Management Skills Exercises

Learning activities in this section are aimed at helping you develop management skills.

 Cases

How Evernote’s Phil Libin Keeps Communication Flowing

“How Evernote’s Phil Libin Keeps Communication Flowing” (p. 265) and its related Challenge Case Summary were written to help you better understand the management concepts contained in this chapter. Answer the following discussion questions about the Challenge Case to better see how your understanding of influencing and communication can be applied in a company like Evernote.

  1. 12-4. List three problems that could have resulted at Evernote if Libin had been a poor communicator.

  2. 12-5. Explain how the problems you listed in number 1 could have been caused by Libin’s inability to communicate.

  3. 12-6. Assuming that Libin is a good communicator, discuss three ways he is positively affecting Evernote because of his communication expertise.

Glimcher Focuses on Internal Communication

Read the case and answer the questions that follow. Studying this case will help you better understand how concepts relating to communication can be applied in an organization such as Glimcher Realty Trust.

It goes without saying that the real estate market has not been a booming industry for the last several years. For Columbus, Ohio–based Glimcher Realty Trust, it has been especially difficult. Primarily in the mall and shopping center business, the company owns or manages 27 malls in 15 states, including Ohio, California, Florida, and Pennsylvania (www.glimcher.com). But since 2008, the company has had a trying time with a weak economy, numerous foreclosures, a dropping stock price, and an ever-increasing debt.

Michael Glimcher, CEO of the company, needed to raise tens of millions of dollars to help alleviate the financial pressures on the firm. Additionally, he knew that 2012 was going to be an especially tough year. He said that the year was “going to be about the balance sheet and strengthening the quality of our tenants” (Misonzhnik, 2012). After all, mall management companies make their money primarily from the tenants who occupy space in those malls, such as J. C. Penney, Macy’s, Gap, and other retailers. A full mall with satisfied tenants means more income for Glimcher. To get the millions of dollars needed for the company, his first step was not to go out and borrow even more money but instead to simply talk to his employees. With over 500 employees whose livelihoods depended upon the success of the company, what Glimcher did and said was very important. He needed to reassure them. “I made it very clear to everyone,” he said. “We’re going to win here. We’re going to get through the issues we have to get through” (Scott, 2011).

In his communication to the employees, he detailed his plans. His laid out how the company would weather the current economic storm and also move ahead. “We called a state-of-the-company meeting and I outlined every issue we were dealing with and what we had to do to be a healthier company,” Glimcher said. “Here are the three or four most critical issues we have to correct. Here are the things we absolutely have to do, and when we do X, Y and Z, we’ll be in a much better place” (Scott, 2011). One of the things Glimcher had to consider was selling some of the mall properties to raise the funds. This meant that some of his employees who managed his properties might lose their jobs. “Rather than giving people part of the story or half the story, we said, ‘Here’s exactly what’s going on,’” Glimcher said. “‘We might be selling your mall.’ Frankly, we needed the help of the team to market the asset so we could get people excited about it” (Scott, 2011).

That was a difficult task. Some of the employees knew that they might find themselves working even harder to get a property ready to sell to another company, which could easily mean the end of their employment, as the new company would not necessarily have a need for them. This is where Glimcher’s ability to communicate honestly with each employee was at its best. He believes that communicating with employees in a way that treats them as not only a member of the team but also an important contributor to the team is vital to his company’s success. “If you yell at someone, are they going to feel good and want to do something for you? Or are they going to feel kind of down and think you’re a jerk? People who are treated nicely usually wind up doing better things. If I thought people were going to be a lot happier and we were going to make a lot more money because I could go around yelling at everybody, maybe I’d start doing that. I don’t believe that’s true” (Scott, 2011).

Ultimately, Glimcher did not have to sell off any of its properties. Cutting operational costs definitely helped. And additional funds were brought in through more real estate deals, including the management of the second-largest mall in Hawaii (www.glimcher.com). But the experience for Glimcher was important because it demonstrated that open, upfront communication with employees is absolutely critical. “If you treat people nicely and you genuinely care about them and you’re incredibly honest with them about what’s going on,” he said, “I think people really appreciate that” (Scott, 2011).55

Questions

  1. 12-7. Using the 10 commandments of good communication described in this chapter, assess Michael Glimcher’s communication with his employees.

  2. 12-8. What macrobarriers and microbarriers do you think might exist for Michael Glimcher in his communication with employees?

  3. 12-9. Is Glimcher’s approach to communication a type of formal or informal organizational communication? Explain.

Experiential Exercises

Developing Nonverbal Communication Skills

Directions. Read the following scenario and then perform the listed activities. Your instructor may want you to perform the activities as an individual or within groups. Follow all of your instructor’s directions carefully.

