What is the "approach" section of a statement of work (SoW)?

Question 3

Why is there a "joint accountabilities" portion of the proposal or SoW?

What is one of the benefits of a junior consultant working on a proposal?

onsulting firms are often organized internally by function, and externally by industry. Why?

When you are starting a presentation, why is storytelling importnat?

How is storytelling (in a business, or consulting context) different from storytelling in the movies or television?

What does it mean the the presentation should be "fit for purpose?"

Question 4

When creating a presentation or written document, what are the 4 metaphorical "hats" that you wear? Madman (brainstorming), _________ (structuring), carpenter (doing the work), judge (editing)

What the main point of the 'pyramid principle'?

What is the goal of data visualization?

For presentations, ________ gives you confidence.

It's important to reflect on your own presentation style. The most convenient way to hear what you sound like is to ________.

What does it mean to "embrace the eustress?"

What's one way to learn a presenter's style? (Check all that apply.)

What is a good way to practice PowerPoint skills?

What is a theory of communication?

You are the head of the board of directors for a local nonprofit organization. Next week you are having an important meeting to decide whether or not to continue your partnership with another organization. Members of the board have very different opinions about this issue, but it is essential that the board is unified in its decision and the direction it provides for your nonprofit organization. Therefore, the board wants consensus on this decision, not just a majority vote. Your job as head is to facilitate a meeting that helps the board achieve consensus in their deliberations about this issue.

According to our lesson on Interaction Design, which design issue is most directly addressed with the plan to achieve a consensus decision?

Which concept involves creating our world through communications?

The idea that there are many social worlds is referred to as ______________.

Your company is having a big meeting next week where different project teams will present their ideas for the next innovative product the company should develop. The meeting is organized so that project teams will make persuasive appeals to the company executives, who will then ask difficult and adversarial questions about the presentations. Project teams are expected to engage the executives in intense deliberation and defend their ideas. The executive will decide on the best idea and provide additional funding to support the winning project.

According to our lesson on Interaction Design, which design issue is most clearly evident in the way this meeting is organized?

Which model or theory of communication sees communication as a linear process of sending and receiving messages from one person to another?

Our criminal justice system consists of various professionals, such as police, lawyers, and judges. The overall goals of the system are to ensure public safety and administer justice. The police, lawyers, and judges all interact to accomplish these goals. The criminal justice system is supported through local and state taxes, as well as federal funding. It is very clear who is (and is not) a part of the criminal justice system—there are very specific professional requirements to police, lawyers, and judges.

According to our lesson on Systems and Institutions, who or what are the inputs in this system?

The Boulder City Council is planning a public meeting to discuss how to manage and develop a new parcel of open space land that the City of Boulder recently acquired. This is an important public issue and many people have strong opinions about what to do--or not do--with the land. The City Council wants citizen input, but there are so many people interested in this issue that it will be impossible to involve everyone at a public meeting. So the City Council creates a "citizen's input panel" made up of ten Boulder residents who will gather input from the entire community and represent these interests to the City Council in a report to be presented at the upcoming public meeting.

According to our lesson on Interaction Design, which design issue is the City Council most directly addressing with the citizens input panel?

Our healthcare system consists of various healthcare professionals, such as doctors and nurses. The overall goal of the system is to ensure personal well-being and recovery from illness. Our healthcare system is supported through individual and employer contributions, as well as state and federal government funding. The system involves numerous interactions between doctors, patients, administrators, regulators, and insurance companies. There are relatively clear lines that distinguish what is in or outside of our healthcare system, such as laws that dictate what kinds of medicines and procedures are legal, and who is allowed to practice medicine.

According to our lesson on Systems and Institutions, who or what are the agents in this system?

According to our lesson on the Hidden Forces of Systems and Institutions, which of the following statements best describes the relationship between systems and institutions?

You are the president of your local homeowners association, which consists of all volunteer members who are residents in your neighborhood. At a recent meeting you delegated a substantial amount of work to some of the other members. "I know these are difficult tasks, but you're part of this team and you need to get this work done", you told them. But at your next monthly meeting you were surprised that those association members weren't there...they simply decided to quit because they had better things to do with their time.

