customers that the customer service group cannot keep. For example, a sales representative might promise that a customer can get a loaner if his or her equipment needs repair, although customer service has no such policy.

Groupthink

A well-publicized disadvantage of group decision making is groupthink, a deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment in the interest of group solidarity. Simply put, groupthink is an extreme form of consensus. The group atmosphere values getting along more than getting things done. The group thinks as a unit, believes it is impervious to outside criticism, and begins to have illusions about its own invincibility. As a consequence, the group loses its powers of critical analysis.[11] Groupthink appears to have contributed to several of the major financial scandals of the previous decade. Members of top management got together to vote themselves huge bonuses just before filing bankruptcy for their company. Several of the executives, including a few from Enron Corporation, were later sent to prison for their outrageous decisions.

groupthink

A deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment in the interest of group solidarity.

Two conditions are important for overcoming the potential disadvantages of teams and groups.[12] First, the members must strive to act like a team following some of the suggestions given in the upcoming pages. Second, the task given to the group should require collective effort instead of being a task that could better be performed by individuals. For example, an international business specialist would probably learn to conjugate verbs in a foreign language better by working alone than on a team. What is your opinion on this issue? Figure 6-1 presents more information about key factors associated with effective work teams and groups. The more of these factors that are present, the more likely it is that a given team or group will be productive.

Team Member Roles

Learning Objective 3

A major challenge in learning to become an effective team member is to choose the right roles to occupy. A role is a tendency to behave, contribute, and relate to others in a particular way. If you carry out positive roles, you will be perceived as a contributor to team effort. If you neglect carrying out these roles, you will be perceived as a poor contributor. Self-Assessment Quiz 6-4 will help you evaluate your present inclinations toward occupying

role

A tendency to behave, contribute, and relate to others in a particular way.

Self-Assessment Quiz 6-3

The Conformity Quiz

Directions:

Circle the extent to which each of the following statements describes your behavior or attitude: agree strongly (AS); agree (A); neutral (N); disagree (D); disagree strongly (DS). You may have to respond in terms of any team or group experience you have had if you are not currently a member of a work team, a class-project team, or a sports team. Consider having someone who is familiar with your behavior and attitudes help you respond accurately.

AS A N D DS

1. I rarely question the decision reached by the team. 5 4 3 2 1

2. Whatever the group wants is fine with me. 5 4 3 2 1

3. My clothing distinguishes me from the other members of the team. 1 2 3 4 5

4. I consider myself to be one of the gang. 5 4 3 2 1

5. I rarely express disagreement during a group discussion. 5 4 3 2 1

6. I routinely have lunch with other members of the team. 5 4 3 2 1

7. My teammates sometimes complain that I think too independently. 1 2 3 4 5

8. My preference is to piggyback on the ideas of others rather than contributing ideas of my own. 5 4 3 2 1

9. When I notice that other members of the team make the same error in speech, I will copy them rather than sound different. 5 4 3 2 1

10. I am often the first person to get up at the scheduled ending of the meeting. 1 2 3 4 5

11. I do almost all of my creative thinking for the team task when I’m with the team. 5 4 3 2 1

12. I’m particularly careful not to criticize an idea submitted by the team leader. 5 4 3 2 1

13. The number of hours I work per week corresponds closely to the number worked by my teammates. 5 4 3 2 1

14. When I think it is necessary, I bring information to the group that conflicts with the path we are following. 1 2 3 4 5

15. I would rather keep my mouth closed than point out weaknesses in a teammate’s ideas. 5 4 3 2 1

16. I’ve been called a maverick on more than one occasion by teammates. 1 2 3 4 5

17. I encourage team members to express doubts about proposed solutions to problems. 1 2 3 4 5

18. I invite criticism of my ideas. 1 2 3 4 5

19. When the team laughs at a comment, I laugh too, even if I don’t think the comment was funny. 5 4 3 2 1

20. Most of my social life centers on activities with my teammates. 5 4 3 2 1

Scoring and Interpretation:

Calculate your score by adding the numbers you have circled, and use the following guide:

80–100: You are a high-conforming individual who readily goes along with the team without preserving your individuality. In an effort to be liked, you might be over-compromising your thinking.

40–79: You have probably achieved the right balance between following group norms (standards of conduct) and expressing your individuality. With actions and attitudes like this, you are on your way to becoming a good team player, yet also in a position to attain individual recognition.

20–29: You are highly individualistic, perhaps to the point of not working smoothly in a team setting. Be careful that you are not going out of your way to be a nonconformist, thereby interfering with your ability to be an effective team player.

Skill Development:

Examine your responses to the 20 questions, because the response might give you a clue to needed development, often possible just by making a subtle change within your control. Here are two examples: If you answered agree strongly or agree to question 8, you might work toward contributing ideas of your own. If you answered disagree or disagree strongly to question 14, you might work toward helping the team think more critically about the path it is following.

The group has collective efficacy, or a belief that it can handle the assigned task.

The team has clear-cut goals linked to organizational goals so that group members feel connected to the entire organization; however, the group does not have so many goals that confusion results. Goals include having a mission that helps explain what the group is attempting to accomplish.

Group members are empowered so that they learn to think for themselves rather than expecting a supervisor to solve all the difficult problems. At the same time, the group believes it has the authority to solve a variety of problems without first obtaining approval from management.

Group members are assigned work they perceive to be challenging, exciting, and rewarding. As a consequence, the work is self-rewarding.

Members depend on one another to accomplish tasks and work toward a common goal. At the same time, the group believes in itself and believes that it can accomplish an independent task.

Diversity exists within the group, including differences in education, experience, and cultural background. Different backgrounds lead to more creative problem solving. Also, the differences prompt more discussion and analysis.

Members receive extensive training in technical knowledge, problem-solving skills, and interpersonal skills.

Members receive part of their pay related to team or group incentives, rather than strictly based on individual performance.

Group size is generally about six people, rather than 10 or more.

Team members have good intelligence and personality factors, such as conscientiousness and pride, that contribute to good performance.

There is honest and open communication among group members and with other groups in the organization.

Members are familiar with their jobs, coworkers, and the work environment. This experience adds to their expertise. The beneficial effects of experience may diminish after awhile, because the team needs fresh ideas and approaches.

The team has emotional intelligence in the sense that it builds relationships both inside and outside the team. Included in emotional intelligence are norms that establish mutual trust among members, a feeling of group identity, and group efficacy. The emotional intelligence of group members makes group emotional intelligence possible.

Stronger-performing group members assist weaker-performing group members accomplish their task, particularly when the performance of the “weakest link” in the group is key for group performance.

The team or group members, as well as the leader, are authentic in the sense of being ethical and transparent.

The leader focuses on being a servant leader, or being there to serve and help group members, rather than seeking individual glory or advancing his or her career.

Figure 6-1 Key Characteristics of Effective Teams and Work Groups

Sources: Alexander D. Stajkovic, Dongseop Lee, and Anthony J. Nyberg, “Collective Efficacy, Group Potency, and Group Performance: Meta-Analysis of their Relationships, and Test of a Mediation Model,” Journal of Applied Psychology, May 2009, p. 815; Sean T. Hannah, Fred O. Walumba, Louis W. Fry, “Leadership in Action Teams: Team Leader and Members’ Authenticity, Authenticity Strength, and Team Outcomes,” Personnel Psychology, Number 3, 2011, pp. 771–802; Jia Hu and Robert C. Liden, “Antecedents of Team Potentcy and Team Effectiveness: An Examination of Goal and Process Clarity and Servant Leadership,” Journal of Applied Psychology, July 2011, pp.851–862; Stephen R. Covey, “Secrets Behind Great Teams,” USA Weekend, July 11–13, 2008, p. 7; Crystal I. C. Chien Farh, Myeong-Gu Seo, and Paul E. Tesluk, “Emotional Intelligence, Teamwork Effectiveness, and Job Performance: The Moderating Role of Job Context,” Journal of Applied Psychology, July 2012, pp. 890–900; Katherine W. Phillips, Katie A. Liljenquist, and Margaret A. Neale, “Is the Pain Worth the Gain? The Advantages and Liabilities of Agreeing With Socially Distinct Newcomers,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, March 2009, pp. 336–350; Claus W. Langred, “Too Much of a Good Thing? Negative Effects of High Trust and Individual Autonomy in Self-Managing Work Teams,” Academy of Management Journal, June 2004, pp. 385–389.

Self-Assessment Quiz 6-4

Team Player Roles

Directions:

For each of the following statements about team activity, check mostly agree or mostly disagree. If you have not experienced such a situation, imagine how you would act or think if placed in that situation. In responding to the statements, assume that you are taking the questionnaire with the intent of learning something about yourself.

Mostly agree Mostly disagree

1. It is rare that I ever miss a team meeting.

2. I regularly compliment team members when they do something exceptional.

3. Whenever I can, I avoid being the note taker at a team meeting.

4. From time to time, other team members come to me for advice on technical matters.

5. I like to hide some information from other team members so that I can be in control.

6. I welcome new team members coming to me for advice and learning the ropes.

7. My priorities come first, which leaves me with very little time to help other team members.

8. During a team meeting, it is not unusual for several other people at a time to look toward me for my opinion.

9. If I think the team is moving in an unethical direction, I will say so explicitly.

10. Rarely will I criticize the progress of the team, even if I think such criticism is deserved.

11. It is typical for me to summarize the progress in a team meeting, even if not asked.

12. To conserve time, I attempt to minimize contact with my teammates outside our meetings.

13. I intensely dislike going along with a consensus decision if the decision runs contrary to my thoughts on the issue.

14. I rarely remind teammates of our mission statement as we go about our work.

15. Once I have made up my mind on an issue facing the team, I am unlikely to be persuaded in another direction.

16. I am willing to accept negative feedback from team members.

17. Just to get a new member of the team involved, I will ask his or her opinion.

18. Even if the team has decided on a course of action, I am not hesitant to bring in new information that supports another position.

19. Quite often I talk negatively about one team member to another.

20. My teammates are almost a family to me because I am truly concerned about their welfare.

21. When it seems appropriate, I joke and kid with teammates.

22. My contribution to team tasks is as important to me as my individual work.

23. From time to time, I have pointed out to the team how we can all improve in reaching our goals.

24. I will fight to the last when the team does not support my viewpoint and wants to move toward consensus.

25. I will confront the team if I believe that the members are thinking too much alike.

Total score:

Scoring and Interpretation:

Give yourself one point (11) for each statement you gave in agreement with the keyed answer. The keyed answer indicates carrying out a positive, as opposed to a negative, role.

Question Positive role

1. Mostly agree

2. Mostly agree

3. Mostly disagree

4. Mostly agree

5. Mostly disagree

6. Mostly agree

7. Mostly disagree

8. Mostly agree

9. Mostly agree

10. Mostly disagree

11. Mostly agree

12. Mostly disagree

13. Mostly disagree

14. Mostly disagree

15. Mostly disagree

16. Mostly agree

17. Mostly agree

18. Mostly agree

19. Mostly disagree

20. Mostly agree

21. Mostly agree

22. Mostly agree

23. Mostly agree

24. Mostly disagree

25. Mostly agree

20–25: You carry out a well-above-average number of positive team roles. Behavior of this type contributes substantially to being an effective team player. Study the information in this chapter to build upon your already laudable sensitivity to occupying various positive roles within the team.

10–19: You carry out an average number of positive team roles. Study carefully the roles described in this chapter to search for ways to carry out a greater number of positive roles.

0–9: You carry out a substantially above-average number of negative team roles. If becoming an effective team player is important to you, you will have to diligently search for ways to play positive team roles. Study the information in this chapter carefully.

effective roles as a team member. In this section, we describe a number of the most frequently observed positive roles played by team members.[13] We will also mention a group of negative roles. The description will be followed by an activity in which the roles can be practiced.

According to the role theory developed by R. Meredith Belbin and his group of researchers, there are nine frequent roles occupied by team members. All of these roles are influenced to some extent by an individual’s personality.

Creative problem solver: The creative problem solver is imaginative and unorthodox. Such a person solves difficult problems. A potential weakness of this role is that the person tends to ignore fine details and becomes too immersed in the problem to communicate effectively.

Resource investigator: The resource investigator is extraverted, enthusiastic, and communicates freely with other team members. He or she will explore opportunities and develop valuable contacts. A potential weakness of this role is that the person can be overly optimistic and may lose interest after the initial enthusiasm wanes.

Coordinator: The coordinator is mature, confident, and a natural team leader. He or she clarifies goals, promotes decision making, and delegates effectively. A downside to occupying this role is that the person might be seen as manipulative and controlling. Some coordinators delegate too much by asking others to do some of the work they (the coordinators) should be doing.

Shaper: The shaper is challenging, dynamic, and thrives under pressure. He or she will use determination and courage to overcome obstacles. A potential weakness of the shaper is that he or she can be easily provoked and may ignore the feelings of others.

Monitor-evaluator: The monitor-evaluator is even tempered, engages in strategic (big-picture and long-term) thinking, and makes accurate judgments. He or she sees all the options and judges accurately. A potential weakness of this role occupant is that he or she might lack the drive and the ability to inspire others.

Team worker: The team worker is cooperative, focuses on relationships, and is sensitive and diplomatic. He or she is a good listener who builds relationships, dislikes confrontation, and averts friction. A potential weakness is that the team worker can be indecisive in a crunch situation or crisis.

