Developing Management Skills, 8e (Whetten/Cameron)
Chapter 4 Building Relationships by Communicating Supportively

1) Studies have found that productivity at work is markedly higher when relationships are positive.
Answer: TRUE
Explanation: This is true because positive relationships foster cooperation among people, so that things that get in the way of highly successful performancesuch as conflict, disagreements, confusion and ambiguity, unproductive competition, anger, and personal offenseare minimized.
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 238
Topic: Building Positive Interpersonal Relationships
Skill: Recall

2) Studies have found that people make fewer mental errors when experiencing positive relationships.
Answer: TRUE …show more content…

Answer: FALSE
Explanation: The response of the employee in this case demonstrates that she has been disconfirmed and lacks a sense of value or worth. She is trying to make herself look good by suggesting that she offers advice to the general manager. Thus, her response is more a matter of demeaning communication than it is a matter of whether she has been counseled or not.
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 246
Topic: Defensiveness and Disconfirmation
Skill: Understanding/Application

13) Congruence in communication means that what is communicated verbally and nonverbally matches what the person is thinking and feeling.
Answer: TRUE
Explanation: Simply put, congruence means being honest. It means communicating what you intend. However, it does not mean being brutally honest or demeaning others. Effective congruent communication must be supportive.
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 247
Topic: Principles of Supportive CommunicationCongruent, Not Incongruent
Skill: Recall

14) When her boyfriend asks if everything is okay, a woman coldly responds, "Everything is fine." She is practicing congruent communication.
Answer: FALSE
Explanation: To be congruent,