2.

Chapter 2
Communicating in Teams:
Collaboration, Listening,
Nonverbal, and Meeting Skills

To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall

 2.2

Chapter 2 Objectives

 Highlight the advantages and

disadvantages of using teams.
 Identify characteristics of effective
teams.
 Discuss tasks involved in preparing
team messages, and discuss the
nine guidelines for improvement.

To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall

 2.3

Chapter 2 Objectives
continued

 Describe the listening process

and three barriers to listening.
 Explain why nonverbal
communication is so important.
 Explain how you can improve
meeting productivity through
preparation, leadership and
participation.

To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall

 2.4

Working in Teams

 A team is a unit of two or more people

who work together to achieve a goal.
 Team members
 Have a shared mission and are
collectively responsible
 Are responsible for reports, oral
presentations, and meetings
 Must communicate effectively inside and
outside the team
 Are involved in participative management

To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall

 2.5

Advantages and Disadvantages

of Teams
ADVANTAGES
 Increased information and knowledge
 Increased diversity of views
 Increased acceptance of a solution
DISADVANTAGES
 Can be unproductive, frustrating, or
counterproductive
 Can develop groupthink
 Can be derailed by hidden agendas
 Can encourage free riders
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
 2.6
Quick Group Dynamics
Quiz
and Team Roles
Define each of the following terms:

Group
Group dynamics
dynamics Self-oriented
Self-oriented roles
roles

Norms Team-maintenance
Team-maintenance
Norms roles
roles

Task-facilitating
Task-facilitating
roles
roles
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
 2.7

Five Phases of
Team Decisions
 Orientation
 Conflict
 Brainstorm
 Emergence
 Reinforcement

To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall

 2.8

Developing an
Effective Team
Clear
Clear sense
sense of
of purpose
purpose

Open,
Open, honest
honest communication
communication

Decision
Decision by
by consensus
consensus

Creative
Creative thinking
thinking

Focused
Focused on
on core
core issues
issues
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
 2.9

Understanding Conflict

 Conflict can be constructive or destructive.

 Conflict can arise for many reasons.
 Some reasons for team conflict:
1. Competing for scarce resources
2. Disagreeing over task responsibility
3. Communicating poorly
4. Differing values, attitudes
or personalities
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
 2.10

Resolving Conflict

 Proaction
 Communication
 Openness
 Research
 Flexibility
 Fair Play
 Alliance
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
 2.11

Overcoming Resistance

 Express understanding.
 Make people aware of their resistance.
 Evaluate others’ objections fairly.
 Hold your arguments until the other
person is ready.

To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall

 2.12
Let’s
Discuss
Collaborative
Messages
 What are collaborative messages?
Give some examples.
 How can companies use technology to
collaborate effectively?
 What are some activities you can do to
prepare effective team messages? (The
textbook lists nine – can you think of
any more?)
 Explain the statement, “Two together
can accomplish more than two
separately,” as it pertains to effective
business communication.
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
 2.13
Quick
Quiz Listening
 What is the difference between content
listening and critical listening?
 List in order the five steps in the
listening process.
 Why are people such poor listeners?
 Content listening is understanding
messages. Critical listening involves
evaluating and interpreting.
 Receiving, interpreting, remembering,
evaluating, responding
 Listening requires a mix of physical and
mental activities, so it is subject to
physical and mental barriers.
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
 2.14

Some Types of
Nonverbal Communication

Facial
Touching
Touching Gestures
Gestures
Behavior
Behavior and
and
Expression
Postures
Postures

To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall

 2.15

Preparing for Meetings

 Decide on the
purpose.
 Select participants.
 Choose an
appropriate location.
 Set and follow an
agenda.

To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall

 2.16

Conducting and Participating in

Meetings
 Keep the meeting on track.
 Follow parliamentary procedure.
 Encourage participation.
 Close and follow up.

To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall

 2.17
Let’s
Let’s Test Your
Discuss
Discuss Knowledge

 What are three ways in which an

organization’s decision-making can
benefit from teams?
 What are the main activities that make
up the listening process?
 In what six ways can an individual
communicate nonverbally?
 What questions should an effective
agenda answer?
To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall
 2.18
Let’s
Let’s Test Your
Discuss
Discuss Knowledge continued

 How do self-oriented team roles differ

from team-maintenance roles and task-
facilitating team roles?
 What is groupthink, and how can if
affect an organization?
 How can organizations help team
members successfully resolve
conflict?

To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall

 2.19
Let’s
Let’s Test Your
Discuss
Discuss Knowledge continued

 What role does the leader play in

helping a team produce effective
messages?
 How does content listening differ from
critical listening and empathic
listening?
 What is the purpose of using
parliamentary procedure?

To accompany Excellence in Business Communication, 5e , Thill and Bovée © 2002 Prentice-Hall