Implementer: The implementer is disciplined, reliable, conservative, and efficient. He or she will act quickly on ideas, and convert them into practical actions. A potential weakness is that the implementer can be inflexible and slow to see new opportunities.

Completer-finisher: The completer-finisher is conscientious and eager to get the job done. He or she has a good eye for detail and is effective at searching out errors. He or she can be counted on for finishing a project and delivering on time. A potential weakness is that the completer-finisher can be a worrier and reluctant to delegate.

Specialist: The specialist is a single-minded self-starter. He or she is dedicated and provides knowledge and skill in rare supply. A potential weakness of the specialist is that he or she can be stuck in a niche with little interest in other knowledge and may dwell on technicalities.

The weaknesses in the first nine roles point to problems the team leader or manager can expect to emerge, and therefore an allowance should be made. Belbin refers to these potential problems as allowable weaknesses because an allowance should be made for them. To illustrate, if a team worker has a tendency to be indecisive in a crisis, the team should not have high expectations of the team worker when faced with a crisis. Team workers will be the most satisfied if the crisis is predicted and decisions involving them are made before the pressure mounts.

Another perspective on team roles is that team members will sometimes engage in self-oriented roles. Members will sometimes focus on their own needs rather than those of the group. The individual might be overly aggressive because of a personal need, such as wanting a bigger budget for his or her project. The individual might hunger for recognition or power. Similarly, the person might attempt to dominate the meeting, block others from contributing, or serve as a distraction. One of the ploys used by distracters recently is to engage in cell phone conversations during a meeting, blaming it on “those people who keep calling me.”

The many roles just presented overlap somewhat. For example, the implementer might engage in specialist activities. Do not be concerned about the overlap. Instead, pick and choose from the many roles as the situation dictates—whether or not overlap exists. Skill-Building Exercise 6-1 gives you an opportunity to observe these roles in action. The behavior associated with the roles just described is more important than remembering the labels. For example, remembering to be creative and imaginative is more important than remembering the specific label “creative problem solver.”

Understanding team-member roles will contribute to working effectively as a member of a team; however, foundational contributors to effective team play are recognizing individual differences and having good communication skills. The same two factors are fundamental for effectiveness in any setting involving interaction between and among people. Here is an example of how recognizing individual differences and having effective communication skills can help in a team setting: Max and Beth are teammates, and Max notices that Beth is shy and somewhat sullen. (He observes individual differences.) Max gives Beth a playful fist in the air, and says, “Come on Beth, we need your contribution in the 10 o’clock meeting. You have one of the sharpest minds on the team, and you’re hiding it from us.” With such warm encouragement, Beth then has the courage to contribute more to the morning meeting.

Guidelines for the Interpersonal Aspects of Team Play

1. Learning Objective 4

The purpose of this and the following section is to help you enhance your effectiveness as a team player by describing the skills, actions, and attitudes required to be an effective team player. You can regard these behaviors (the collective term for skills, actions, and attitudes) as goals for personal improvement. Identify the actions and attitudes for which

Skill-Building Exercise 6-1

1.  

Team Member Roles

A team of approximately six people is formed to conduct a 20-minute meeting on a significant topic of their choosing. The possible scenarios follow:

Scenario A: Management Team

A group of managers are pondering whether to lay off one-third of the workforce in order to increase profits. The company has had a tradition of caring for employees and regarding them as the company’s most precious asset; however, the CEO has said privately that times have changed in our competitive world, and the company must do whatever is possible to enhance profits. The group wants to think through the advisability of laying off one-third of the workforce, as well as explore other alternatives.

Scenario B: Group of Sports Fans

A group of fans have volunteered to find a new team name to replace “Redskins” for the local basketball team. One person among the group of volunteers believes that the name “Redskins” should be retained because it is a compliment, rather than an insult, to Native Americans. The other members of the group believe that a name change is in order, but they lack any good ideas for replacing a mascot team name that has endured for over 50 years.

Scenario C: Community Group

A community group is attempting to launch an initiative to help battered adults and children. Opinions differ strongly as to what initiative would be truly helpful to battered adults and children. Among the alternatives are establishing a shelter for battered people, giving workshops on preventing violence, and providing self-defense training. Each group member with an idea strongly believes that he or she has come up with a workable possibility for helping with the problem of battered people.

While the team members are conducting their heated discussion, other class members make notes on which team members carry out which roles. Students should watch for the different roles as developed by Belbin and his associates, as well as the self-oriented roles. For example, students in the first row might look for examples of the creative problem solver. Use the role worksheet that follows to help make your observations. Summarize the comment that is indicative of the role. An example is noting in the shaper category: “Linda said naming the team the ‘Washington Rainbows’ seems like too much of an attempt to be politically correct.”

· Creative Problem Solver                                  

· Resource Investigator                                  

· Coordinator                                  

· Shaper                                  

· Monitor-Evaluator                                  

· Team Worker                                  

· Implementer                                  

· Completer-Finisher                                  

· Specialist                                  

· Self-Oriented Roles                                  

you need the most improvement, and proceed accordingly with self-development. Apply the model for skill development presented in  Chapter 1 .

One convenient method for classifying team activities in the pursuit of goals is to categorize them as people-related or task-related. The categorization of people- versus task-related activities, however, is not entirely accurate. For example, if you are challenging your teammates with a difficult goal, are you focusing more on the people (offering them a motivational challenge) or the task (achieving the goal)? We begin first with people-related actions and attitudes (see also  Figure 6-2 ), followed in the next section by task-related actions and attitudes.

Communicate Frequently and Assertively

Communicating frequently and assertively contributes to good team play, and both verbal and nonverbal communication are important. Allthough it is well accepted that speaking up in meetings facilitates teamwork, for many people, communicating assertively in small

1. Communicate frequently and assertively. 2. Trust team members. 3. Display a high level of cooperation and collaboration. 4. Recognize the interests and achievements of others. 5. Give and receive helpful criticism. 6. Share the glory. 7. Take care not to rain on another person’s parade.

Figure 6-2 Interpersonal Aspects of Team Play

groups is difficult. Reasearch conducted by scientists at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute helps explain why so many people say so little at meetings. The problem is that if we think others in the group are smarter, our problem-solving ability is suppressed a little. In a sense, we choke with respect to displaying intelligence. Clamming up tends to be more frequent among women and more intelligent people. The reason given for women being more subdued at meetings is that they may be more attentive than men to what others may be feeling or thinking. [14]  High intelligence might also contribute to this sensitivity.

Recent research also supports the contribution of nonverbal communication to being an effective team player. Alex “Sandy” Pentland, the director of the Human Dynamics Laboratory at MIT, has collected data about teams by attaching sensors that capture people’s tone of voice and body language to team members. (The sensors took the form of the standard security badges worn around the neck.) As a result, Pentland and his associates were able to observe highly consistent patterns of communication associated with productive teams for a variety of work activities.

The communication patterns identified in the study supported the importance of using effective nonverbal communication. A pleasant tone of voice was found to be effective in communicating with team members. Choosing an appropriate body position, such as standing the right distance away from the message receiver, facilitated good communication. A third key factor was body language, such as welcoming arm and hand movements. A general finding of the study was that face-to-face communication was more valuable for team purposes, with e-mail and texting being the least valuable. The most effective team players connect ther teammates with each other and spread ideas around. [15]

Trust Team Members

The cornerstone attitude of an outstanding team player is to trust team members, including the leader. Working on a team is akin to a small-business partnership. If you do not believe that the other team members have your best interests at heart, it will be difficult for you to share opinions and ideas. You will fear that others will make negative statements behind your back.

Trusting team members also includes believing that their ideas are technically sound and rational until proven otherwise. Another manifestation of trust is taking risks with others. You can take a risk by trying out one of their unproved ideas. You can also take a risk by submitting an unproved idea and not worrying about being ridiculed.

One of the goals of offsite training is to help team members trust each other. As is familiar to most readers, such trust builders include falling into each other’s arms, rappelling up a wall, racing down rapids in a raft, and dangling from cables over gorges.

Display a High Level of Cooperation and Collaboration

Cooperation and collaboration are synonymous with teamwork. If you display a willingness to help others by working cooperatively with them, you will be regarded as a team player. If you do not cooperate with other team members, the team structure breaks down. Collaboration at a team level refers to working jointly with others to solve mutual problems. Good collaboration is important at teams at all levels in the organization. An extreme example is Steven Sinofsky, the former president of the Microsoft Windows division. Insiders said the key factor that prompted his departure from Microsoft was that he was an abrasive loner with a business firm that was attemping to foster high levels of cooperation and consensus. [16]

Although working with another person on a given problem may take longer than working through a problem alone, the long-term payoff is important. You have established a climate favorable to working on joint problems for which collective action is necessary. Sharing success stories with each other about what worked in the past is another useful approach to collaboration. [17]

Achieving a cooperative team spirit is often a question of making the first move. Instead of grumbling about poor teamwork, take the initiative and launch a cooperative spirit in your group. Target the most individualistic, least cooperative member of the

Skill-Building Exercise 6-2

1.  

The Scavenger Hunt

The purpose of this teamwork exercise is to demonstrate the importance of cooperation and collaboration in accomplishing a task under pressure. The class is divided into teams of about five students. How much time you can devote to the task depends upon your particular class schedule. The instructor will supply each team with a list of items to find within a prescribed period of time— usually about 45 minutes. Given the time constraints, the group will usually have to conduct the hunt on campus. The following is a representative list of items to find in an on-campus scavenger hunt:

· A piece of chalk

· A tie or scarf

· A brick

· A cap from a beer bottle

· A pocket knife

· A flash drive

When the group returns within 30 minutes, hold a public discussion about what you learned about teamwork and what insights you acquired.

group. Ask the person for his or her input on an idea you are formulating. Thank the person, and then state that you would be privileged to return the favor.

Another way of attaining good cooperation is to minimize confrontations. If you disagree with the opinion of another team member, patiently explain the reasons for your differences, and look for a workable way to integrate both your ideas. A teammate might suggest, for example, that the team stay until midnight to get a project completed today. You have plans for the evening and are angered by the suggestion. Instead of lashing out at your teammate, you might say, “I agree we need to put in extra time and effort to get the job done, but why can’t we spread out this extra effort over a few days? In this way, those of us who cannot work until midnight this evening can still contribute.”

A side advantage of cooperation within the group is that the part of the brain associated with pleasure is activated when people cooperate. According to team-building specialist Anna Maravelas, “It is intrinsically rewarding for human beings to pull together.” [18]

Skill-Building Exercise 6-2  is a widely used technique for demonstrating the importance of cooperation and collaboration.

Recognize the Interests and Achievements of Others

A fundamental tactic for establishing yourself as a solid team player is to actively recognize the interests and achievements of others. Let others know you care about their interests. After you make a suggestion during a team meeting, ask: “Would my suggestion create any problems for anybody else?” or “How do my ideas fit into what you have planned?”

Recognizing the achievements of others is more straightforward than recognizing interests. Be prepared to compliment any tangible achievement. Give realistic compliments by making the compliment commensurate with the achievement. To do otherwise is to compromise your sincerity. For example, do not call someone a genius just because he or she showed you how to compute an exchange rate from one currency to another. Instead, you might say, “Thank you. I am very impressed by your knowledge of exchange rates.”

A technique has been developed to enable the entire team to recognize the interests and achievements of others. Playing the anonymous praise game, each team member lists what he or she admires about a specific coworker. The team leader collects the responses and sends each team member the comments made about him or her. Using this technique, team members see a compilation of praise based on how coworkers perceive them. The anonymous praise game helps overcome the hesitancy some people have to praise another person face to face.[19]

Give and Receive Helpful Criticism

The outstanding team player offers constructive criticism when needed, but does so diplomatically. To do otherwise is to let down the team. A high-performance team demands sincere and tactful criticism among members. No matter how diplomatic you are, keep your ratio of criticism to praise small. Keep two time-tested principles in mind. First, attempt to criticize the person’s work, not the person. It is better to say, “The conclusion is missing from your analysis” rather than, “You left out the conclusion.” (The latter statement hurts because it sounds like your teammate did something wrong.)

Another key guideline for criticism is to ask a question rather than to make a declarative statement. By answering a question, the person being criticized is involved in improving his or her work. In the example at hand, it would be effective to ask, “Do you think your report would have a greater impact if it contained a conclusion?” In this way, the person being criticized contributes a judgment about the conclusion. The person has a chance to say, “Yes, I will prepare a conclusion.”

Criticism works both ways, so the effective team player is willing to accept helpful criticism, such as, “You are speaking too fast for several of our team members for whom English is their second language.” Becky Blalock, the former vice president and chief information officer (CIO) of the Georgian Power and Southern Company, regards being open to feedback as one of the core principles of teamwork.[20]

Share the Glory

An effective team player shares praise and other rewards for accomplishment, even if he or she is the most deserving. Shared praise is usually merited to some extent because teammates have probably made at least some contribution to the achievement that received praise. For example, if a team member comes up with a powerful suggestion for cutting costs, it is likely that somebody else in the group sparked his or her thinking. Effective examples of sharing glory are easy to find. Think back to watching athletes and other entertainers who win a title or an award. Many of them are gracious enough to share the glory. It has become almost standard practice for an award-winning coach or player to say, “I never would have accomplished what I did if I hadn’t played with such a great group of people.”

