Models - Communication

Question 1

Who developed the Cross-Cultural Communication model?

Answer 1

Browaeys & Price

Question 2

The Cross-Cultural Communication model states that the message itself is influenced by the sender’s…?

Answer 2

Frame of reference, which includes current knowledge, experience, norms/values and assumptions.

Communication Models

Question 3

The Cross-Cultural Communication model states that how the message is transmitted is influenced by…?

Answer 3

Language, styles of thinking, styles of communication, stereotypes and relationship to the other also affect how the intended message is received.

Communication Models

Question 4

Who developed the Effectiveness of Communication Channels model?

Answer 4

Alistair Cockburn
Describes the communication channels along the axes of effectiveness and richness.

Communication Models

Question 5

What are the main points of the Effectiveness of Communication Channels model?

Answer 5

• Describes the communication channels along the axes of effectiveness and richness.
• Situations that entail complex, complicated, and personal information benefit from richer communication channels, such as face-to-face communication.
• Situations that impart simple, factual information can use less rich communication channels such as a note or a text message.

Communication Models

Question 6

What are the two arcs represented in the Effectiveness of Communication Channels?

Answer 6

• No question-answer (paper, audio tape, video)
• Question-answer (2 ppl email, 2 ppl phone, 2 ppl white board, in person)

Question 7

Who developed the Gulf of Execution and Evaluation model?
What is it’s main point?

Answer 7

Donald Norman

Without effective design elements to support users, they can become insurmountable barriers between users and their goals.

Both phrases are first mentioned in Donald Norman’s 1986 book User Centered System Design: New Perspectives on Human-computer Interaction.

Communication Models

https://www.nngroup.com/articles/two-ux-gulfs-evaluation-execution/

Question 8

What does the Gulf of Execution state?

Answer 8

The gulf of execution is the degree to which an item corresponds
with what a person expects it to do.

Execution: Taking action to accomplish a specific goal

Examples: autopark car, vcr, word processing

Question 9

What does the Gulf of Evaluation state?

Answer 9

The gulf of evaluation is the degree to which an item supports the user in discovering how to interpret the item and interact with it effectively.

Evaluation: Understanding the state of the system

Examples: thermostat, voice command plays the wrong song

Question 10

What type of communication makes the cost of communications low and the feedback rate high, so that errors are corrected extremely quickly and knowledge is disseminated quickly?

Answer 10

Osmotic communication
Information flows into the background hearing of members of the team, so that they pick up relevant information as though by osmosis.

Question 11

What are the main components to a Basic Communication Model used in project management?

Answer 11

• Sender
• Message
• Channel (medium)
• Receiver
• Feedback

Question 12

In the Basic Communication Model, what is anything that interferes with the transmission of message or acknowledgement. For instance, distance, unfamiliar technology, lack of background information or language?

Answer 12

Noise

Question 13

In the Basic Communication Model, what is a means by which message is transmitted between sender and receiver?

Answer 13

medium

Question 14

What are four steps to effective communication?

Answer 14

1. Identify communication requirements
2. Identify the 5Ws (why, what, when where, who) and 1H (how)
3. Identify and accommodate the EEFs
4. Identify OPAs

https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/effective-communication-better-project-management-6480

Question 15

What are the major areas obstacles arise in communiction?

Answer 15

• Between organizations
• Between departments within an organization
• Between teams within a department
• Within distributed teams

Question 16

What are three specific areas obstacles may be found across projects?

Answer 16

1. Political - Whenever there are many groups involved, there is the possibility of vested interests and power games getting in the way of dialogue.
2. Cultural - Organizational culture, which is essentially the totality of assumptions and values commonly held within an organization need to be dealt with. This can vary considerably between organizations. For example, one might expect some differences of opinion at a joint project planning session involving a very forward-looking, can-do supplier and a conservative, risk-averse customer.
3. Linguistic - Linguistic needs to be understood in the sense of specialized terminology used by different disciplines such as accounting, IT, marketing, etc. Often when specialists from diverse areas get together to discuss project related matters, there is a tendency for each side to make assumptions (often tacitly) regarding a common understanding of specialized jargon.

Question 17

How should political communication obstacles be handled?

Answer 17

Once the political players have been identified, the project manager should take steps to gain their confidence and buy-in on project goals. This should help eliminate political barriers to project communications. It is best to settle political issues at the level where they originate; escalating political problems up the hierarchy (i.e., to the manager’s manager) generally does not help, and may even be counterproductive.

Question 18

How should cultural communication obstacles be handled?

Answer 18

Project managers can ease such difficulties by understanding the divergences in attitudes between the parties involved, and then acting as intermediaries to facilitate communication. In geographically distributed (or virtual) teams, differences between regional cultures can come into play. These could manifest themselves in a variety of ways, such as differences in fluency of language or social attitudes and behaviors. Here again, the project leader, and the rest of the team for that matter, need to be aware of the differences and allow for them in project communications.

Question 19

When should the project manager should identify all of the required and approved methods of communicating?

Answer 19

As part of the cummunications planning process

https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/effective-communication-better-project-management-6480

Question 20

Paralingual, feedback, active listening, effective listening and nonverbal are terms tha describe what?

