14
Chapter 8: Communication
© 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
effective communication will result if a clear message is sent and the other person really listens
and understands the message as it is intended to be understood. One way you can be sure that
you understand the other person as he or she intends for you to understand is to make a listening
check. A listening check is merely a summary in your own words of what you understand the
other person to have said. If you have misunderstood the message, it gives you the opportunity to
hear it again and really gain an understanding before moving on in the conversation. The ability
to skillfully make listening checks is crucial in all human interactions and especially crucial
when you are in a managerial role. To gain skills in utilizing listening checks, there will be three
rounds of conversations. During each round, two people will have a conversation while the other
person acts as an observer. One of the two people will initiate the conversation. However, it is
two-way conversation. The student portion of the activity is on a handout at the end of this
chapter guide.
Introduce the activity by saying, “since the management process is performed through
communicating with others, our focus in this session will be on communication skill building.
We are going to do a skill-building exercise in groups of threes, triads. Letter off A, B, and C and
go to an area of the room in which you can carry on a private conversation.” Each round of
conversation will last 5-8 minutes. Call time at the end of each round, reminding students about
switching roles. Following round three, give students time to respond to the questions listed in
Step 5 of the textbook exercise. Have each group share its responses to the questions with the
class. More detailed descriptions of each round follow.
Round 1. In this round, A picks one of the controversial topics that is posted and initiates a
conversation with B. A and B carry on a two-way conversation while observing the following
rule. Before either A or B may speak, they must summarize to the other what the person has just
said to the satisfaction of the speaker. If they summarize back to the other one and it does not
satisfy the other, they must hear the statement or comment again and keep summarizing until it
meets the satisfaction of the one who spoke last. No new statement or any other response may be
given until the last person who spoke is satisfied that the other person has understood what was
said. Again, it is to be a two-way conversation, but you must summarize back to the last person
what they just said to their satisfaction before you can add any new information. Once you have
summarized it, you can make some statements about your position on the topic, then the other
person must summarize back to your satisfaction, before she or he can add any new information.
During this round, C is the observer. As the observer, you are to referee and enforce the ground
rules. If A or B interrupt each other and start talking before they have summarized, you stop
them and remind them that they must summarize what the last person said before they can make
their own statement.
Round 2. During this round, B and C will have a discussion. B will pick a topic off the list