Take Care Not to Rain on Another Person’s Parade

As teamwork specialist Pamela Lovell observes, we all have achievements and accomplishments that are sources of pride. Belittling the achievements of others for no legitimate reason brings about tension and anger. Suppress your feelings of petty jealousy.[21] An example would be saying to someone who is proudly describing an accomplishment, “Don’t take too much credit. It looks to me like you were at the right place at the right time.” If you support teammates by acknowledging their accomplishments, you are more likely to receive their support when needed.

Guidelines for the Task Aspects of Team Play

1. Learning Objective 5

The task aspects of team play also make a key contribution to becoming an effective team player. Here we describe seven major task-related tactics (see  Figure 6-3 ). As mentioned earlier, a task aspect usually has interpersonal consequences.

1. Provide technical expertise (or knowledge of the task). 2. Assume responsibility for problems. 3. See the big picture. 4. Believe in consensus. 5. Focus on deadlines. 6. Help team members do their jobs better. 7. Be a good organizational citizen.

Figure 6-3 Task Aspects of Team Play

Provide Technical Expertise (Or Knowledge of the Task)

Most people are selected for a work team primarily because of their technical expertise. Technical refers to the intimate details of any task, not just tasks in engineering, physical science, and information technology. The sales promotion specialist on a product development team has technical expertise about sales promotion, whether or not sales promotion requires knowledge of engineering or computers.

A key use of technical expertise to facilitate group effectiveness is to freely contribute knowledge and skills to teammates. Studies led by Philip Podsakoff indicate that helping behavior facilitates organizational effectiveness by:

· enabling teammates to solve problems and get work done faster

· enhancing group cohesion and coordination

· reducing variability in performance because of teammates being overloaded or distracted [22]

An analysis of 72 studies based on more than 17,000 individuals in a variety of work settings lends credibility to the belief that information sharing is beneficial to teams. A major finding of the analysis is that team performance is enhanced when team members share information not commonly shared by all team members. A somewhat distressing side finding of the study is that many teams do not share information when the sharing is most needed. An example of information being most needed is when the other team members are not aware of the useful information possessed by the other members. [23]

Assume Responsibility for Problems

The outstanding team player assumes responsibilities for problems. If a problem is not yet assigned to anybody, he or she says, “I’ll do it.” One team member might note that true progress on the team’s effort is blocked until the team benchmarks (compares itself) with other successful teams. The effective team player might say, “You are right, we need to benchmark. If it’s okay with everybody else, I’ll get started on the benchmarking project tomorrow. It will be my responsibility.” Taking responsibility must be combined with dependability. The person who takes responsibility for a task must produce, time after time.

John Rowley/Thinkstock

See the Big Picture

Effective team players need to think conceptually, or see the big picture. A trap in team effort is that discussion can get bogged down in small details, and the team might lose sight of what it is trying to accomplish. The team player (including the team leader) who can help the group focus on its broader purpose plays a vital role. The following case history illustrates what it means to see the big picture.

A group of retail sales associates and customer service representatives were sent to a one-day seminar about customer-service training. The group was sent to training because customer-service ratings at their store were below the level store executives thought was acceptable. During the lunch break, the conversation quickly turned to the fact that the coffee was not as hot as desired, the snacks were mediocre, the restrooms were too far from the meeting room, and the presenter had a phony smile and told goofy jokes. Next came a few complaints about a couple of the PowerPoint slides having too much detail.

Alyssa, an experienced sales associate, stepped in with a comment. She noted, “I think all of you have valid complaints, but your points are minor. We are here to learn how to improve customer service. If we want our store to survive, and we want to earn bigger bonuses, we have to learn what we can to help us do our jobs better. Whether or not you like our trainer’s smile or jokes, he is trying to be helpful.” The group returned after lunch with a more determined effort to focus on the purpose of the seminar—picking up ideas to improve customer service.

Believe in Consensus

A major task-related attitude for outstanding team play is to believe that consensus has merit.  Consensus  is general acceptance of a decision by the group. Every member may not be thrilled about the decision, yet they are unopposed and are willing to support the decision. Believing that consensus is valuable enables you to participate fully in team decisions without thinking that you have sacrificed your beliefs or the right to think independently. To believe in consensus is to believe that the democratic process has relevance for organizations, and ideal solutions are not always possible.

consensus

General acceptance by the group of a decision.

Focus on Deadlines

A notable source of individual differences among work group members is how much importance they attach to deadlines. Some work group members may regard deadlines as a moral contract, to be missed only in case of emergency. Others may view deadlines as an arbitrary date imposed by someone external to the group. Other work group members may perceive deadlines as moderately important. Differences in perception about the importance of deadlines influence the group’s ability to meet deadlines. [24]

Keeping the group focused on the deadline is a valuable task behavior, because meeting deadlines is vital to team success. Discussing the importance of the deadlines is helpful because of the varying attitudes about deadlines that are likely to be found among group members.

Help Team Members Do Their Jobs Better

Your stature as a team player will increase if you take the initiative to help coworkers make needed work improvements. Helping other team members with their work assignments is a high-level form of cooperation. Make the suggestions in a constructive spirit rather than displaying an air of superiority. Identify a problem that a coworker is having, and then suggest alternatives he or she might be interested in exploring. Avoid saying to team members that they “should” do something, because many people become defensive when told what they should do. The term should is usually perceived as a moral judgment given to one person by another, such as being told that you should save money, should learn a second language, or should improve your math skills.

Be a Good Organizational Citizen

A comprehensive way of carrying out the task aspects of team play (as well as relationship aspects) is to help out beyond the requirements of your job description. As discussed in  Chapter 2 , such extra-role activity is referred to as organizational citizenship behavior—working for the good of the organization, even without the promise of a specific reward. As a result of many workers being good organizational citizens, the organization functions more effectively in such ways as improved product quantity and quality and high individual job performance. [25]

Good citizenship on the job encompasses many specific behaviors, including helping a coworker with a job task and refraining from complaints or petty grievances. A good organizational citizen would carry out such specific acts as quickly advising the company security department if she or she suspects a virus and turning out lights when they are not in use. He or she would also bring a reference to the office that could help a coworker solve a job problem. Most of the other team player tactics described here are related to organizational citizenship behavior.

Two experiments, one with business students and one with managers, suggested that organizational citizenship behavior is even more important when people depend on each other to accomplish a task. [26]  An example is filling an order with components from different departments. Given that most tasks on a team are interdependent, organizational citizenship behavior is quite important for effective teamwork.

Skill-Building Exercise 6-3

1.  

Habitat for Homeless People

Organize the class into teams of about six people. Each team takes on the assignment of formulating plans for building temporary shelters for homeless people. The task will take about one hour and can be done inside or outside the class. The dwellings you plan to build, for example, might be two-room cottages with electricity and indoor plumbing.

During the time allotted to the task, formulate plans for going ahead with Habitat for Homeless People. Consider dividing up work by assigning certain roles to each team member. Sketch out tentative answers to the following questions:

1. How will you obtain funding for your venture?

2. Which homeless people will you help?

3. Where will your shelters be located?

4. Who will do the actual construction?

After your plan is completed, evaluate the quality of the teamwork that took place within the group. Specify which teamwork skills were evident and which ones did not surface. Search the chapter for techniques you might use to improve teamwork. The skills used to accomplish the habitat task could relate to the team behaviors and attitudes presented in  Self-Assessment Quiz 6-2 , the interpersonal aspects of team play, the task aspects of team play, or some team skill not mentioned in this chapter. Here is a sampling of the many different skills that might be relevant in this exercise:

· Speaks effectively

· Listens to others

· Innovates solutions to problems

· Thinks outside the box

· Displays a high level of cooperation and collaboration

· Provides knowledge of the task

· Sees the big picture

· Focuses on deadlines

A synthesis of studies about the type of team processes described in this chapter supports the relevance of such actions by team members. (A team process is essentially an action taken by one or more team members.) A group of researchers examined the results of a variety of team member processes in 147 different samples of workers. The major conclusion reached was that teamwork processes are positively associated with both team member performance and satisfaction. [27]  You can, therefore, have some assurance that if you engage in the activities described in this chapter, your efforts will help increase performance and satisfaction.

Although this chapter has been about being a good team player, a person can still be a competitive and a strong individual performer while being a productive member of the group. It is posssible to take ownership and pride in your own work, and still take the time to cooperate with teammates. [28]  An analogy can be drawn to team sports in which there are stars and effective team players at the same time.

Skill-Building Exercise 6-3  will help you integrate the many suggestions presented here for developing teamwork skills.

Concept Review and Reinforcement

Key Terms

1. team   129

2. virtual team   131

3. synergy   132

4. social loafing   134

5. groupthink   134

6. role   134

7. consensus   145

Summary

To be successful in the modern organization, it is necessary to be an effective team player. Team members have complementary skills and are committed to a common purpose. All teams have some elements in common. Teams can be broadly classified into face-to-face versus virtual types. A virtual team does most of its work electronically instead of in face-to-face meetings.

Groups and teams offer such advantages as (1) gaining synergy, (2) work accomplishment and high productivity, (3) gaining increased acceptance of and commitment to decisions, (4) avoidance of major errors, and (5) increased job satisfaction.

Groups and teams also have disadvantages, such as (1) time wasting, (2) pressures toward conformity, (3) shirking of individual responsibility, (4) fostering of conflict, and (5) groupthink. The latter refers to making bad decisions as a by-product of strong consensus. Key characteristics of effective work groups are outlined in  Figure 6-1 .

An important part of being an effective team player is to choose effective roles. The roles studied here are: creative problem solver, resource investigator, coordinator, shaper, monitor-evaluator, team worker, implementer, completer-finisher, and specialist. Self-oriented roles are less effective and detract from group productivity. Understanding roles does not supplant the need for recognizing individual differences and communicating well.

Guidelines for effectively contributing to the interpersonal aspects of team play include (1) communicating frequently and assertively, (2) trusting team members, (3) displaying a high level of cooperation and collaboration, (4) recognizing the interests and achievements of others, (5) giving and receiving helpful criticism, (6) sharing the glory, and (7) taking care not to rain on another person’s parade.

Guidelines for effectively contributing to the task aspects of team play include (1) providing technical expertise, (2) assuming responsibility for problems, (3) seeing the big picture, (4) believing in consensus, (5) focusing on deadlines, and (6) helping team members do their jobs better.

A synthesis of research studies demonstrates that the types of teamwork processes described here are positively associated with both team member performance and satisfaction.

Questions for Discussion and Review

1. What do executives really mean when they say that “business is a team sport”?

2. Identify a few experiences most people have in high school and post-secondary school that make working in teams a natural experience for them.

3. Many futurists have predicted that soon most work will be conducted remotely (such as from homes, coffee shops, and co-working sites), with a minority of people working in company offices. What impact will this development have on teamwork?

4. How do team members know when they have achieved synergy?

5. What should the other team members do when they uncover a social loafer?

6. How can the monitor-evaluator role backfire for a person?

7. Assume that you are a team member. What percentage of your pay would you be willing to have based on a group reward? Explain your reasoning.

8. Many retail companies, banks, and medical offices require customer-contact employees to wear the same uniform. In what ways might these uniforms enhance teamwork?

9. A number of companies have sent employees to a team-building exercise in which they prepare a gourmet meal. Why would preparing a gourmet meal help build teamwork?

10. How can a person achieve individual recognition, yet still be a team player?

The Web Corner

1. http://www.timeanalyzer.com/lib/teamroles.htm

2. (Belbin’s team roles to improve team performance)

3. http://www.quintcareers.com/team_player_quiz.html

4. (Take the quiz, “Are You a Team Player: A Quintessential Careers Quiz”)

Internet Skill Builder: Becoming a Better Team Player

1. The purpose of this exercise duplicates the major purpose of the chapter—finding practical suggestions for improving your teamwork skills. Visit several Web sites that deal with enhancing teamwork skills from the standpoint of the individual, not the manager. An example of such a Web site is  www.confidencecenter.com . Write down at least three concrete suggestions you find, and compare these suggestions to those made in this chapter. If the opportunity arises, practice one of these skills in the next 10 days, and observe the results.

Developing Your Human Relations Skills

Interpersonal Relations Case 6.1

Leah Puts on Her Team Player Face

Leah was happy to find a position as a scanning technician at a business process outsourcing company, Expert Resource, Inc. A major part of Expert’s business was converting paperwork related to human resource management into digital form. Clients would mail their forms, such as medical claims, to Expert. Scanning technicians would then insert the claim forms into large scanning machines to make the conversion to digital. Clients would then have digital instead of paper documents for health claims and other human resource records.

The scanning technicians had to interact with other employees in several ways. Many of the claims received contained illegible identifying information, so they had to be sent to a security department that attempted to obtain the proper identification for the forms. The scanning technicians were expected to help level the workload among the technicians. For example, if one of the technicians was overwhelmed, and another was caught up, the latter was supposed to help out the former. Also, the company frequently held small celebrations in the office. A typical celebration would be to hold a brunch in honor of a new employee joining the company.

Leah believed that if she performed well in her position as a scanning technician, she would be eligible for promotion to the information technology department. Eventually, being promoted to a supervisor position was also within the realm of possibility. Leah also recognized that having good skills and speed in scanning documents were not sufficient to be promoted to a supervisory position. Her size up of the situation was that being a good team player would be required to be considered for promotion. Leah then set out to develop the reputation of being a good team player.