Answer 20

the process of communicating

https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/effective-communication-better-project-management-6480

Question 20

Name 5 conditions that may effect the communication plan?

Answer 20

1. Urgency - when
2. Technology - how
3. Project staffing - who
4. Project length - may effect technology available to communicate
5. Project environment - colocated vs virtual stakeholders

https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/effective-communication-better-project-management-6480

Question 21

What describes the pitch, tone, and inflections in the sender’s voice that affect the message being sent?

Answer 21

Paralingual communication

Para-language, also known as vocalics, is a component of meta-communication that may modify meaning, give nuanced meaning, or convey emotion, by using techniques such as prosody, pitch, volume, intonation, etc.

https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/effective-communication-better-project-management-6480

Question 22

The sender confirms that the receiver understands the message by directly asking for a response, questions for clarification, or other confirmation of the sent message.

Answer 22

Feedback

https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/effective-communication-better-project-management-6480

Question 23

The receiver confirms that the message is being received through feedback, questions, prompts for clarity, and other signs of confirmation.

Answer 23

Active listening

https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/effective-communication-better-project-management-6480

Question 24

The receiver is involved in the listening experience by paying attention to visual clues from the speaker and paralingual characteristics and by asking relevant questions.

Answer 24

Effective listening

https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/effective-communication-better-project-management-6480

Question 25

Facial expressions, hand gestures, and body language that contribute to the message are called?

Answer 25

Nonverbal communication

“Only 7% of our communication is verbal—the content of our communication. Thirty-eight percent is conveyed through the quality of voice—tone, volume, speed and pitch. Fifty-five percent is through posture, movements, gestures, facial expressions, breathing and skin-color changes.”

https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/effective-communication-better-project-management-6480

Question 26

The mechanics of effective communication involve what factors?

Answer 26

• Understanding
• Knowledge
• Positive relationships

Successful communication in diverse work groups extends beyond mastering the mechanics of basic communication, it involves learning to understand and effectively use words and phrases. Effective communicators gain knowledge about other people’s backgrounds and develop positive work group relationships.

https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/effective-communication-better-project-management-6480

Question 27

What information is communicated througout the project?

Answer 27

• News
• Informed editorials
• Purpose driven (pre-meditated)

Question 28

Relaying functional/useful information, demonstrating progress and documenting actions and results are what category of information?

Answer 28

News

Question 29

Celebrating succcess, highlighting challenges, outlining options/alternatives, and sharing changes are what category of information?

Answer 29

Informed editorials

Question 30

Seeking a decision, requesting guidance and/or concurrence, building a sense of community, and exhibiting legitimacy are what category of information?

Answer 30

Purpose driven (pre-meditated)

Question 31

What are 3 general levels of communication?

Answer 31

1. Informal - phone calls, 1:1 emails, water cooler, social media, outings
2. Semi-formal - meeting notes, meetings, document commnets, team emails
3. Formal - project status, portfolio reviews, budget/financial reviews, requirments, change mgmt jeoparides, risk assessments

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/11Q1tRNlyj2zrF7ndUXYL4mjv213mxpoT/edit#slide=id.p4

Question 32

What are 2 kinds of communication styles?

Answer 32

1. Hierarchiacal - team dynamics, organizational, team leadereship, leadership
2. Relationship - 1:1, 1:many, many:many

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/11Q1tRNlyj2zrF7ndUXYL4mjv213mxpoT/edit#slide=id.p5

Question 33

This model helps individuals increase self-awareness and improve interpersonal communication by understanding the balance between self-disclosure and feedback from others. Applying it enables ICs and leaders to enhance trust, collaboration, and team communication.

Answer 33

Johari Window Model

Example: During a team-building exercise, team members share their strengths and weaknesses, and others provide feedback on their observations. This exercise can help reveal blind spots and foster greater understanding among team members.

Question 34

This model helps individuals recognize and challenge their assumptions and biases during communication. By becoming aware of their thought processes and examining the evidence before drawing conclusions, ICs and leaders can make better decisions and reduce misunderstandings.

Answer 34

The Ladder of Inference Model

Example: A team member notices another member is consistently late to meetings. Instead of assuming that the late team member is disorganized or doesn’t care, they consider possible reasons for the lateness and engage in a conversation to better understand the situation.

Question 35

This model focuses on the essential characteristics of effective communication: clear, concise, concrete, correct, coherent, complete, and courteous. By incorporating it in their day-to-day communication, ICs and leaders can ensure their messages are well-received and understood by their team members.

Answer 35

THe 7 C’s of Communication

Example: An IC provides a project status update to stakeholders by preparing a well-structured presentation that is clear, concise, and accurate, ensuring that all relevant information is conveyed coherently and courteously.

Question 36

A critical communication skill that involves fully concentrating, understanding, and responding to the speaker. ICs and leaders can use techniques, such as paraphrasing, asking open-ended questions, and summarizing, to ensure effective communication and foster a supportive environment.

Answer 36

Active Listening Model

Example: In a team meeting, a leader actively listens to a team member’s concerns about a project deadline, paraphrases them, and asks open-ended questions to gather more information before addressing the issue.