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

On the Job

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Solving a Communication Dilemma at American Express

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David House believes that all employees in his division must work together as a team if they are to contribute to the company's success. House does everything he can to encourage teamwork. Each year, he commends outstanding team effort, awarding lavish prizes to the top 75 sales reps for their contributions. But it takes more than an impressive sales record to be recognized. Representatives must follow House's agenda for building a winning team: (1) staying close to the customer, (2) having a commitment to excellence, (3) making a difference every day, (4) being accountable for results, and (5) sharing with peers. For example, House recognized one sales rep who focused on her team's regional sales objectives instead of her own quotas and made an effort to share her winning strategies with her peers. In addition to accompanying other reps on sales calls in her region, she distributed copies of her winning presentation to every sales rep in the country.

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To promote communication within each team, House makes sure that every employee has access to the company's highly efficient computer network. Team members conduct virtual meetings with colleagues around the world, and they take advantage of e-mail and videoconferencing to brainstorm and collaborate on projects. Several units in House's division use a buddy system that requires remote workers to chat with on-site colleagues by phone every morning, covering topics ranging from new customers to office politics. Other telecommuters report to a local or regional office several times each week, meeting with co-workers for specific purposes. Office meetings have predetermined agendas and follow regular schedules to reduce wasted meeting time and to allow team members to communicate face to face.

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House also introduces new employees to the team concept right away. On their first day of work, new recruits are assigned tasks that involve a team effort. If one team member needs help, the new employee is asked to pitch in. From the newest recruits to top executives, House makes sure that everyone at American Express contributes to the company's success through effective teamwork.

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Your Mission

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You have recently been promoted to sales manager for the Northwest region of American Express Worldwide Establishment Services. Your responsibilities include (1) promoting the team concept among all sales representatives in your region, and (2) serving as a team leader on special projects that involve sales managers throughout the country. Choose the best alternatives for handling the following situations, and be prepared to explain why your choice is best.

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David House has asked you and four other employees to find solutions to the lack of sufficient office space for the growing number of employees in the Northwest region. As leader, you schedule team meetings on Thursday afternoons for five weeks to address the problem. After two meetings with your co-workers, you notice that everyone is making vital contributions to the group's efforts–except Jane. During the meetings, she displays very poor listening skills. She often jumps ahead of the topic or interrupts a speaker's train of thought. At other times, she doodles on her notepad instead of taking constructive notes. And she remains silent after team members deliver lengthy reports about possible solutions to the office space problem. What can you do as team leader to help Jane improve her listening skills?

Ask Jane to take extensive notes during each meeting. The process of taking detailed notes will improve her concentration and force her to listen more carefully to team members. After the meeting, she can use her notes as a reference to clarify any questions about team decisions or the nature of assignments to individual team members.
Suggest that Jane mentally summarize the speaker's ideas–or verbally rephrase the ideas in her own words–during the meeting. With some practice, Jane should be able to focus on the topics under discussion and block out distracting thoughts.
Schedule future team meetings for Thursday mornings instead of Thursday afternoons. After devoting most of the workday to her regular duties, Jane may be feeling tired or sluggish by the time your team meeting rolls around.
Prepare a detailed, written summary of each meeting. The summary will clarify any points that Jane may have missed during the meeting and provide her with a complete reference of team decisions and assignments.

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As leader of a team of regional sales managers, you schedule a team meeting to discuss new methods of inspiring and motivating sales representatives to achieve their quarterly sales goals. During the meeting, one regional sales manager disagrees with every suggestion offered by team members, often reacting with a sneer on his face and a belligerent tone of voice. Which of the following strategies is the best way to overcome the manager's resistance?

Ignore his remarks. Keep the meeting on track and avoid destructive confrontations by asking for input from other team members.
Directly confront the sales manager's concerns. Point out the flaws in his arguments, and offer support for the opinions of other team members.
Remain calm and try to understand his point of view. Ask him to clarify his points, and solicit his suggestions for motivating sales representatives.
Politely acknowledge his opinions, then repeat the most valid suggestions offered by other team members in a convincing manner.

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Some employees of American Express Worldwide Establishment Services have been pushing the company to adopt a corporate statement of goals. In response, David House has decided to call an executive meeting. Which purpose should House focus on during the meeting?

To find out about competitors' goals and determine whether they are appropriate for American Express
To inform top managers of his intention to evaluate all employees on the basis of their contributions to corporate goals
To decide which managers/employees should be asked to come to a meeting about corporate goals
To reach an agreement about the company's primary corporate goals

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The manager of the Southeast region realizes his communication skills are important for several reasons: He holds primary responsibility for successful communication in the region; he needs to communicate with the sales representatives who report to him; and his style sets an example for other employees in the region. He asks you to sit in on face-to-face meetings for several days to observe his nonverbal messages. You witness four habits. Which of the following habits do you think is the most negative?

He rarely comes out from behind his massive desk when meeting people; at one point, he offered a congratulatory handshake to a sales representative, and the sales rep had to lean way over his desk just to reach him.
When a sales rep hands him a report and then sits down to discuss it, he alternates between making eye contact and making notes on the report.
He is consistently pleasant, even if the person he is meeting is delivering bad news. He interrupts meetings to answer the phone, rather than letting an assistant get the phone; then he apologizes to visitors for the interruption.⁴⁹

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