The next Monday morning, Leah arrived at the office with a box of donuts that she placed in the break room, with a note attached that said, “Enjoy your coffee or tea this morning with a treat from your coworker Leah.” Several of the other scanning technicians thanked Leah; however, one technician said to her, “Why did you bring us donuts? You’re not our supervisor.”

A week later, Leah implemented another tactic designed to boost her reputation as a team player. She sent an e-mail to the other technicians informing them that they were free to send her an e-mail or an IM anytime they were overloaded with documents to scan. Leah said that she would help the overloaded coworker so long as she was caught up on her own work.

A week later, Leah reflected, “I think I am developing a reputation as a good team player, but I can’t give up yet. I think I know a way to really cement being regarded as a strong team player.” Leah then wrote an e-mail to the other scanning technicians, as well as her supervisor. The e-mail read in part:

“We all know that it takes a village to raise a child. But did you also know that it takes a group of friendly and cooperative coworkers to get a scanning technician up to speed? I want to thank you all for your cooperation and friendliness. You have been very helpful to me.”

Case Questions

1. How effective do you think Leah’s initiatives are in helping her develop a reputation as a strong team player?

2. If you were Leah’s supervisor, how would you react to the e-mails she sent to the group?

3. What advice might you offer Leah to help her advance her reputation as a team player?

Interpersonal Relations Case 6.2

Trevor Speaks Freely

Elizabeth is the owner of Home Healthcare Finders, a prosperous company that provides home healthcare services to individuals. Many of the clients are elderly people in need of home healthcare, but many other people in need of home healthcare are also served by the agency. Among these clients are people temporarily disabled because of illness and accident and younger people with long-term or permanent disabilities such as brain damage that began at birth. The clients also include a few people who are morbidly obese and require assistance with ordinary living.

Home Healthcare Finders has been located in the suburbs for the six years of its existence. Elizabeth is pondering whether to renew the lease for the company’s present location, or move to another office. She has given serious thought to relocating Home Healthcare Finders to a loft in an old building in the city that overlooks the river, or another attractive loft. Elizabeth organized a face-to-face meeting in the conference room to discuss possible relocation. She began the meeting with an explanation that the lease for the office was up for renewal, and that she had given some preliminary thought to relocating to a loft. A partial transcript of the meeting follows:

Elizabeth: Do you folks think we should relocate? And if you do think that relocation is a good idea, what do you think of moving Home Healthcare to a city loft?

Terry: I like the idea of relocating, because we need more space. Even our waiting room is too cramped. Also, right now we are wedged between a sub shop and a dollar store. I think we could do better.

Dave: Yes, why not relocate? And it would be so cool to work in a loft.

Trevor: Would relocation really benefit us? I think we would lose a lot of clients who would not want the hassle of driving downtown. I am also concerned that relocation would mean higher rent and therefore smaller year-end bonuses for the team.

Cindy: I’m a little concerned that an old downtown building would not be so accessible for some of our clients who come to visit us with their guardians.

Trevor: Wow, Cindy, you are right on target. Can you imagine Home Healthcare being sued because we have limited accessibility for physically disabled people?

Charlene: I have always wanted to have an office in a loft. Yet I am a little concerned about spending money on parking daily, weekly, or monthly.

Trevor: You have nailed down another good argument for not moving downtown. We have to know first if Elizabeth would give us a parking allowance. Otherwise, the value of our salaries would decrease.

Julio: I like the idea of relocating to a loft by the river. Our image would be enhanced, and I could take a lunch break seated on a bench by the river.

Trevor: Yet there is a downside to what Julio likes about the riverside location. We could easily get distracted from our work because of the pleasant location.

Elizabeth: Let’s not discuss the subject of relocation to a downtown loft until a meeting next week. In the meantime, let’s send e-mail messages back and forth dealing with some of the issues.

Case Questions

1. What is you evaluation of Trevor as an effective team player?

2. Which team member role or roles does Trevor appear to be occupying?

3. How should Elizabeth have dealt with Trevor’s objections during the meeting?

Interpersonal Relations Role-Play

Elizabeth Wants More Cooperation from Trevor

The case just presented provides the scenario for this role-play. Elizabeth has become annoyed with Trevor’s negative attitude toward the office relocation to a downtown loft. Elizabeth likes the idea of obtaining input from the group about the possible relocation, but she expected less opposition. One student plays the role of Elizabeth, who wants to encourage Trevor to take on a more positive attitude about the contemplated move. Another student plays the role of Trevor, who thinks he is making an important contribution by preventing Home Healthcare Finders from making a big mistake. Four other students might play the roles of Cindy, Terry, Dave, and Julio, who might want to contribute to Trevor having a more harmonious attitude toward the relocation. Run the role-play for about seven minutes, with the observers providing feedback when the role-play is completed.

References

1. Jon R. Katzenbach and Douglas K. Smith, “The Discipline of Teams,” Harvard Business Review, March–April 1993, p. 112.

2. Donna M. Owens, “Is Management Obsolete? Traditional Management Practices Don’t Fit Today’s Workplaces,” HR Magazine, May 2012, p. 28.

3. Quinetta M. Roberson and Ian O. Williamson, “Justice in Self-Managing Teams: The Role of Social Networks in the Emergence of Procedural Justice Climates,” Academy of Management Journal, June 2012, p. 685.

4. Claus W. Langfred, “Too Much Trust a Good Thing? Negative Effects of High Trust and Individual Autonomy in Self-Managing Teams,” Academy of Management Journal, June 2004, pp. 385–399.

5. Andrew M. Carton and Jonathon N. Cummings, “A Theory of Subgroups in Work Teams,” Academy of Management Review, July 2102, p. 441.

6. Achieveglobal (company name), “Leading Virtually: Inspiring Peak Performance in Long-Distance Teams,” Workforce Management, December 2001, p. S3.

7. Arvind Malhotra, Ann Majchrzak, and Benson Rosen, “Leading Virtual Teams,” Academy of Management Perspectives, February 2007, p. 62.

8. Cited in Adam Bryant, “Ensemble Acting, in Business,” The New York Times ( http://www.nytimes.com ), June 7, 2009.

9. Matt Bolch, “Rewarding the Team,” HR Magazine, February 2007, pp. 91–93; http://www.wikiinvest.com, December 4, 2009; “Nucor Reports Results for Second Quarter and First Half of 2012,”  http://nucor.com/investor , July 19, 2012.

10. Ross Kerber, “For Abigail Johnson, a Leadership Test,” The Boston Globe ( http://boston.com ), August 21, 2007, p. 1.

11. Irving L. Janus, Victims of Groupthink: A Psychological Study of Foreign Policy Decisions and Fiascos (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1972); Glen Whyte, “Groupthink Reconsidered,” Academy of Management Review, January 1989, pp. 40–56.

12. Martha A. Peak, “Treating Trauma in Teamland,” Management Review, September 1997, p. 1.

13. “R. Meredith Belbin,” in Business: The Ultimate Resource (Cambridge, MA: Perseus, 2002), pp. 966–967; Belbin, Management Teams (London: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, 2003); Belbin® Team-Roles,  http://www.belbin.com .

14. Research reported in Elizabeth Bernstein, “Speaking Up Is Hard to Do: Researchers Explain Why,” The Wall Street Journal, February 7, 2012, pp. D1, D4.

15. Alex “Sandy” Pentland, “The New Science of Building Great Teams,” Harvard Business Review, April 2012, p. 64.

16. Ashlee Vance and Dina Bass, “Microsoft: No Company for Solo Artists,” Bloomberg Businessweek, November 19–November 25, 2012, p. 37.

17. Romanus Wolter, “Get Team-Focused,” Entrepreneur, February 2009, p. 124.

18. Cited in “Gather Round, People!” Entrepreneur, September 2009, p. 21.

19. “Fly in Formation: Easy Ways to Build Team Spirit,” WorkingSMART, March 2000, p. 6.

20. Cited in “Score a Perfect ‘10’ on Teamwork,” Manager’s Edge, May 2006, p. 1.

21. Pamela Lovell, “Healthy Teams Display Strong Vital Signs,” Teamwork, sample issue, the Dartnell Corporation, 1997.

22. Research reported in Adam Grant, “Givers Take All: The Hidden Dimension of Corporate Culture,: McKinsey Quarterly (http://www.mckinseyquarterly), April 2013, pp. 1-2.

23. Jessica R. Mesmer-Magnus and Leslie A. DeChurch, “Information Sharing and Team Performance: A Meta-Analysis,” Journal of Applied Psychology, March 2009, pp. 535–546.

24. Mary J. Waller et al., “The Effect of Individual Perceptions of Deadlines on Team Performance,” Academy of Management Review, October 2001, p. 597.

25. Mark G. Ehrhant and Stefanie E. Naumann, “Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Work Groups: A Group Norms Approach,” Journal of Applied Psychology, December 2004, pp. 960–97; Nathan P. Podsakoff, Steven W. Whiting, Philip M. Podaskoff, and Brian D. Blume, Individual- and Organization-Level Consequences of Organizational Citizenship Behaviors: A Meta-Analysis,” Journal of Applied Psychology, January 2009, pp. 122–141.

26. Daniel G. Bachrach, Benjamin C. Powell, Elliot Bendoly, and R. Glenn Richey, “Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Performance Evaluations: Exploring the Impact of Task Interdependence,”Journal of Applied Psychology, January 2006, pp. 193–201.

27. Jeffrey A. LePine et al., “A Meta-Analysis of Teamwork Processes: Tests of a Multidimensional Model and Relationships with Team Effectiveness Criteria,” Personnel Psychology, Summer 2008, pp. 273–307.

28. Janet Paskin, ““Finding the ‘I’ in Team,” Bloomberg Businessweek, February 18–February 24, 2013, p. 78.

Chapter 7 Group Problem Solving and Decision Making

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Learning Objectives

After reading and studying this chapter and completing the exercises, you should be able to

1. Understand the difference between rational and political decision making.

2. Use the general approach to problem-solving groups.

3. Use brainstorming effectively.

4. Use the nominal group technique effectively.

5. Understand how to increase the efficiency of group problem solving through e-mail and collaborative software.

6. Pinpoint several suggestions for being an effective meeting participant.

7. Explain how national culture and organizational culture might influence the acceptance of group decision making.

Craig is the president of the pet clothing and accessories division of a larger consumer products company. Several years ago he became concerned that his division was experiencing a decline in sales, even though consumer interest in pets was increasing. Craig accepted the criticism from the CEO that his division was producing few new products or ideas for new products and that the division had substantial ways to reduce costs.

Craig had encouraged his department heads to conduct brainstorming groups to develop new product ideas and ideas for cost cutting, but the ouput was modest. After reading several articles on the topic, Craig decided that the office structure needed revamping to facilitate more day-to-day exchanges of ideas and creativity. He called in a consultant from one of the better known office furniture, layout, and design firms. Among the suggestions were for the division to rely less on placing workers in cubicles. Other suggestions included installing more lounge areas, tables, a larger café, and a few whiteboards and felt-tip pens in open areas. The purpose of these physical modifications was to encourage more joint decision making and the daily exchange of ideas.

Within one year, Craig noticed a difference in terms of creative contribution. More ideas were floating to the surface for both new products and cost cutting. Among the new pet accessories introduced were backpacks for dogs, team jerseys for dogs, snow galoshes for both dogs and cats, and an improved line of car seatbelts for domestic animals. One of the most effective cost-cutting ideas was to reduce the number of delivery trucks owned by the division and to rely more on delivery services.

Findings ways of organizing physical space to encourage group interaction is but one approach to facilitate group decision making and creativity. At the same time, part of having high-level interpersonal skills is the ability to work closely with others in solving problems and making decisions. This chapter will enhance your group problem-solving and decision-making skills. You will receive guidelines for applying several major group problem-solving methods, along with suggestions for being an effective contributor at meetings. As a starting point in studying these techniques, first think through your present level of receptiveness toward group problem solving by doing Self-Assessment Quiz 7-1.

Rational versus Political Decision Making in Groups

Group decision making is the process of reaching a judgment based on feedback from more than one individual. Most people involved in group problem solving may share the same purpose in agreeing on a solution and making a decision. Nevertheless, they may have different agendas and use different methods. Two such different approaches to group decision making are the rational model and the political model.

group decision making

The process of reaching a judgment based on feedback from more than one individual.

Learning Objective 1

The rational decision-making model is the traditional, logical approach to decision making, based on the scientific method. It is grounded in establishing goals, establishing alternatives, examining consequences, and hoping for optimum results. The search for optimum results is based on an economic view of decision making: the idea that people hope to maximize gain and minimize loss when making a decision. For example, a team should choose the lowest-cost, highest-quality supplier, even though the team leader may be a good friend of the sales representative of a competitor.

rational decision-making model

The traditional, logical approach to decision making based on the scientific method.

Self-Assessment Quiz 7-1

My Problem-Solving Tendencies

Directions:

Describe how well you agree with the following statements, using the following scale: disagree strongly (DS); disagree (D); neutral (N); agree (A); agree strongly (AS). Circle the number in the appropriate column.

