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Ovidu leads a team of workers at an advertising firm. Recently, one of his subordinates, Lorraine, suggested that the team celebrate a major milestone by taking the afternoon off to go to a baseball game together at the company’s expense. Ovidu cannot approve this request, since the team’s budget for entertainment is not enough to pay for everyone. Which of the following would be a good thing for Ovidu to say to Lorraine when he meets with her to discuss her proposal? |
I would be happy to listen to any other ideas you have about how to celebrate our team’s achievement. |
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Which of the following is the best example of a less-direct message? |
The warranty clause has expired, so we will not be able to replace your television. |
|
Severity relates to the probability of a bad event occurring. |
false |
|
The manner in which Luis delivers bad news to his employees will have little to no effect on his credibility. |
false |
|
One characteristic of high-performing organizations is that employees will share bad news with superiors but not with each other. |
false |
|
The degree to which the bad-news message receiver can alter the outcome is referred to as |
controllability. |
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Which component of the FAIR test refers to the transparency of the motives and reasoning of the person delivering the bad news? |
access |
|
Vera is the owner of Component Fabrication, Inc. After a major customer takes their business elsewhere, she has to cut back on the hours she can offer her 44 employees. She sends them an email with the subject "A change to our shift lengths" that says how they are not getting as many orders now that their best customer has left. As a result, she explains, the length of each shift will be reduced by 90 minutes. Vera closes by expressing the hope that hours can be expanded again after new customers are found in the next few months. What mistake did Vera make that could leave her message recipients feeling disrespected? |
not delivering the message in person |
|
A person who has to deliver a bad-news message should gather as much information as possible from a variety of sources to reduce the |
probability of making subjective judgments. |
|
According to research firm Siegel+Gale, delivering bad news the right way can strengthen customer relationships and lay the foundations for increased trust when conditions improve. |
true |
|
One advantage of giving bad news in a written communication is that you can ensure that you state the bad news with great care and accuracy. |
true |
|
When delivering negative performance reviews, focusing on attitudes and intentions will |
be perceived as judgmental. |
|
Which of the following is an advantage of delivering bad news in person? |
One can effectively clarify and explain the bad news when it is delivered in person. |
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Which of the following questions should you ask yourself to determine if the bad-news message you plan to send passes the "facts" aspect of the FAIR test? |
Have I gathered all the relevant information and examined various accounts of the same event? |
|
Geneva, a team manager at Mobile Solutions, needs to inform her subordinates that there will be a round of layoffs at the end of the fiscal year. In which of the following scenarios would Geneva be justified in delivering the bad news via email? |
Geneva and her team work remotely from all around the world, and are unable to meet face to face. |
|
Catherine heads a sales team, and most of her subordinates have performed well. However, one of the team members, Dave, has been performing poorly. Catherine has created a file that records Dave’s performance issues and contains a few emails from colleagues criticizing him in confidence. While delivering the negative feedback to Dave, Catherine should |
keep the negative emails from other colleagues private. |
|
Research on Uno Motor Corp. revealed that the company shows signs of the mum effect. As a result, Uno Motor is likely to |
underperform year after year. |
|
Juana wants to reject her colleague’s idea. To deliver this bad news effectively in writing, she should |
use a simple design for her message. |
|
The tone of your delivery often outweighs the content of your message when providing face-to-face feedback. |
true |
|
A person who has to deliver bad news should avoid |
taking the blame for something that is not his or her fault. |
|
Gus, the general manager at Fireball Manufacturing, has to deliver a negative performance evaluation to Tina, a customer service representative. During the meeting, Gus first thanks Tina for her kindness to fellow employees, then he delivers the bad news. Finally he ends the review with an expression of goodwill. In this situation, Gus is applying the ______ approach for delivering the bad-news message. |
sandwich |
|
Which of the following should be avoided when conveying bad news to customers? |
an accusatory tone |
|
Tomas has to write a letter denying a customer’s request for a free replacement for her two-year-old business laptop, which is past its warranty. Which of the following is an appropriate buffer statement he might use? |
I am sorry to hear that your laptop is no longer performing as expected. |
|