Which aspect of civic groups is most evident in this example?

Which term best describes the circumstances that form the setting for group communication?

According to our lesson on Theories of Communication, which of the following best represents the relationship level of communication?

According to our lesson on Theories of Communication, a good analogy is to understand theories as _______________.

According to our lesson on the Hidden Force of Context, which of the following best represents a civic context of group communication?

According to our lesson on Group Development, what is one of the main problems with phase models of group development?

According to our lesson on Group Development, it is probably best to think of group development as:

One of the things you've noticed about your current team is that everyone comes to meetings several minutes early to discuss various issues before the actual meeting begins. There's no formal rule about this, but there's a clear expectation that you participate in this pre-meeting routine.

According to our lesson on Group Development, which aspect of group development is best illustrated in this scenario?

According to our lesson on Group Development, which term describes the process of becoming a part of a group?

What is arguably the most important function of group work?

You are part of a planning team for the food pantry in your community. Recently you had a meeting to discuss the amount of food and the number of volunteers needed for the next six months. Initially everyone assumed that your procurement department should secure 10 tons of produce and canned food, and your outreach department should recruit 100 volunteers for the next six months, since that’s how much food and volunteers you needed last year at this time. But then someone in your team spoke up and said,

“Are we sure about that? Why should we assume that things will be the same as last year? The recent economic recession means that more people are out of work and struggling to put food on the table. Plus food prices are expected to rise, making it even more difficult for many people to afford quality meals. We should re-think the amount of food and volunteers we’ll need for the next six months.”

This helped your team go back and make better decisions about food procurement and volunteer recruitment based on anticipated needs.

According to our lesson on decision making, which communication practice for making better decisions does this scenario best illustrate?

According to our lesson on Decision Making, one of the best things you can do to catalyze your creative thinking is:

You are part of a team that has to make an important decision between several competing alternatives. Lots of information is presented in your meeting, but everyone seems to be giving disproportional weight to the quality of the initial presentation, simply because it was first.

According to our lesson on Decision Making, which decision-making trap are you and your team falling into?

Javier is leading his team through a decision-making meeting where they have to evaluate the effectiveness of a current program and decide whether or not it should continue. Even though the program has been largely unsuccessful so far, the team decides to continue the program anyway because they have already invested so much time and money in it.

According to our lesson on Decision Making, which decision-making trap did Javier and his team fall into?

You are the manager of a team of engineers at a manufacturing company. You are in the process of trying to develop a new system that will increase the efficiency of your manufacturing operations. You and your team agree that any new system must not increase the budget by more than 5% and must be implemented in 12 months or less. This provided an objective standard by which you could evaluate any new idea and thus helped you make a better decision as a team.

According to our lesson on Decision Making, which communication practice for making better decisions does this scenario best illustrate?

A team of administrators at a major university just made a bad decision about which new building project to approve. The top two choices were a new lecture hall or a new technology support facility. The team decided in favor of the new lecture hall. Their reasoning was that enrollments at the university have steadily increased over the years and they anticipate running out of lecture hall space in the near future. Plus, the current tech support facility has been adequate to meet the university's previous technology needs. What they failed to consider, however, was a huge increase in online education in the near future, which means less lecture hall space will be used to teach classes but more technology support will be necessary.

According to our lesson on Decision Making, which decision making trap did this team fall into?

You don't realize it yet, but you and your team are on the verge of making a bad decision. You're about to approve the development of a new product that will eventually bankrupt your company—it will cost way more to develop than originally expected and your customers won't like it and won't buy it. The problem is that you and your team never got constructive feedback from outside sources that would have warned you about these dangers—you only got feedback from people who gave you the positive feedback you wanted to hear.

According to our lesson on Decision Making, what decision making trap did you and your team fall into?

According to our lesson on Decision Making, _________ enables creativity.