DS D N A AS

1. Before reaching a final decision on a matter of significance, I like to discuss it with one or more other people. 1 2 3 4 5

2. If I’m facing a major decision, I like to get away from others to think it through. 5 4 3 2 1

3. I get lonely working by myself. 1 2 3 4 5

4. Several heads are better than one. 1 2 3 4 5

5. A wide range of people should be consulted before an executive makes a major decision. 1 2 3 4 5

6. To arrive at a creative solution to a problem, it is best to rely on a group. 1 2 3 4 5

7. From what I’ve seen so far, group decision making is a waste of time. 5 4 3 2 1

8. Most great ideas stem from the solitary effort of great thinkers. 5 4 3 2 1

9. Important legal cases should be decided by a jury rather than by a judge. 1 2 3 4 5

10. Individuals are better suited than groups to solve technical problems. 5 4 3 2 1

Total score:

Scoring and Interpretation:

Add the numbers you circled to obtain your total score.

46–50: You have strong positive attitudes toward group problem solving and decision making. You will, therefore, adapt well to the decision-making techniques widely used in organizations. Be careful, however, not to neglect your individual problem-solving skills.

30–45: You have neutral attitudes toward group problem solving and decision making. You may need to remind yourself that group problem solving is well accepted in business.

10–29: You prefer individual to group decision making. Retain your pride in your ability to think independently, but do not overlook the contribution of group problem solving and decision making. You may need to develop more patience for group problem solving and decision making.

The rational model also assumes that each alternative is evaluated in terms of how well it contributes to reaching the goals involved in making the decision. For example, if one of the goals in relocating a factory was to reduce energy costs and taxes, each alternative would be carefully examined in terms of its tax and energy consequences. A team member might say, “Setting up a factory in the Phoenix area sounds great. It’s true that taxes are low, the labor market is wonderful, and we won’t lose any days to snow emergencies. But did you know that the energy costs are very high because of the amount of air conditioning required?”

The  political decision-making model  assumes that people bring preconceived notions and biases into the decision-making situation. Because the decision makers are politically motivated (a focus on satisfying one’s own interests), the individuals often do not make the most rational choice. The field of behavioral economics is based on the idea that many decisions are irrational or politically based. Revenge and cheating are among the irrational behaviors that underlie the behavior of many employees and customers. [1]  Most computer hackers decide to create a virus or destroy computer records based on revenge, cheating, or a sadistic delight in creating misfortune for others.

political decision-making model

The approach that assumes that people bring preconceived notions and biases into the decision-making situation.

People who use the political model may operate on the basis of incomplete information. Facts and figures that conflict with personal biases and preferences might get blocked out of memory or rationalized away. A team member might say, “Those air conditioning costs are exaggerated. I have heard that if you use thermal pumps in a factory, the cooling costs go way down.”

Another unintentional contributor to political decision making is  blind spots : areas of unawareness about our attitudes, thinking, and behaviors that contribute to poor decisions. Shawn O. Utsey, a psychology professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, says that blind spots prevent us from making sound decisions by distorting vision, impairing judgment, and impairing personal and professional growth. An example of a frequent blind spot is not stopping to think, particularly when under pressure. [2]  For example, a person might purchase a luxury SUV on the spot that will wind up creating a monthly negative cash flow.

blind spots

Areas of unawareness about our attitudes, thinking, and behaviors that contribute to poor decisions.

Greed and gluttony are major contributors to irrational (or political) decision making. During the mid-2000s, an astounding number of financial managers decided to invest in subprime mortgage loans and then convert these loans into equity investments. Eventually, many holders of these high-risk mortgages were unable or unwilling to make their payments. [3]  As the securities collapsed in value, an enormous stock market crisis took place. The securities were based on complex mathematic models, yet were believed in because the investment bankers were looking for ways to capture millions of dollars in bonuses for themselves. (Some observers believe that the US government agencies involved in housing promoted generous lending practices that prompted many unqualified buyers to obtain mortgages.)

In the relocation example at hand, two of the members may say “Thumbs up to Phoenix” for reasons that satisfy their own needs. One team member might be fascinated with the American Indian culture so prevalent in Arizona and may, therefore, want to move to Phoenix. Another member might have retired parents living in Phoenix and be interested in living near them.

In practice, it is sometimes difficult to determine whether a decision maker is being rational or political. Have you ever noticed that hotels almost never have a 13th floor? The reason is both rational and political. The hotel manager might say rationally, “Many people are superstitious about the number 13, so they will refuse to take a room on the 13th floor. So if we want to maximize room use, the rational decision for us is to label the 13th floor as 14. In this way, we will avoid the irrational [political] thinking of guests.”

Although the examples about political and irrational decision making have been related mostly to individuals, the same problems may surface in group decision making. This is true because a group decision is still based on what takes place in the brains of its members.

Guidelines for Using General Problem-Solving Groups

Learning Objective 2

Solving problems effectively in groups requires skill. The effort is often worthwhile because participation in group decision making frequently leads to better acceptance of the decision, and stronger commitment to the implications of the decision. For example, a group involved in making decisions about cost cutting might be more willing to carry through with the suggestions than if participants had not made the decision. Group decision making can also lead to higher quality decisions and innovations because the group collectively has more information than might individuals.[4] Similarly, the group might come up with better suggestions for cost cutting because of group members sharing information.

Current research reinforces the idea that group problem solving has the potential to be quite effective. A team of researchers headed by Anita Williams Woolley of Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business studied the performance of groups engaged in a wide variety of tasks, such as reading the facial expressions of others. Seven hundred people participated in the two studies. The key study result was that groups featuring the right kind of internal dynamics perform well on a variety of tasks. This finding suggests the presence of collective intelligence that goes beyond the problem-solving ability of individual members. Collective intelligence is associated with the average social sensitivity of group members, members taking turns talking, and the proportion of women in the group. Women appear to contribute to the group collective intelligence because of their relatively high social sensitivity.[5]

Keith Dannemiller/Corbis

Here we examine three aspects of group problem solving useful in making more effective decisions: working through the group problem-solving steps, managing disagreement about the decision, and aiming for inquiry rather than advocacy.

Working through the Group Problem-Solving Steps

When team members get together to solve a problem, they typically hold a discussion rather than rely on formal problem-solving techniques. Several team members might attempt to clarify the true nature of the problem, and a search then begins for an acceptable solution. Although this technique can be effective, the probability of solving the problem well (and, hence, making the right decision) increases when the team follows a systematic procedure.

The Problem-Solving Steps

The following guidelines represent a time-tested way of solving problems and making decisions within a group. You may recognize these steps as having much in common with the scientific method. The same steps are, therefore, ideal for following the rational decision-making model. Two other aspects of group decision making will be described here: managing disagreement and inquiry versus advocacy.

Assume that you are a team member of a small business that distributes food supplies to hospitals, nursing homes, and schools. Your business volume is adequate, but you have a cash-flow problem because some of your customers take over 30 days to pay their bills. Here is how problem solving would proceed following the steps for effective group problem solving and decision making:

Step One. Identify the problem. Discuss the problem, weigh the various perceptions, and reach consensus. The surface problem is that some customers are paying their bills late. Your company’s ultimate problem is that it does not have enough cash on hand to pay expenses.

Step Two. Clarify the problem. If group members do not see the problem the same way, they will offer divergent solutions to their own individual perceptions of the problem. To some team members, late payments may simply mean the company has less cash in the bank. As a result, the company earns a few dollars less in interest. Someone else on the team might perceive the problem as mostly an annoyance and inconvenience. Another person may perceive late payers as being immoral and may, therefore, want to penalize them. The various perceptions of the problem solvers contribute to their exercising a political model of decision making. It is important to reach consensus that the ultimate problem is not enough cash in hand to run the business, as explained in Step One.

Step Three. Analyze the cause. Understand the cause of the each problem and find ways to overcome it, to convert what exists into what you want. Late payment of bills (over 30 days) can be caused by several factors. The customers may have cash-flow problems of their own, they may have slow-moving bureaucratic procedures, or they may be understaffed. Another possibility is that the slow-paying customers may be dissatisfied with the service and could be holding back on payments in retaliation. Research, including interviewing customers, may be needed to analyze the cause or causes.

Step Four. Search for alternative solutions. Remember that multiple alternative solutions can be found to most problems. The alternative solutions you choose will depend on your analysis of the causes. Assume that you did not find customers to be dissatisfied with your service, but they were slow in paying bills for a variety of other reasons. Your team then gets into a creative mode by developing a number of alternatives. Among them are offering bigger discounts for quick payment, dropping slow-paying customers, sending out your own bills more promptly, and using follow-up e-mail messages and phone calls to bring in money. For regular customers, you might try for automatic withdrawals from their checking account. Another possibility would be to set up a line of credit that would enable your firm to make short-term loans to cover expenses until your bills were paid.

Step Five. Select alternatives. Identify the criteria that solutions should meet; then, discuss the pros and cons of the proposed alternatives. No solution should be laughed at or scorned. Specifying the criteria that proposed solutions should meet requires you to think deeply about your goals. For example, your team might establish the following criteria for solutions: that they (a) improve cash flow, (b) do not lose customers, (c) do not cost much to implement, and (d) do not make the company appear desperate. The pros and cons of each proposed alternative can be placed on a flip chart, board, or computer screen.

For many complex problems, it is best to select an alternative solution that is based on a variety of options. The blended-options solutions will often be stronger because it contains several useful ideas.[6] At the same time, several group members will be satisfied that at least part of their suggestion was incorporated in the final solution. For example, if the problem under group discussion was choosing a theme for decorating a new office, several ideas might be selected. An advertising agency used group decision making to arrive at a dual theme for decorating the office: cool, yet affluent.

Step Six. Plan for implementation. Decide what actions are necessary to carry out the chosen solution to the problem. Suppose your group decides that establishing a bank line of credit is the most feasible alternative. The company president or the chief financial officer might then meet with a couple of local banks to apply for a line of credit at the most favorable rate. Your group also chooses to initiate a program of friendly follow-up telephone calls to encourage more rapid payment.

In many organizations, the group may have to present its finding to the next level of management or higher before they are authorized to implement their decision. For example, a group of product developers at Proctor & Gamble might decide that the company should launch a muscle-building food supplement; however, mangement would have the authority to reject the idea, therefore, blocking the implementation of the suggestion.

Step Seven. Clarify the contract. Assess what needs to be done and what deadlines to reach. The contract is a restatement of what group members have agreed to do and deadlines for accomplishment. In your situation, several team members are involved in establishing a line of credit and initiating a system of follow-up phone calls.

Step Eight. Develop an action plan. Specify who does what and when to carry out the contract. Each person involved in implementing alternatives develops an action plan in detail that stems logically from the previous steps.

Step Nine. Provide for evaluation and accountability. Reconvene to discuss progress after the plan is implemented, to hold people accountable for results that have not been achieved. In the situation at hand, progress will be measured in at least two objective ways. You can evaluate by accounting measures whether the cash-flow problem has improved and whether the average cycle time on accounts receivable has decreased.

When to Apply the Problem-Solving Steps

The steps for effective group problem solving are best applied to complex problems. Straightforward problems of minor consequence (such as deciding on holiday decorations for the office) do not require all the steps. Nevertheless, remember that virtually every problem has more than one feasible alternative. A classic example of searching for the best alternative to a problem is as follows:

Many years ago a Ritz-Carlton hotel was receiving complaints of late room service, which was unusual for such a luxury hotel. The hotel president sent out a team composed of a room-service specialist, a waiter, and a cook. All appeared fine except that the service elevator was consuming a lot of time. Engineers in charge of the elevator could find no technical problem. Team members then rode the service elevators for a week. The team observed that the elevator made several stops on the way from the first floor to the top floor. It was noted that housemen were taking towels from one floor to bring them to housekeepers on other floors. The team concluded that the Ritz-Carlton did not have a room-service problem or an elevator problem—it was experiencing a towel shortage. After a bunch of new towels were purchased, complaints about room service dropped by one half.[7]

The Importance of Collective Efficacy

How well a given group solves a problem depends on many of the characteristics of an effective work group outlined in Figure 6-1 (in the previous chapter). Of particular relevance is the group’s level of confidence that it can solve the problem at hand. Collective efficacy is a group’s belief that it can handle certain tasks. Collective efficacy influences a group to initiate action, influences how much effort it will apply to the task, and influences how long the group’s effort will be sustained.[8] (Note that collective efficacy refers to confidence, whereas collective intelligence has to do with actual ability.) If the group members say spontaneously, “We can do it, let’s go,” they will usually be successful in solving the problem, assuming they have the necessary knowledge and talent.

For practice in using the problem steps described earlier, do Skill-Building Exercise 7-1.

Managing Disagreement about Group Decision Making

A major reason that group decision making does not proceed mechanically is that disagreement may surface. Such disagreement is not necessarily harmful to the final outcome of the decision, because those who disagree may have valid points and help prevent groupthink. For committees and other groups to work well, they should be composed of people with different perspectives and experiences who are not hesitant to speak their minds, says psychologist Richard Larrick at the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University.[9]

The idea is to manage disagreement so that the decision-making process does not break down, and the dissenters are not squelched. Conflicts about decisions were studied among 43 cross-functional teams engaged in new product development. Disagreeing about major issues led to positive outcomes for team performance (as measured by ratings made by managers) under two conditions.[10]

First, the dissenters have to feel they have the freedom to express doubt. To measure such freedom, participants in the study responded to such statements as “I sometimes get the feeling that others are not speaking up although they harbor serious doubts about the direction being taken.” (Strongly disagreeing with this statement would suggest that group members had the freedom to express doubt.)