The purpose of this exercise is to help you develop your nonverbal communication skills. Apply yourself as much as possible. The more you focus on the exercise, the greater your chances of developing your skill.

Procedure

  1. Your instructor will divide the class into groups of approximately four members each.

  2. Each group will have about 10 minutes to complete the following task via a group discussion:

    List as many advantages and disadvantages as you can regarding allowing illegal aliens or undocumented workers to remain in the United States.

  3. Before discussion begins, each group will be given approximately five minutes so that members can work individually to (a) list two feelings they would like to project during the group discussion and (b) list corresponding nonverbal actions they will use to express those feelings. For example, one feeling might be anger, and the related nonverbal action could be yelling words. Individuals should share their work with other group members.

  4. Once members have finished their individual work in number 3, the instructor will signal for group discussion to begin.

  5. After the discussion, the instructor will allow each group about five minutes so that individuals can talk about what feelings they think other individuals were trying to communicate. All should keep track of how many times their nonverbal messages were successful in communicating their intended feelings.

  6. The instructor will open discussion about the exercise by asking questions such as the following:

    1. Were you successful in communicating nonverbally? Why?

    2. Is it easy for you to communicate nonverbally? Why?

    3. What did you learn from this exercise about increasing your managerial skill of communicating nonverbally?

You and Your Career56

John Black is a production supervisor in a low-tech toy company that produces wooden cars and boats for children 2–4 years of age. John supervises 25 employees and has been performing well in this same job for five years. On personal reflection, John wants to be promoted but doesn’t think he’ll be offered a promotion in the foreseeable future. However, John doesn’t really understand why. He has 24/7 e-mail access and is “always on” via his wireless technology device. In fact, John is something of a legend at the company because he is always on his BlackBerry. John not only has conversations through his BlackBerry but also does quite a bit of text messaging. John has always believed that because of the efficiency involved, electronic means of communication are better than face-to-face communication.

Could John’s personal philosophy about communication affect his career? If yes, why? If no, why not? If you were John, what personal philosophy about communication would you have to maximize not only your job success but also your career success?

Building Your Management Skills Portfolio

Your Management Skills Portfolio is a collection of activities specially designed to demonstrate your management knowledge and skill. Be sure to save your work. Taking your printed portfolio to an employment interview could be helpful in obtaining a job.

The portfolio activity for this chapter is Developing a New Communication Environment.57 Read the following about Ericsson and answer the questions that follow.

Ericsson, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, is a world-leading provider of telecommunications equipment, with more than 1,000 networks in 140 countries. Forty percent of all mobile calls are made through Ericsson’s systems. Ericsson has about 75,000 employees and is one of only a few companies that offer worldwide solutions for all major mobile communication networks. A recent joint venture with Sony has enabled Ericsson to offer a wide range of mobile devices, including cell phones and related equipment. The company’s portfolio, which contains more than 20,000 patents, is evidence of its successful research efforts and its goal to be on the cutting edge of technology.

Over the years, Ericsson has invested heavily in maintaining its internal communications. Traditionally, the majority of this investment has been in the area of print and electronic publishing devices. Recently, however, management indicated that this investment approach for maintaining internal communications is no longer appropriate because it no longer meets Ericsson’s ambitions for global best practices in all areas of the business. As part of rebuilding internal communications, all the publishing activities were outsourced to an external agency. A new area for significant investment in management’s program is to improve internal communications by improving managers’ interpersonal communication skills. Further, management wants the company’s communication environment to change from one where internal communication focuses more on news flow to one where communication focuses on helping management achieve organizational goals.

Assuming that you have the primary responsibility at Ericsson for building this new communication environment, answer the following questions.

What four goals would you set for building the new communication environment at Ericsson?

  1. 12-10.           

  2. 12-11.           

  3. 12-12.           

  4. 12-13.           

Explain what each goal would contribute toward establishing the new environment that supports reaching organizational goals.

  1. 12-14.           

  2. 12-15.           

  3. 12-16.           

  4. 12-17.           

List a primary step you would take in trying to achieve each goal.

  1. 12-18.           

  2. 12-19.           

  3. 12-20.           

  4. 12-21.           

How long do you think it would take to establish the new communication environment at Ericsson? Why? Explain fully.

  1. 12-22.           

  2. 12-23.           

  3. 12-24.           

  4. 12-25.           

    MyManagementLab : Writing Exercises

    If your instructor has assigned this activity, go to mymanagementlab.com for the following assignments:

    Assisted Grading Questions

    1. 12-26. How can managers encourage the flow of formal communication in organizations?

    2. 12-27. What is “emotional intelligence” and how does it relate to influencing people in organizations?

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