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Simulation: Interpersonal Communication and Teamwork

Background

You have been given a great opportunity! Santiago, the high-end clothing store you work for, has decided to promote what it calls Santiago Fashion on the Street, or Santiago FOS. FOS ads and website will celebrate the concept of “true style”—the ability of ordinary people to demonstrate extraordinary fashion sense and present themselves in a spectacularly attractive and innovative way.

The idea behind FOS isn’t explicitly to promote Santiago products per se. Instead, it is to establish an image that associates the Santiago brand with the “true style” of the people who live and work in the area.

Click Next to begin your challenge. Good luck!

Your local store has assembled a team of young photographers, artists, and writers to create the FOS ads, website, and photos. As a writer/editor member of that team, you will be helping to select the FOS photos and write captions/mini-essays that explain how and why they demonstrate “true style.”

The minisim will follow your team through its first meeting, moving through various communication problems and issues.

Click Next to continue.

Meet Your Advisor

Store Manager Walter Uribe is your boss: “Your team’s goal is to develop its own interpretation of what true style means. Keep it local, and have fun!”

Click Next to continue.

Before the Meeting

Before the meeting begins, team members have a difference of opinion. Half of the team wants to discuss the general goals and the philosophy of Santiago FOS. The other half wants to skip goals and philosophy and go straight to discussing team ground rules and making assignments.

Your vote can take the meeting to one of two directions. Which direction will you choose?

Select an option from the choices on the right.

Option 1

Discuss the goals, expectations, and philosophy of the team before going over team assignments.

Opening the Meeting

You voted to focus on discussing team philosophy, team goals, and team expectations before you do anything else.

You determine that there are three different ways to begin the meeting.

Which task do you think should be accomplished first?

Select an option from the choices on the right.

Option 1

Select a leader who will determine the agenda from this point on.

Now that team members have gotten to know one another, it is time to select a team leader.

Which method do you think is best for choosing your leader?

Select an option from the choices on the right.

Option 1

A democratic vote of team members.

Option 2

Make your own decision on who to name as team leader, based on credentials, experience, and involvement in the project, and also advice from your supervisor.

Option 3

Having team leadership rotate from person to person, depending on the situation.

FOS Team Philosophy: True Style

The team is now discussing the basic FOS philosophy and what “true style” actually means.

Which of the following suggestions might be most helpful for beginning your discussion?

Select an option from the choices on the right.

Option 1

Brainstorm ideas by asking team members the following question: When was the last time you were walking down the street and you saw someone who looked really “cool”?

FOS Team Philosophy: Intuitive Thinking

The team needs to focus on selecting fashions that demonstrate true style. Team member Synthia describes her fashion sense as intuitive. A second team member, Ralph, wants to use a systematic, logical approach to identifying true style by creating score sheets to evaluate each fashion.

Which position do you generally support—an intuitive approach or a logical approach?

Select an option from the choices on the right.

Option 1

Ralph is right. Intuition should play no role in deciding which fashions exemplify true style.

Conflict

A conflict arises within the team. Two team members have a strong difference of opinion whether or not to ask people to pose for pictures. One team member thinks all true style photos should be spontaneous and unposed. Another team member thinks that having some people pose to show their fashion sense can be a great approach.

You are worried that the disagreement could become bitter and personal.

Which solution will work best to resolve the situation?

Click on the icons above to view each option, then select an option from the choices on the right.

Option 1

Take a vote to support one of the two sides in the conflict.

Option 2

Have a team meeting in which the leader takes charge and helps negotiate a settlement between the parties.

Option 3

Have a higher-up from outside of the team come and resolve the conflict in an objective manner.

Option 4

Do nothing. Allow the two parties to resolve the issue on their own.

Ending the Meeting

Your team meeting is now coming to a close. As team members disperse, which single thing should you double check to make sure that all members are in clear agreement about?

Select an option from the choices on the right.

Option 1

Make sure that all team members clearly understand their assignments.

Option 2

Make sure that all team members clearly understand their respective roles on the team.

Option 3

Make sure that all team members clearly understand the overall team goals.

Review Your Path

To review the choices you made, click Next.

Option 2

Synthia is right. In this situation, intuition is much more important than logic in evaluating fashion.

One of the team members notices that knee-high leather boots, black tights, and short but baggy dresses seem to be common among young women in the local area. Your team members have different ideas on which approach should be used to determine whether this is a true style that holds potential for the FOS campaign. Given your needs, which approach is the most appropriate?

Click on the icons above to view each option, then select an option from the choices on the right.

Option 1

This observation is useful but needs to be backed up with hard data. We need to have someone out on the streets classifying different styles and counting examples of them, so that we can determine whether this particular style is unique and interesting or commonplace and passé. We should also create some sample boots/tights/dress pictorial templates and use them to survey people on how they rate the style, on a scale of 1 (arctic-cold) to 10 (lava-hot).

Option 2

We should take advantage of multiple approaches. The logical methods will give us valuable information about exactly how popular the style is, and whether it's limited mainly to one demographic group (college-age women, for example) or has broader appeal. Talking with some fashion leaders or trend spotters—individuals with a feel for the future, an acute inner sense of what's happening now and what might be just over the horizon—will also provide essential insights.

Option 3

Fashion is more art than science and it can't be reduced to a set of numbers. What we really need is to identify two or three fashion leaders or trendsetters—people who are already out in front of current trends—and interview them to find out what their impressions are. Their intuitive sense of what's bold and what's old will give us a much better feel for the currency of the boots/tights/dress style.

Option 3

The best kind of decision making involves both logic and intuition. So a combination of both approaches is best.

Option 2

Go over examples of how teams from other Santiago stores have defined “true style.”

Option 3

Read from the Santiago website about “true style.”

Option 2

Have team members introduce themselves and briefly describe their talents and abilities.

Option 3

Decide that the team will function best without rules, leaders, or restrictions on team behavior. All team members will be completely autonomous and make their decisions on their own.

You have chosen a path that forms a team with completely autonomous team members who function independently without rules or leaders.

Immediately, one part of the team, the “independents,” want to disband the meeting and start their tasks and jobs on their own. The “non-independents” want to discuss team priorities before making team assignments.

Which group do you support?

Select an option from the choices on the right.

Option 1

Independent

Option 2

Non-independent

With no rules and no leaders, your team immediately gets into trouble. Different team members go off in their own direction, working on ideas that are not coordinated with teammates.

After a short period of time, your superiors ask for a progress report and are displeased with what they see. Management considers the team a failure and decides to disband it.

Click Next to continue.

Option 2

Go over ground rules, tasks, and team assignments without discussing team philosophy.

You have chosen to skip a discussion of team philosophy and expectations and form a team that focuses on rules. Your first duty is to think about having a team leader.

Select an option from the choices on the right.

Option 1

Select a team leader who will determine the agenda from this point on.

Option 2

Proceed without selecting a leader.

First Step

Your team is ready to begin its task.

Which first step should your team take?

Select an option from the choices on the right.

Option 1

Team members should introduce themselves and briefly describe their talents and abilities.

With no leader, your team lacks direction and has no way to correct its own mistakes. The team members are all disappointed, but have no way to express their disappointment. As a result, your team simply dissolves.

Click Next to continue.

Option 2

Vote on ground rules for the team.

Option 3

Make assignments to team members. If you have a leader, the leader will make the assignments. If you are working without a leader, individuals will volunteer for assignments.

Simulation Complete

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