Second, doubts must be expressed collaboratively (trying to work together) rather than contentiously (in a quarrelsome way). An example of collaborative communication would be having used the following statement during decision making: “We will be working together for a while. It’s important that we all feel comfortable with a solution to this problem.” An example of contentious communication would be high agreement with the statement, “You’re being difficult and rigid.”

Another study lends strength to the idea that teams are more likely to make optimal decisions when they take the time to debate the issues and thoughtfully discuss alternative

Skill-Building Exercise 7-1

A General Problem-Solving Group

The class is divided into groups of about six people. Each group takes the same complicated problem through the nine steps for effective group decision making. Several of the steps will be hypothetical because this is a simulated experience. Pretend that you are a task force composed of people from different departments in the company. Choose one of the following possibilities:

Scenario 1: Your company wants your task force to decide whether to purchase a corporate jet for members of senior management, or require them to continue flying on commercial airlines.

Scenario 2: You are employed by Samsung, an information technology giant that manufactures and sells printers, among its many products. Data supplied by the marketing research department indicates that the consumption of Samsung inkjet cartridges by consumers worldwide is declining more rapidly than anticipated. At the same time, private label refill cartridges are selling at a pace much faster than forecasted. Your task force is asked to recommend a plan for increasing the consumption of inkjet cartridges.

solutions. A study about hiring pilots for long-distance flights found that when groups disagreed over who to hire, there was more information sharing. Also, the strong disagreement led to more intense discussions that prompted participants to repeat their reasoning in front of other group members. A debate over which candidate to hire encourages team members to focus on information that may be inconsistent with how they formed their original opinion.[11]

Part of discussing alternative solutions is to take seriously minority opinions within the group. The consideration of minority opinions when making team decisions contributes to team effectiveness.[12] For example, a minority opinion in a hypothetical muscle-building food supplement scenario might be, “I doubt that a company with the great reputation of Procter & Gamble should get involved in anything that resembles using steroids for body building.”

Conflict-resolution techniques, as described in Chapter 9, are another potentially useful approach to managing disagreement about decision making.

Aiming for Inquiry versus Advocacy in Group Decision Making

Another useful perspective on group decision making is to compare the difference between group members involved in inquiry (looking for the best alternative) versus advocacy (or fighting for one position). Inquiry is an open process designed to generate multiple alternatives, encourage the exchange of ideas, and produce a well-reasoned solution. Decision makers who care more about the good of the firm than personal gain are the most likely to engage in inquiry. According to David A. Garvin and Michael A. Roberto, this open-minded approach doesn’t come easily to most people.[13]

Instead, most groups charged with making a decision tend to slip into the opposite mode, called advocacy. The two approaches look similar because under either mode the group members are busily immersed in work and appear to be searching for the best alternative. Yet, the results from the two modes are quite different. Using an advocacy approach, participants approach decision making as a contest with the intent of selecting the winning alternative. One member of the group might be trying to gain the largest share of the budget and might become so passionate about winning budget share that he loses objectivity. Advocates might even withhold important information from the group, such as not revealing that their budget is big enough, considering their decreased activity.

With an advocacy approach, the disagreements that arise tend to separate the group and are antagonistic. Personality conflicts come into play, and one person might accuse the other side of not being able to see the big picture. In contrast, an inquiry-focused group carefully considers a variety of alternatives and collaborates to discover the best solution.

Conflict-resolution methods can be useful in helping the decision makers overcome the advocacy approach. As part of resolving the conflict, the group leader must make sure that everyone knows that his or her viewpoint is being carefully considered.

Guidelines for Brainstorming

1. Learning Objective 3

In many work situations, groups are expected to produce creative and imaginative solutions to problems. When the organization is seeking a large number of alternatives for solving problems,  brainstorming  is often the technique of choice. Brainstorming is a group problem-solving technique that promotes creativity by encouraging idea generation through noncritical discussion. Alex Osborn, who developed the practice of brainstorming, believed that one of the main blocks to organizational creativity was the premature evaluation of ideas. [14]  The basic technique is to encourage unrestrained and spontaneous participation by group members. The term brainstorm has become so widely known that it is often used as a synonym for a clever idea.

brainstorming

A group problem-solving technique that promotes creativity by encouraging idea generation through noncritical discussion.

Brainstorming is used both as a method of finding alternatives to real-life problems and as a creativity-training program. In the usual form of brainstorming, group members spontaneously call out alternative solutions to a problem facing them. Any member is free to enhance or “hitchhike” upon the contribution of another person. At the end of the session, somebody sorts out the ideas and edits the more unrefined ones.

Brainstorming is widely used to develop new ideas for products, find names for products, develop advertising slogans, and solve customer problems. For instance, the design firm Ideo uses brainstorming as standard practice for tasks such as thinking of new high-tech gadgets for children. Brainstorming has also been used to develop new organizational structures and names for companies and products, and it is widely used in developing software.

Adhering to a few simple rules or guidelines helps ensure that creative alternative solutions to problems will be forthcoming. The brainstorming process usually falls into place without frequent reminders about guidelines. Nevertheless, here are ten rules to improve the chances of having a good session. Unless many of these rules are followed, brainstorming becomes a free-for-all, rather than brainstorming in its original intent.

1. Begin with a goal, usually stated in the the message inviting people to participate in the session. If people know the purpose of the brainstorming session in advance, they will often give some serious thought to the suggestions they will bring to the meeting. Doing homework is a major contributor to brainstorming effectiveness.

2. Group size should be about five to seven people. If there are too few people, not enough suggestions are generated; if there are too many people, the session becomes uncontrolled; however, brainstorming can be conducted with as few as three people.

3. Everybody is given the chance to suggest alternative solutions. Members spontaneously call out alternatives to the problem facing the group. (Another approach is for people to speak in sequence.)

4. No criticism is allowed. All suggestions should be welcome; it is particularly important not to use derisive laughter.

5. Freewheeling is encouraged. Outlandish ideas often prove quite useful. It’s easier to tame a wild idea than to originate one. Although freewheeling is encouraged, a few moments of silence is not counterproductive because participants may need a few pauses to think. [15]

6. Quantity and variety are very important. The greater the number of ideas put forth, the greater the likelihood of a breakthrough idea.

7. Combinations and improvements are encouraged. Building upon the ideas of others, including combining them, is very productive. Hitchhiking or piggybacking is an essential part of brainstorming.

8. Notes must be taken during the session by a person who serves as the recording secretary. The session can also be taped, but this requires substantial time to retrieve ideas.

9. Invite outsiders to the brainstorming session. Inviting an outsider to the brainstorming session can add a new perspective the “insiders” might not think of themselves. (Such is the argument for having a diverse problem-solving group.)

10. Do not overstructure by following any of the above nine ideas too rigidly. Brainstorming is a spontaneous group process.

A widely accepted suggestion for brainstorming effectiveness is to have diverse group members. Diversity includes differences in age, sex, race, experience levels, and educational background, as well as functional background (e.g., marketing and information technology). The diversity contributes to different perspectives that facilitate a variety of ideas surfacing during the brainstorming session.

Goodluz/Shutterstock

According to one observer, the most productive brainstorming sessions take place in physically stimulating environments, as opposed to drab conference rooms. Natural light may stimulate thinking, so work in a room with windows (or outside, if weather permits). Changing from a seated position to walking around from time to time can be mentally stimulating. Food and drink also contribute to an enhanced environment for brainstorming. [16]

As implied in the opening case to this chapter, an open physical arrangement in the workplace can encourage people to engage in brainstorming informally, outside of a formal brainstorming group. James Hackett, the CEO of furniture maker Steelcase Inc., says that customers are purchasing products such as café lounge seating and benches to encourage brainstorming. [17]

Skill-Building Exercise 7-2

1.  

Stretch Your Imagination

A global contest was organized by Stanford University through its Technology Ventures Program. Anyone in the world was permitted to enter. The assignment was to take ordinary rubber bands and “add value” to them. Entries were submitted by video, posted on YouTube. Entrants included people from many different occupations, including computer scientists. The winner received the Genius Award.

Here is where you fit in. Through brainstorming, come up with at least six ways of adding value (making more useful) a rubber band or a bunch of rubber bands. You must stretch your imagination to be successful. After the brainstorming sessions have been completed, perhaps taking 10 minutes of class time, a representative of each group might share results with the class. Students might then assign a Genius Award to the entry that seems the most useful. Or, the instructor might be the judge.

Source: The facts about the contest stem from Lee Gomes, “Our Columnist Judges a Brainstorming Bee, and Meets a Genius,” The Wall Street Journal, March 5, 2008, p. B1. The scenario in the exercise is original.

Skill-Building Exercise 7-3

1.  

Brainstorming versus Brainwriting

Half the class is organized into brainstorming groups of about six people. The rest of the class works by themselves. Groups and individuals then work on the same problems for 10 minutes. The brainstorming groups follow the aforementioned guidelines. Individuals jot down as many alternatives as come to mind without interacting with other people. After the problem-solving sessions are completed, compare the alternatives developed by the groups and individuals. Groups and individuals choose one of the following problems so that solutions can be compared to the same problems:

1. How might we reduce the carbon dioxide emissions in our community?

2. How can we earn extra money, aside from holding a regular job?

3. How can we find new people to date?

4. How can we save money on food costs?

5. How can we use Twitter and Facebook to make money?

Brainstorming is an effective technique for finding a large number of alternatives to problems, particularly when the list of alternatives is subsequently refined and edited. Brainstorming in groups is also valuable because it contributes to job satisfaction for many people.  Skill-Building Exercise 7-2  gives you an opportunity to practice a commercially useful application of brainstorming.

A curious feature of brainstorming is that individuals working alone typically produce more useful ideas than those placed in a group. Brainstorming by individuals working alone is referred to as  brainwriting .  Skill-Building Exercise 7-3  gives you a chance to compare brainstorming with brainwriting.

brainwriting

Brainstorming by individuals working alone.

Guidelines for the Nominal Group Technique

Learning Objective 4

A team leader or other manager who must make a decision about an important issue sometimes needs to know what alternatives are available and how people will react to them. The leader also wants to obtain consensus on the alternative solution chosen. In such cases, group input is quite helpful. Spoken brainstorming is not ideal because the problem is still in the exploration phase and requires more than a list of alternative solutions.

A problem-solving technique called the nominal group technique (NGT) was developed to fit the situation. The NGT is a group problem-solving technique that calls people together in a structured meeting with limited interaction. The group is called nominal (in name only) because people first present their ideas without interacting with each other, as they would in a real group. Group discussion, however, does take place at a later stage in the process. A version of the nominal group technique developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the US Department of Health and Human Services contains the following steps.[18]

nominal group technique (NGT)

A group problem-solving technique that calls people together in a structured meeting with limited interaction.

Generating Ideas: The moderator or group leader presents the question or problem to the group in written form and reads the question to the group. The moderator directs everyone to write ideas in brief phrases or statements and to work silently and independently. Paper, computers, or mobile devices can be used to record suggestions and thoughts. Tablet and laptop computers are well suited for the NGT.

Recording Ideas: Group members engage in a round-robin feedback session to concisely record each idea (without discussion or debate at this point). The moderator writes an idea from a group member on a flip chart or projects the idea onto a screen and proceeds to ask for another idea from the next group member, continuing until each participant has contributed an idea. Ideas do not have to be repeated; however, if group members believe that an idea provides a different emphasis or variation, the idea can be included.

Discussing Ideas: Each recorded idea is then discussed to determine clarity and importance. For each idea, the moderator asks, “Are there any questions or comments group members would like to make about the item?” This step provides an opportunity for members to express their understanding of the logic and the relative importance of each item. The creator of the idea need not feel obliged to clarify or explain the item—any member of the group can carry out that role.

Voting on Ideas: Individuals vote privately to prioritze the ideas. The votes are tallied to identify the ideas that are ratest highest by the entire group. The moderator establishes which criteria are used to prioritize the ideas. To start, each group member selects the five most important ideas from the group list and writes one idea on each index card. Next, each member ranks the five ideas selected, with the most important receiving a rank of 5 and the least important receiving a rank of 1.

Selecting the Highest-Ranking Alternative: After members rank their responses in order of priority, the moderator creates a tally sheet on the flip chart or screen with numbers down the left-hand side of the chart, which correspond to the ideas from the round-robin. The moderator collects all the cards from the participants and and asks one member to read the idea number and number of points allocated to each one. Also, the moderator records and then adds the scores on the tally sheet. The ideas that are most favorably rated by the group are the most favored group actions or ideas in response to the idea posed by the moderator.

Figure 7-1 illustrates the ranking and tallying process in steps 4 and 5. To practice the nominal group technique, do Skill-Building Exercise 7-5.

Problem: A not-for-profit tennis and swim club finds that it has a surplus of $9,571 at the end of the year. The club president meets with five board members to decide what to do with the surplus. The table below lists the alternatives, the ranking of 1-5 by board members, and the tallying of the ranks.

Table 1: Alternatives Chosen by Group Members

Purchase new trees for the property

Paint and refurbish men’s and women’s locker rooms

Build locker rooms for boys and girls

Trade in club pickup truck for new one

Donate funds to Community Chest (a charity) in our city

Table 2: Ranks by Members and Tallying (5 is highest)

Choice Oscar Mary Rex Jessica Ted Lori Sum of Ranks

A 2 4 3 5 2 2 18

B 1 2 5 2 5 4 19

C 3 5 4 4 3 5 24

D 5 1 2 3 1 1 13

E 4 3 1 1 4 3 16

Row and Column Sums 15 15 15 15 15 15 90

Alternative C, build a locker room for boys and girls, is the favorite alternative.

