Interpersonal (D)

Question 1

Communication: Feedback

Answer 1

The process in which the receiver would
indicate comprehension
This can be verbal, non-verbal, a response to
written communication, or an action that would
show comprehension.

Question 2

Communication: Noise

Answer 2

Directly interferes with the receiver’s ability to
comprehend the message
This might include static on a phone line, other
sounds in the room, or anything else that would
inhibit the understanding of a message.

Question 3

Town hall meetings

Answer 3

Formal gatherings for the entire company
that are commonly referred to as
“all-hands meetings”
They tend to focus on sharing information
“from the top down” concerning the overall
organization. Thus, town hall meetings are
not usually designed to allow feedback from
employees about smaller detail issues.

Question 4

Open-door policy

Answer 4

Used to establish a relationship where
employees feel comfortable speaking directly
with management about problems and
suggestions
In essence, an open-door policy enables a
supervisor to be a “human suggestion box.”

Question 5

Management by Walking Around (MBWA)

Answer 5

Involves having managers and supervisors
physically get out of their offices and
interact with employees in person
MBWA allows management to check on
employee progress, inquire about potential
issues, and gain other feedback without relying
on employees to “make the first move” through
an open-door policy or online suggestion form.

Question 6

Communication channels: Email

Answer 6

Makes it easy to get information to a lot
of people very quickly
However, this communication method can
result in employees suffering from “information
overload” from too many emails, making it more
likely that important information is overlooked.
Also, there is a danger that confidential
information may be accidentally communicated
to the wrong people.

Question 7

Communication channels: Intranet (internal website and computer network)

Answer 7

Has the benefit of no risk of important
information being accessed by someone
outside the organization
Intranets can be very effective at communicating
important ongoing information about the company,
such as policies and procedures. In addition,
companies often store necessary workplace
documentation, such as HR-related forms, on
an intranet, allowing employees to access that
information when they need it.

Question 8

Communication channels: Newsletters

Answer 8

Can provide a variety of information, and
have the potential to do so in an engaging,
welcoming manner
8
However, newsletters can be labor-intensive.
Since they are relatively infrequent, newsletters
are not always useful for communicating
urgent or immediate information. In addition,
newsletters do not allow for formal two-way
communication from employees.

Question 9

Active listening

Answer 9

Pushes the listener into an engaged
position
8
Beyond using their sense of hearing, active
listeners also use their sense of sight to notice
the speaker’s body language. Both auditory and
visual information are consciously synthesized
to perceive what the speaker is trying to
communicate.

Question 10

Communication channels: Word-of-mouth

Answer 10

Can quickly spread information
throughout a group of people
However, as in the children’s game
“Telephone,” information can become muddled,
misinterpreted, and downright unrecognizable as
it is passed from person to person. A manager or
supervisor has no control over misinterpretations
and misunderstandings that can result from
word-of-mouth communication.