According to our lesson on Phase Models of Group Development, which phase best describes the period where members seek to establish their place on the team and engage in constructive conflict about how best to approach the task at hand or the problem they need to solve (and usually resulting in a decrease in their group’s effectiveness for a little while) ?

According to our lesson on Communication and Gender, which of the following examples best represents a conversational ritual of rapport?

Your group is at a standstill trying to decide whether or not to accept the proposal for a new initiative in your organization. Everyone seems entrenched in their positions, and with nothing new to discuss the conversation is starting to get personal and negative.

According to our lessons on group conflict, which strategy for managing interpersonal conflict could best help resolve this situation?

According to our lessons on group conflict, what would be one of the main reasons that the words we use in confrontations can get us into trouble?

According to our lessons on difference and diversity, which of the following items would be a strategic reason for the importance of difference?

You have to give an important presentation at work. Your boss asked you to give a status update about your team's project to the directors of your work division. In your presentation, you discuss the history of your project and your current plan to complete your project. You speak with conviction and confidence because you know there are some directors who are skeptical about your project. You conclude with details about the project's budget and explain that it will save the company money.

According to what we learned about linguistic style, which part of this scenario would best represents the relationship level of communication?

Carmella was pretty upset by her team's response to her proposal. She put a lot of work into this project and was surprised to see how confused and unsupportive everyone was toward her ideas. She wanted to lash out, telling people how incompetent they were if they couldn't understand these ideas and the benefit of the proposal. But she held her tongue and waited a few days before responding to her team members. And in that time all the team members came around and saw the value of her ideas and eventually supported her proposal. Carmella was glad she kept her mouth shut and let everything work itself out instead of responding negatively in the moment, which definitely would have jeopardized the acceptance of her proposal.

According to our lessons on managing group conflict, which strategy worked to Carmella’s advantage in this situation?

You and another member of your group communicate very differently. You come from two different cultures where you learned different signals to communicate what you mean and to interpret the meanings of others.

According to our lesson on Communication and Gender, which term best describes the communication differences between you and your other group member?

Michael's group was on the verge of disintegrating into a negative spiral of interpersonal conflict. Group members were upset with each other and comments were starting to turn into personality attacks instead of focusing on the task at hand. Fortunately, Michael was able to make a witty comment that made everyone laugh and eased the tension, which helped get the group's attention back on the important decision they had to make.

According to our lessons on group conflict, which tactic for managing interpersonal conflict did Michael utilize in this situation?

According to our lessons on group conflict, the absence of group conflict is _____________.

According to our lesson on Communication and Gender, which term refers to the process of how people learn the norms, values, and behaviors that are appropriate for their social position in our culture?

Cynthia expected to have a smooth negotiation with her client. After all, her (Cynthia) company’s new product was cheaper, more efficient, and more stylish than any product on the market. She was surprised, however, when the negotiations broke down and no agreement was reached. Turns out Cynthia never considered the fact that her client actually preferred a slightly more expensive product that looked a bit older because it seemed more luxurious and vintage, which is what the client wanted instead.

Based on what we learned in our lesson on effective negotiation, which of the following mistakes did Cynthia make in this situation?

Jackson got pressured into an agreement that wasn’t in his best interest because he thought it was his only alternative. He failed to realize that his initial bargaining position was actually better than the proposed deal. He would have been better off if he simply walked away.

Based on what we learned in our lesson on effective negotiation, which of the following mistakes did Jackson make in this situation?

You are convinced that the only way your group can solve an important problem is to implement solution X. However, other people in your group disagree, believing that solution Y is the only viable option, while still other group members are sure that solution Z is the one solution that will solve the problem. The group is at an impasse and the problem remains unresolved. Everyone is advocating for their particular solution, but there is no discussion about the underlying motivations for why people want those solutions in the first place.

According to what we learned in our lesson on effective negotiation, what would be the best strategy for making progress in this situation?

According to our lesson on effective negotiation, what should you do when you realize someone isn’t playing fair in your negotiation?