Figure 7-1 The Ranking (Voting) and Tallying Process for the Nominal Group Technique

Skill-Building Exercise 7-4

The Nominal Group Technique

With a clear understanding of the mechanics of the NGT as described in the text, the technique can be demonstrated in about 30 minutes. The class is divided into groups of about seven. One person plays the role of the team leader, who can also assume the responsibility of the office assistant (recording information on flip charts or a computer).

You are a key member of a motion picture and television film production company. You have a contract to produce a series of four films. The problem you face is which North American (US, Canadian, or Mexican) city to choose as the film site. The president has ruled out Hollywood because expenses are too high. Solve this problem using the NGT, and make a decision about which city to choose for your film site.

Using Standup Meetings to Facilitate Problem Solving

1. Learning Objective 5

Problem solving and decision making can sometimes be improved by conducting meetings while standing up instead of sitting down. The general idea is that participants standing up in the problem-solving group are likely to be more alert and will come to a decision more quickly. Some people solve problems better when standing because they literally “think well on their feet.” Few people would be willing to stand for several hours, so they reach a decision quickly.

Many meeting leaders who use standup meetings are pleased with the results in terms of reaching high-quality decisions rapidly. At United Parcel Service (UPS), every morning and several times a day, managers assemble workers for a required standup meeting that lasts precisely three minutes. Among the topics covered are local information, traffic conditions, and customer complaints. Each meeting ends with a safety tip. The 180-second limit helps enforce punctuality throughout UPS. [19]  Many problem-solving meetings at Google are held standing up. For example, details about a new version of the Google results page were hammered out at a meeting of 10 people. [20]

Standup meetings at Atomic Object, the software developer, and other firms have been prompted by the growing use of “Agile,” an approach to developing software that requires compressing development projects into short pieces. Agile demands standup meetings during which participants update their coworkers with three items: what they have accomplished since yesterday’s meeting, what they plan to do today, and any barriers they see to getting work done. [21]  By participating in these focused meetings, workers hone their interpersonal skills in such areas as communicating quickly and openly, interpreting the nonverbal communication of others, and resolving disagreements on the spot.

Using E-Mail and collaborative software to Facilitate Group Decision Making

The presence of so many teams in the workplace means that people must work collectively and that they must make decisions together. Collective effort usually translates into meetings. Without any meetings, people are working primarily alone and thus are not benefiting from working in teams. Yet with too many meetings, it is difficult to accomplish individual work, such as dealing with e-mail, making telephone calls, analyzing information, and preparing reports.

Appropriate use of e-mail and collaborative software (formerly referred to as groupware) can facilitate interaction among team members and group decision making, while at the same time minimizing the number of physical meetings. Such use of e-mail and other electronic tools including business social networking makes possible the virtual teams described in the previous chapter .

Using E-Mail to Facilitate Meetings

Athough e-mail in the workplace is often replaced by more modern forms of electronic communication, such as intranets and business social networking sites, it still can make an important contribution to group problem solving and decision making. Using e-mail, many small details can be taken care of in advance of the meeting. During the meeting, major items can be tackled. The typical use of e-mail is to send brief memos to people on a distribution list. A more advanced use of e-mail is to distribute word processing documents as well as spreadsheets and graphics, including photographs, as attachments. If the subject of the meeting deals with uncomplicated issues, text messaging can be used instead of e-mail.

E-mail, instant messaging, and text messages are also quite useful for following up on meetings. Instead of calling a new meeting to take care of a few items, people with additional thoughts can simply send around information for sharing or action. For example, the meeting leader might send an e-mail to all participants stating, “I found out today that if we purchase those batteries in a package of 100, we can get a 15% discount. Should we go ahead?”

Pushing the use of e-mail too far can inhibit rather than enhance group decision making and teamwork. If people communicate with each other almost exclusively by e-mail, the warmth of human interaction and facial expressions is lost. Piggybacking of ideas is possible by reading each other’s ideas on a computer monitor. Nevertheless, the wink of an eye, the shared laughter, and the encouraging smiles that take place in a traditional meeting make an important contribution to team effort, including group problem solving. Also, face-to-face interaction facilitates creativity as people exchange ideas.

Using Collaborative Software and Social Platforms to Facilitate Group Problem Solving

The application of e-mail just described can be considered part of collaborative software because e-mail was used to facilitate work in groups. Electronic brainstorming also relies on collaborative software, because software is applied to facilitate group decision making. Using electronic brainstorming, as well as the other electronic approaches to group problem solving, participants are free to comment on or suggest a modification of the ideas of other contributors. Assume that Sara, a marketing assistant at a bicycle company, enters the following comment on her e-mail or Web site post: “I say, let’s push for selling more adult tricycles in Florida because of the many seniors down there.” Engineering technician Jason then adds to Sara’s comment, “I love Sara’s idea. But why limit the marketing push to Florida? Let’s follow the senior crowd right into Arizona and the Carolinas.”

The various electronic approaches to group decision making have been labeled social platforms because they function in the same manner as social networking Web sites. At the same time, because the group members can interact with each other frequently and comment on the posts placed by other group members, social platforms encourage collaboration. [22]

At its best, collaborative software offers certain advantages over single-user systems. Four common reasons people use collaborative software are as follows: [23]

· Making communication faster, clearer, and more persuasive

· Enabling people to work from remote locations, including home.

· Reducing travel costs

· a sufficient number of people face-to-face

Another example of collaborative software is a shared whiteboard that allows two or more people to view and draw on a common drawing surface, even when they are at a distance. The link to group decision making is that drawing sketches and diagrams might be an important part of decision making. An example is a sales team suggesting ways of dividing a geographic territory for selling.

An advantage of virtual problem solving is that it avoids the problem of a couple of people dominating the meeting and some people making no contribution because they are timid. In-person meetings are useful for a final discussion or vote because of the exchange of ideas possible. [24]  Another problem with anonymity in problem solving is that many workers want to receive credit for their good ideas.

Despite all these potential applications and benefits of collaborative software and social platforms, the system will break down unless almost all the parties involved use the software successfully. For example, all members of the virtual team must be willing to get online at the same time to have a productive meeting.

Suggestions for being an effective meeting participant

1. Learning Objective 6

Except for virtual meetings such as those made possible by collaborative software, group problem solving takes place within the context of a face-to-face meeting. A major problem with most meetings is that they frustrate the participants, particularly those who are accomplishment-oriented. Steven G. Rogelberg and his associates conducted an online survey of 980 participants from the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom. The more meetings the accomplishment-oriented workers attended, the worse they felt about their job and the lower their feelings of wellbeing. The meetings appeared to have been perceived as an interruption to the tasks these ambitious people set out to accomplish. [25]  Many workers, however, do enjoy the social interaction involved in meetings, as well as a change of pace from individual work.

Meetings are not likely to be eliminated, despite their unpopularity with accomplishment-oriented workers. A possible solution is for meeting participants to conduct themselves in a professional, task-oriented manner. In this way, meetings will most likely be shorter and more productive. A few key suggestions follow for being an effective meeting participant. [26]

· Arrive at the meeting prepared, such as by having studied the support material and agenda, thought through your potential contribution, and taken care of some details by e-mail beforehand.

· Arrive on time, and stay until the meeting is completed. The meeting leader will often wait for the last participant before getting down to business. Leaving early distracts other participants.

· Do not hog the meeting or sit silently. Meetings are much more effective when the participants make balanced contributions.

· Use constructive nonverbal communication rather than slouching, yawning, looking bored and frustrated, leaving the room frequently, chewing gum, checking your smartphone or tablet computer, or engaging in similar negative behaviors.

· Converse only with others in the meeting when someone else is not speaking. Some executives will oust participants from a meeting if they engage in sidebar conversations.

· Be prepared to offer compromise solutions when other meeting participants and the meeting leader are haggling about a conflict of opinion.

· When possible, have data ready to support your position, such as estimating from industry data how much money your suggestion will save the company.

From studying these suggestions, you will observe that conducting yourself productively and professionally in a meeting is yet another job-oriented interpersonal skill.

Another consideration in being a productive member of a meeting is to be able to deal effectively with other participants who seem intent on creating problems for others.  Chapter 12  includes a discussion of how to deal with difficult people. Four types of “meeting killers” can be identified, all of whom have to be dealt with sympathetically for their problems. At the same time, these meeting killers must receive clear feedback about how they are lowering the productivity of the meeting.

One meeting killer is the jokester who keeps cracking jokes whether or not they are appropriate. The dominator greatly overestimates the value of his or her personal views, and so the person keeps on taking up time of the group. The naysayer objects to all points raised and waits until consensus is almost attained to present his or her major objections. The rambler frequently goes off on a tangent, prompting others to wonder what point he or she is trying to make. [27]

Cultural Factors and Group Decision Making

Learning Objective 7

Most aspects of human relations and interpersonal skills are affected by cultural factors, including both national and organizational cultures. Chapter 8 focuses on developing cross-cultural skills, and describes many national differences in culture. Here we present a couple of examples of how cultural factors can influence the acceptance of group problem solving and decision making.

Whenever differences attributed to national cultures are mentioned, it must be recognized that these are sweeping generalizations that apply to average, or typical, behaviors. The same is true for generational and gender differences. Craig L. Pearce and his associates studied three sets of cultural differences in workplace attitudes and behaviors related to how willing workers are to share decision making. Highlights of the findings are as follows.[28]

Acceptance of unequal distribution of power in institutions and organizations. Workers in societies in which workers expect managers to have more power—and in which workers accept this reality—are more hesitant to participate in group decision making. The same workers might be hesitant to contribute radical ideas to brainstorming because they think the manager is responsible for producing innovative ideas. Countries in which workers believe in managers holding most of the power include Arab countries and France. Positive attitudes toward power sharing are more common in the United States and Canada.

The degree to which a country is aggressive versus nurturing. Aggressive societies are less prone to group decision making because aggressive people prefer to dominate. People in an aggressive society are oriented toward the achievement of goals at the expense of others. Managers from a nurturing society are more likely to believe in group decision making because the process helps workers to develop. On the list of aggressive societies are Ireland and the United States.

The degree to which a society is individualistic or collectivistic. Members of an individualistic society tend to be self-reliant and value independence, whereas members of a collectivistic society are oriented toward groups. Workers from an individualistic society might not enjoy working in teams and would not be so enthusiastic about group decision making. Workers from a collectivistic society take naturally to group decision making. People from Germany and the United States tend to value individualism. This stereotype exists despite the emphasis on teamwork in the United States.

The organizational culture, or values and behaviors of most members of the organization, exerts a strong influence on the preference for group decision making. When the organizational culture emphasizes collaboration, group problem solving and decision making is prevalent and welcome. Procter & Gamble and Xerox are two examples of successful corporations that emphasize group decision making. The General Motors of old emphasized individual decision making.

Concept Review and Reinforcement

Key Terms

1. group decision making   153

2. rational decision-making model   153

3. political decision-making model   154

4. blind spots   155

5. brainstorming   159

6. brainwriting   161

7. nominal group technique (NGT)   161

Summary

An important aspect of interpersonal relations in organizations is that groups solve many key problems. Group problem solvers and decision makers often use the rational model or the political model. The rational decision-making model is the traditional, logical approach to decision making based on the scientific method. The model assumes that each alternative is evaluated in terms of how well it contributes to reaching the goals involved in making the decision.

The political decision-making model assumes that people bring preconceived notions and biases into the decision-making situation. Because the decision makers are politically motivated, the individuals often do not make the most rational choice. Instead, the decision makers attempt to satisfy their own needs. Blind spots are an unintended contributor to political decision making, as are greed and gluttony.

General problem-solving groups are likely to arrive at better decisions when they follow standard steps or guidelines for group problem solving. The steps are as follows: (1) Identify the problem, (2) clarify the problem, (3) analyze the cause, (4) search for alternative solutions, (5) select alternatives, (6) plan for implementation, (7) clarify the contract, (8) develop an action plan, and (9) provide for evaluation and accountability. The group’s collective efficacy influences its ability to solve problems.

Disagreements about group decisions can be managed by giving dissenters the freedom to express doubt and by expressing doubts collaboratively rather than contentiously. Group decision making is more productive when group members are involved in inquiry, or looking for the best alternative. Advocacy, or fighting for one position, leads to poorer decisions. Research indicates that teams are more likely to make optimal decisions when they take the time to debate the issues and thoughtfully discuss alternative solutions.

When the organization is seeking a large number of alternatives to problems, brainstorming is often the technique of choice. Brainstorming is used as a method of finding alternatives to real-life problems and as a creativity-training program. Using the technique, group members spontaneously call out alternative solutions to the problem. Members build on the ideas of each other, and ideas are not screened or evaluated until a later stage. Diversity within the group facilitates brainstorming, as does the right physical environment, such as sunlight. Brainstorming by working alone, or brainwriting, is also effective in generating alternative solutions.

The nominal group technique (NGT) is recommended for a situation in which a leader needs to know what alternatives are available and how people will react to them. In the NGT, a small group of people contributes written solutions to the problem. Other members respond to their ideas later. Members rate each other’s ideas numerically, and the final group decision is the sum of the pooled individual votes.

