1. Commentary 1
2. Commentary 2
3. Commentary 3
4. Commentary 4
5. Commentary 5
6. Commentary 6
7. Commentary 7
8. Commentary 8

Activities

Discussion Questions

1. Choose one of the following discussion questions. Write a thoughtful, well-considered answer to the question you select and post it to the class discussion board. This is worth 4 points.
   
   
   1. Which of the four communication competencies do you regard as your strongest? Why? Of the remaining three, which do you regard as your weakest? Again, why? How will you go about strengthening your underdeveloped competencies (other than through taking this course)?
   
   
   2. How do you define organizational communication? Consider the discussion of definitions of organizational communication on pp. 15-17 of Shockley-Zalabak. Develop your own one- or two-sentence definition of "organizational communication" and explain which of the different perspectives on organizational communication your definition emphasizes or fails to emphasize.
   
   
   
2. Read the discussion question answers posted by your fellow students. Write a thoughtful, well-considered response to one of your classmates' answers and post it as a reply to that student's post on the discussion board. This is worth 1 point.

Posting your response to the threaded discussion forum. Note: You may wish to compose your answer first in a word processor and cut and paste that answer into your posting on the Lesson 02 Discussion Forum. If you are the first person to respond, don’t worry. You don’t need to respond to anyone else, just yet! Once your classmates have begun to post their responses, make sure you respond to their thoughts by posting any comments or additional thoughts you may have. This answer, in conjunction with a response to another student’s message, would receive all points for the lesson. The example response above included all of the components of the questions (knowledge, skills, sensitivity and values) and provided examples of how these components were illustrated by Sue. If the response had left out some of the competence components or not provided examples, the response would have received fewer points.

Individual Assignment

Read the case at the end of Shockley-Zalabak, Chapter 1, entitled "What Do You Mean I'm Not Getting A Raise?" (p. 24). In a thoughtful, well-considered essay, answer the following questions:

1. What does this case illustrate about messages and meanings? Consider this question in the context of the human communication process.


2. What factors contributed to the outcome of the communication process in this case?


3. What steps would you advise Jane to take in the circumstances resulting from this case?

The essay should probably be no shorter than about 250 words but no longer than about 750. In any case, it should be complete, reasonably free from errors, clearly organized, and well thought-out. It is worth 6 points.

 

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