According to our lesson on identity, it is best to understand our identity as _____________.

Which of the following statements is the best explanation of the term sociomateriality?

What is one of the key practical issues for groups to consider when utilizing various technologies?

Which of the following best describes the "third wave" of virtual work?

Which of the following is one of the negative consequences of "always on" technology?

Which of the following is the best example of technological determinism?

What was one of the key shortcomings of second wave virtual work that lead to the development of third wave virtual work?

Which term refers to the phenomenon of showing up to a physical office location when you could be more productive elsewhere?

According to our lesson on how groups are using technology, which of the following technologies is designed to help groups overcome the challenges of candid feedback and power barriers in the deliberation process?

What is one of the key conceptual issues for groups to consider when incorporating various technologies?

According to the media richness model of communication technology, which of the following is the richest communication medium?

According to the dual-capacity model of communication technology, which of the following terms refers to the idea that people have preferences or judgments about particular communication media themselves?

According to the media richness model of communication technology, effective communication is a function of media richness and _______________.

Which of these could be an audience for corporate communications?

Which of these is not a function of corporate communications?

Which communication methods were used by companies in the early 1900s?

True or False: Video and multimedia communications are not typically used both internally and externally within an organization.

A typical crisis communications plan would address which of these audiences?

True or False: Openness, honesty, clarity, timeliness, and accountability are all characteristics of transparency in communications.

True or False: The Human Resources Department handles external communications. 

In the 2015 Volkswagen (VW) scandal, in which they paid over $20B in fines and had six executives indicted. What was VW charged with?

Company executives cannot be held legally accountable for their organization’s lack of transparency.

From the article “The Value of Transparency in Corporate Communications and the Tools that Foster It”, which of these would not be an effect of an organization being more transparent in their communications?

Company intranet websites are not secure and therefore do not contain employee personal information

What website communication tools can be used for internal communications? Select all that apply.

Why are email communications such a popular choice for external communications?

Email “opt-in” laws can vary by country and even state

Which of the following newsletter options would be useful for external communications?

LinkedIn is intended for professional networking and corporate communications.

Which of these answers is not a benefit regarding social media as a communications channel?

Which answer is not considered a benefit of using social media for corporate communications?

Which of these answers is a good use of video communication?

Storytelling is such an important part of communicating. Which of these answers demonstrates a benefit of using storytelling?

Power to captivate and engage audiences emotionally

Question 2

What is considered to be a “hybrid” work environment?

According to Pew Research, what percentage of workers are working a hybrid schedule?

According to this module’s article, when asking employees to return to the office, what should leadership avoid?

Which of these applications would be the best choice for managing and collaborating on projects?

Remote workers need to have expectations on response times, preferred communication channels, and availability. This describes which communication strategy?

Remote workers should be offered multiple communication channels to accommodate individual preferences and maximize communication effectiveness.

Question 8

What are strategies to recognize and celebrate the achievements of remote workers?

To maximize employee engagement and feedback, communication at both the corporate level and by the manager is necessary.

For the Amazon example in the article “Why communications matter so much with the return to office,” Amazon executives cited many reasons for requiring their workforce to return to the office (RTO). Which of these was not a reason cited?

From the Coursera article “What Can You Do with a Communication Degree: 10 Career Paths,” which of these are the responsibilities of a social media, or digital, professional:

The field of communications offers a wide range of jobs and careers, including specialized degrees.

Professional certification is preferred by some employers hiring candidates for public relations specialist jobs.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), advertising and marketing jobs are expected to grow by what percentage between 2021 and 2031?

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), for a public relations specialist job, what is the typical entry-level education requirement?

What skill would be defined as dealing with the public and the media regularly and being open and friendly to maintain a favorable image for an organization?

Which Holland Type Code is suggested as an ideal personality type for a public relations specialist?

Which Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality is suggested as an ideal personality type for a public relations specialist?

What are some jobs you can apply for with a master’s degree in health communication?

In the video by Jessica Arnaldo, she stated that she started out as a communications major in college.