Problem solving and decision making can sometimes be improved by conducting meetings while standing up instead of sitting down. The general idea is that participants who are standing up are more likely to be alert and come to a decision quickly. An experiment with management students indicated that standup groups made decisions more quickly, but that decision makers who sat down were more satisfied.

E-mail can be used to facilitate group decision making because members can feed information to each other without having to meet as a group. Memos, spreadsheet analyses, and graphics can be distributed through the network. Too much emphasis on e-mail, however, results in losing the value of face-to-face human interaction.

Various types of collaborative software, including e-mail and electronic brainstorming, can facilitate group decision making. Also, a shared whiteboard allows two or more people to view and draw on a common drawing surface, even when they are at a distance. Facebook, or a company Web site of the same type, can also be used for group decision making. Virtual problem solving helps avoid individual domination of decision making, but face-to-face discussion is important in making a final decision.

To help avoid the frustration of many accomplishment-oriented people in meetings, participants should conduct themselves in a professional, task-oriented manner. The suggestions presented here include: arrive prepared, arrive on time and stay for the full meeting, do not hog the meeting or sit silently, use constructive non-verbal communication, avoid sidebar conversations, offer compromise solutions to conflicts, and use data to support your position.

Questions for Discussion and Review

1. In this age of advanced communication technology, why bother having face-to-face problem-solving groups?

2. Many successful entrepreneurs, including the late Steve Jobs at Apple Corporation, made most of the big product decisions by themselves. So why should you worry about developing skills in group decision making?

3. Which personality characteristics described in  Chapter 2  do you think would help a person be naturally effective in group problem solving?

4. Give an example of how knowledge of the team member roles presented in  Chapter 6  could help you be a better contributor to group problem solving.

5. Identify several problems on or off the job for which you think brainstorming would be effective.

6. What is your opinion of the importance of the physical setting (such as sunlight and refreshments) for stimulating creative thinking during brainstorming?

7. Identify two work-related problems for which the nominal group technique is particularly well suited.

8. How would you deal with a suggestion made during a brainstorming group that you thought was outrageously stupid?

9. How can a team leader apply collaborative software to help the group become more productive?

10. How might groupthink (described in  Chapter 6 ) interfere with the quality of decisions made in a group?

11. What annoys you the most about how some people conduct themselves in problem-solving meetings of any type? What changes in their behavior would you recommend?

The Web Corner

1. http://www.mindtools.com

2. (Techniques for group and individual problem solving and creativity.)

3. http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Gr-Int/Group-Decision-Making.html

4. (Improving group decision making. Video is included.)

Internet Skill Builder: Where Did I Put that Great Idea I Had?

1. Many people involved in group brainstorming hit upon useful ideas when away from the brainstorming session, then forget the idea by the time they get to the session. So during the session, the person fails to make an outstanding contribution. Search the Internet for some cool ideas for recording your ideas. An example would be sending yourself an e-mail or voicemail message if you come up with a useful idea while hiking. You are encouraged to look widely for a couple of concrete suggestions for filing your creative ideas right on the spot. Remember that fresh ideas are the building block for all types of group as well as individual problem solving.

Developing Your Human Relations Skills

Interpersonal Relations Case 7.1

Pet Groomers on Wheels Get into a Huddle

Ted and Erin, a married couple, both loved pets, and both craved becoming small-business owners. So several years ago while still holding down corporate positions, they launched a new business, Pet Groomers on Wheels. The basic model of the business is to make house calls to groom pets at the pet owner’s home.

The key services for dogs are shampoos, haircuts, nail clips, teeth polishing, and ear cleaning. Except for the shampoos, the services are similar for cats. Ted and Erin travel in a van fully equipped with their supplies, and the pet grooming is conducted in the van rather than bringing all the equipment into the customer’s home. Ted and Erin started the operation part-time by making their calls at night and on weekends. Soon it appeared the business was ready to become a full-time business, so the couple both quit their corporate positions.

Operating in the prosperous North Virginia geographic area, Pet Groomers on Wheels has far exceeded the sales volume and profits projected by Ted and Erin. To successfully manage all the client demands, the couple hired two close relatives, Tanya and Nick, to make some of the calls. To help keep Tanya and Nick motivated—as well to prevent their becoming competition for Pet Groomers on Wheels—Ted and Erin made them part owners of the business.

After three years of operation, Pet Groomers on Wheels has generated $85,000 in profits beyond paying Ted, Erin, Tanya, and Nick salaries of an average of $65,000 each. In the process of preparing the income tax for Pet Groomers, Erin decided that the company was not managing its money effectively by leaving the profits in a checking account. After chatting about the situation with Ted, they both agreed that the company should manage its money more professionally. Ted said jokingly, “I guess we could run to Vegas and parlay the money into a fortune. Or, we could take a comparable risk and invest in the stock market.”

Erin replied, “I have a better idea. Let’s get together with Tanya and Nick, and really thrash out what to do with Pet Groomers profits. We can all have dinner together, followed by a no-holds-barred problem-solving session.”

Case Questions

1. Does the problem facing the owners of Pet Groomer on Wheels seem suited for going through the steps for group problem solving? Or, what other problem-solving technique would you recommend?

2. Take the problem of what to do with Pet Groomer profits through the group problem-solving steps, even if you have to make assumptions about some of the data for the steps.

3. Compare the conclusion you reach in response to question 2 with the conclusion reached by other individuals or groups within the class.

Interpersonal Relations Role-Play

Group Decision Making at Pet Groomers on Wheels

In this group role-play, students play the roles of Ted, Erin, Tanya, and Nick, who decide to conduct a brief brainstorming session about what to do with the cash Pet Groomers on Wheels is accumulating. Let this be a no-holds-barred session. Run the session for about fifteen minutes.

Observers will rate the participants on two dimensions. One dimension is the creative output of the group. The second dimension is the quality of the suggestions arrived at by the group. A few observers might voluntarily provide feedback to the role players in terms of sharing their ratings and observations. The course instructor might also provide feedback.

Interpersonal Relations Case 7.2

Standing Up at Vogue Travel

Chelsea is the CEO of Vogue Travel, a multioffice travel agency that focuses on arranging business trips for large corporations. Vogue also plans luxury trips for individuals. As Chelsea explains, “Most ordinary travel agencies have gone the way of the typewriter and camera film. Our computer-savvy population makes almost all of its travel arrangements online. The service Vogue provides is much more complex. We pin down every detail for our clients and save them money.”

Despite Chelsea’s boastful statement, she recognizes that even the high-end travel agency is conducting business in a highly competitive environment. She believes that her staff should approach each day in a more fired-up frame of mind, much like an athletic team just before a challenging match. After reading an article in Entrepreneur about standup meetings, she thought that this type of meeting is just what her company needed. Chelsea then informed her top-level staff that at the start of each business day, the team would get into a ten-minute huddle to discuss the biggest challenges they would be facing during the day.

One month after implementing the standup meetings, Chelsea thought that they were making a contribution to team work and problem solving. For example, during one of the meetings, the team decided it would be a good idea to tell clients how to increase the chances of not becoming ill when visiting a faraway region. Yet Chelsea thought it would be helpful to ask her staff what they thought of the effectiveness of the meetings. The subject of the next standup meeting was to discuss the effectiveness of this type of meeting so far. Among the opinions expressed during the evaluation meeting were the following:

Eric: I love the fast-paced action. Because we are standing up, we jump in on problems we are facing without frittering away time.

Phyllis: Ouch, my aching feet. I mean it. I don’t like the demands on my feet and legs in these standup meetings.

Karl: My feet don’t hurt. But I like to have a table to put my coffee on. To me, having coffee and refreshments is part of a meeting.

Cindy: I think we could accomplish more by posting our problem-solving on a common Web page or exchanging e-mails. During our morning huddles it seems that we are just trying to impress each other.

Bob: We spend so much time in our cubicles that we hardly ever interact face-to-face. The standup meetings give me the feeling that we are really a team.

Melody: Our standup meetings are working somewhat, but I think we should meet once a week unless there is an emergency. Otherwise, we tend to be stretching to come up with good ideas for the meeting.

Chelsea: Thanks gang, I appreciate the candor. Our ten minutes are up, and I’ll be processing your feedback.

Case Questions

1. Explain why you think Chelsea should continue or discontinue the standup meetings.

2. What evidence do you have that the standup meetings at Vogue Travel are contributing to (or detracting from) teamwork and problem solving?

3. How might Chelsea improve the effectiveness of these standup meetings?

References

1. Dan Ariely, “The End of Rational Economics,” Harvard Business Review, July–August 2009, pp. 78–84.

2. Cited in Marcia A. Reed-Woodard, “What Were You Thinking?” Black Enterprise, January 2009, p. 87.

3. Thomas H. Davenport, “Make Better Decisions,” Harvard Business Review, November 2009, p. 117.

4. Felix C. Brodbeck et al., “Group Decision Making under Conditions of Distributed Knowledge: The Information Asymmetries Model,” Academy of Management Review, April 2007, pp. 459–460.

5. Anita Williams Woolley, Christopher F. Chabris, Alex Pentland, Nada Hashmi, and Thomas W. Malone, “Evidence for a Collective Intelligence Factor in the Performance of Human Groups,” Science (  http://www.sciencemag.org  ), October 2010, pp. 686–688.

6. Debra Wheatman, “Problem Solving in the Workplace,” San Francisco Examiner ( http://www.examiner.com ), June 28, 2009.

7. Michael Mercer, Absolutely Fabulous Organizational Change (Lake Zurich, IL:Castlegate, 2000); Duncan Maxwell Anderson, “Hidden Forces,” Success, April 1995, p. 1.

8. Alexander D. Stajkovic, Dongseop Lee, and Anthony J. Nyberg, “Collective Efficacy, Group Potency, and Group Performance: Meta-Analysis of their Relationships, and Test of a Mediation Model,” Journal of Applied Psychology, May 2009, p. 815.

9. Cited in Jason Zweig, “How Group Decisions End Up Wrong-Footed,” The Wall Street Journal, April 25–26, 2009, p. B1.

10. Kay Lovelace, Debra L. Shapiro, and Laurie R. Weingart, “Minimizing Cross-Functional New Product Teams’ Innovativeness and Constraint Adherence: A Conflict Communications Perspective,” Academy of Management Journal, August 2001, pp. 779–793.

11. Stuart D. Sidle, “Do Teams Who Agree to Disagree Make Better Decisions?” Academy of Management Perspectives, May 2007, pp. 74–75. The Sidle article is a review of S. Schultz-Hardt et al., “Group Decision Making in Hidden Profile Situations: Dissent as a Facilitator for Decision Quality,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, No. 6, 2006, pp. 1080–1093.

12. Guihyun Park and Richard P. DeShon, “A Multilevel Model of Minority Opinion Expression and Team Decision-Making Effectiveness,” Journal of Applied Psychology, September 2010, pp. 824–833.

13. David A. Garvin and Michael A. Roberto, “What You Don’t Know about Making Decisions,” Harvard Business Review, September 2001, pp. 110–111.

14. Leigh Thompson, “Improving the Creativity of Work Groups,” Academy of Management Executive, February 2003, p. 99.

15. Ross McCammon, “What’s the Secret to Better Brainstorming?” Entrepreneur, October 2011, p. 19.

16. “Future Edisons of America: Turn Your Employees into Inventors,” WorkingSMART, June 2000, p. 2.

17. Cited in James R. Hagerty, “Office Furniture in the Age of Smartphones,” The Wall Street Journal, August 8, 2012, p. B5.

18. Adapted and expanded from “Gaining Consensus Among Stakeholders Through the Nominal Group Technique,” Evaluation Briefs (Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), No. 7, November 2006. pp. 1–2

19. Owen Thomas, “The Three-Minute Huddle,” Business 2.0, April 2006, p. 94.

20. “How Google Got Its New Look,” Bloomberg Businessweek, May 10–May 16, 2010, p. 60.

21. Rachel Emma Silverman, “No More Angling for the Best Seat; More Meetings Are Stand-Up Jobs,” The Wall Street Journal, February 2, 2012, pp. A1, A10.

22. “Making Internal Collaboration Work: An Interview with Don Tapscott,” McKinsey Quarterly, January 2013, p. 2.

23. “Introduction to Groupware,”  http://www.usabilityfirst.com/ . Accessed July 18, 2013.

24. “Nail Down Decision Making,” Manager’s Edge, July 2009, p. 1.

25. Erika Packard, “Meetings Frustrate Task-Oriented Employees, Study Finds,” Monitor on Psychology, June 2006, p. 10; Steven G. Rogelberg, Desmond J. Leach, Peter B. Warr, and Jennifer L. Burnfield, “‘Not Another Meeting!’ Are Meeting Time Demands Related to Employee Well-Being?” Journal of Applied Psychology, January 2006, pp. 83–96.

26. Several of the suggestions are based on Rachel Zupek, “Horrible, Terrible Meeting Mistakes,”  http://www.CNN.com , August 29, 2007, pp. 1–3.

27. Sue Shellenbarger, “Meet the Meeting Killers,” The Wall Street Journal, May 16, 2012, p. D, D3.

28. Research described in Craig L. Pearce, “Follow the Leaders,” The Wall Street Journal, July 7, 2008, p. R12.