In her message, Lorrie first explained to her employees that the emergence of new technologies had caused demand for the company’s products to go down, and then informed them that work hours would be reduced. This is an example of a more-direct message. |
false |
|
Elise, the head of human resources at Gold Bowl Inc., has to deliver a negative performance review to Aaron, one of Gold Bowl’s employees. Which of the following is the best teaser statement for Elise to use in the subject line of her bad-news email? |
some feedback on your recent performance |
|
Deb has been informed by her manager that she will be fired if her performance does not improve. This bad news has a high degree of controllability. |
true |
|
Zach uses simple and direct language in an announcement stating that his company has discontinued a popular product because the cost of production has soared. His choice of language will help customers to believe that he has been up front with them. |
true |
|
Compared to delivering bad news in person, delivering bad news in writing |
appears more callous and impersonal. |
|
Trevor has to inform one of his subordinates that he is no longer being considered for a promotion. In his message, he should end with |
an expression of goodwill. |
|
Bad news is best delivered in person. |
true |
|
You should have a colleague review all of your bad-news messages before you deliver them to their intended recipients. |
false |
|
Which aspect of bad news relates to the probability of the bad event occurring? |
likelihood |
|
Which of the following should communicators avoid when delivering bad-news messages? |
viewing delivery of bad news opportunistically |
|
You are a senior manager who needs to evaluate five supervisors in your department. Which of the following supervisors will you decide is the most effective at delivering performance reviews? |
Julia helps the poor performers of her team understand the ways in which they are hurting organizational performance. |
|
The following is a quotation from a negative performance review delivered by a senior manager to a team leader: "I know you and your team have the potential to turn things around for our next performance review; hence, we need to totally focus on getting everything right from now on." This is an ineffective thing to say in a performance review because it |
does not provide measurable and realistic expectations. |
|
Duane is preparing a negative performance review for Eric, an employee whose productivity is far below that of his fellow team members. Which of the following questions will help Duane determine if his draft review passes the "impacts" aspect of the FAIR test? |
Am I doing what I can to provide appropriate opportunities to Eric? |
|
Mena is worried about telling her boss that her team failed to meet one of its four deadlines last month. Instead, she says that the team is doing well and hitting most of its targets. This is an example of |
the mum effect |
|
When bad-news message recipients know you are concerned about them, they generally respond without antagonism and even appreciate your honesty. |
true |
|
Mona has a performance review scheduled with her boss at the end of the week. She is aware that she has badly missed her sales goals for the quarter, and is anxious that she will be reprimanded for her poor performance. Mona, however, reminds herself that getting an honest assessment of her work will only help her, and looks forward to asking her boss for suggestions on improving her performance. This means that Mona |
is reframing her thoughts to foster a constructive conversation. |
|
The person delivering bad news should not discuss the immediate impacts of that news on recipients. |
false |
|
Jerry, the owner of Blue Sky Inc., needs to inform employees that they will receive a twenty percent salary cut to help the company survive a recession. If Jerry communicates this bad message in an evasive and misleading manner, it will likely |
negatively affect Jerry’s credibility. |
|
The mum effect results when employees in an organization |
avoid sharing bad news because they do not want to be blamed. |
|
When delivering negative performance reviews, managers should focus on attitudes and intentions rather than actions and results. |
false |
|
Which of the following is an ineffective way to soften the blow of a bad-news message |
a direct message structure |
|
Which of the following is most likely to be communicated in writing? |
rejection of a colleague’s idea |
|
As a result of the mum effect, the message that reaches the top executives of an organization is usually |
falsely positive. |
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Malik uses appraisal software to provide regular feedback to his employees. Which of the following is an example of something he should not do with the software? |
Rank each employee’s performance on a scale from one to ten. |
|
Although it may soften the blow of a bad performance review, the sandwich approach to delivering bad-news may also |
encourage poor performers. |
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Which component of the FAIR test relates to the question "Have I stated the message in a way that recognizes the inherent worth of others?" |
respect |
|
In a bad-news message, a buffer is a statement that is typically used to |
show appreciation. |
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