ASSESMENT 1
Write 2–3 pages discussing various communication styles and create an infographic depicting the style that best fits your preferred method for communicating in a professional environment.
Introduction
We have seen that there are many communication styles that can be used to relay a message from sender to receiver. This assessment lets you explore social styles and how those impact communication. You'll create an infographic depicting the social style that best fits your approach to professional communication.
Understanding Social and Communication Styles
Social styles are behavioral preferences that shape how we naturally communicate and interact with others. They're typically consistent and reflect deeper aspects of our personalities. Communication styles, however, are more situational, describing the specific ways we express our thoughts and ideas. Some communication styles may feel warm and hospitable, while others can come across as clinical or intense. Effective communication involves thoughtfully considering your message's tone, content, and delivery method (verbal, written, email, et cetera) to ensure it resonates appropriately with your audience.
You will use the Communicate Like a Pro: Know Your Style and Communicate Like a Pro: Flex Your Voice activities to explore and identify your preferred social style, deepening your understanding of how it influences your communication in different situations. Afterwards, you will further research your social style and create an infographic highlighting the impacts it has on your communication with others, especially with those whose styles differ from your own.
What Is an Infographic?
An infographic (information graphic) is a graphic format used to present information in a way that is both appealing and easily understandable at a glance. Infographics are a fantastic way to convey information through visual cues that can enhance your target audience’s reception of the information. You can use PowerPoint, Canva, Piktochart, or any other program that you feel comfortable with to create your infographic. This Sample Infographic [PDF] was created using Canva.
The Canva and Piktochart sites offer templates and quick tutorials for designing infographics. You can search the Internet to find many others. YouTube is a good place to look for helpful resources, such as these:
- Infographic Resources reading list.
Any template that you choose is acceptable as long as your infographic effectively communicates the important aspects of a communication style.
Complete the Communicate Like a Pro: Know Your Style and Communicate Like a Pro: Flex Your Voice activities. In 2–3 pages:
- Briefly compare the four primary communication styles (passive, aggressive, passive-aggressive, and assertive). Do you tend to gravitate toward one of these more frequently?
- Discuss your preferred social style and how it impacts your communication with others.
- Further research your preferred social style. What are some strategies for maintaining assertive communication?
- Identify 2–3 potential business scenarios that you may have previously experienced or may potentially find yourself in. Create a plan to avoid potential breakdowns in communication and ensure that communication is as clear, effective, and assertive as possible. How may you benefit from adapting your social style in each situation?
- Create an infographic that explains your preferred social style and how this impacts your approach to successful, professional communication with others including those whose preferred social style is different from your own.
- Save the infographic in whatever image format you like.
- Your assessment should also meet the following requirements:
- Written communication: Address assessment purpose in a well-organized text, incorporating appropriate evidence and tone in grammatically sound sentences.
- Format and length: Complete and submit both parts of this assessment:
- 2–3 double-spaced pages in Microsoft Word. Page count does not include your cover page or reference page.
- The infographic can be submitted as an image inside of your Word document or as a separate attachment to the assessment.
- APA style and formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style and formatting standards.
- Use Academic Writer for guidance in citing sources and formatting your paper in proper APA style. See the Writing Center for more APA resources specific to your degree level.
- Also refer to the Business Academic Professional Document Guidelines [PDF], which provides basic formatting and APA guidelines you should follow to create attractive and usable documents not just within your business program but in the workplace as well.
- Cited resources: Use a minimum of three scholarly sources outside of the course text. All literature cited should be current, with publication dates within the past five years.
- Academic integrity and honesty: You must adhere to academic integrity and honesty policies and incorporate practices that support ethically sound work in your assessments. View Academic Integrity at Capella University: Some Guidelines.
- Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point, Arial, 11 point, or Calibri, 11 point.
- By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:
- Competency 1: Analyze business communication situations.
- Compare four communication styles.
- Competency 2: Apply fundamental principles of organizational communication.
- Discuss business scenarios in which each of the social and communication styles would be appropriate to use.
- Competency 3: Analyze the interrelationships of communication within organizational systems.
- Create an infographic explaining a social style.
- Competency 5: Communicate effectively and professionally.
- Address assessment purpose in a well-organized text, incorporating appropriate evidence and tone in grammatically sound sentences.
- Apply APA formatting to in-text citations and references.
For communication to be considered successful, the message must be received, but additionally, a shared reality must be created. We will examine how the concept of shared reality relates to organizations, especially as a way of assessing whether a particular communication event was successful. This shared reality is the product of the interrelationship of the four basic elements of communication:- Sender.
- Receiver.
- Message.
- Channel.
- Assessment 1: Sender, Receiver, Message, and Channel reading list.
- Components of Communication [PDF].
- This document provides an overview of the sender-receiver model.
- ASSESMENT 2
- Write a 3–4 page analysis of ethical and communication issues surrounding one of the provided whistleblower scenarios and then write a 1-page communication detailing lessons learned from the incident.
- You are contemplating going above your management team to bring something that you feel is being overlooked to the attention of those higher up, maybe even the press. The issue matters enough to you, and you feel your management either won’t or isn’t in a position to do something about it. Hopefully, in your current work environment, you’re in a collaborative enough place that this kind of situation doesn’t come up. But it’s common in many different types of organizations, and it raises all kinds of questions, not just about ethics, but how you go about communicating, too.
- Whistleblowers have been responsible for bringing many illegal or unethical situations to light. There are several modern examples of whistleblowers that we can examine. In this assessment, you are asked to identify the communication strategy used and analyze the ethical and communication issues surrounding one of these scenarios.
- Erin Brockovich and PG&E - Erin Brockovich became a whistleblower when she spoke out against Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) after finding widespread unexplained illness in the town of Hinkley, California while working as a legal assistant. PG&E had contaminated the town’s drinking water with toxic chromium 6. She decided to expose the issue by gathering evidence, connecting with affected residents, and advocating for their rights.
- Enron - The Enron corporation was a company dealing in energy resources based in Houston, Texas. Enron’s scandal involved dubious accounting practices, leading to bankruptcy. Executives engaged in fraudulent transactions, hiding losses and inflating profits. These issues were exposed by Sherron Watkins, one of the executives in the company.
- OceanGate - In June 2023, the OceanGate submersible Titan embarked on a voyage to the wreck of the Titanic with five passengers, including the CEO, on board. The submersible experienced a catastrophic hull failure, resulting in the loss of the vessel and all passengers. David Lochridge, the director of marine operations, expressed concerns about the safety of the ship years prior to the disaster.
- Boeing - In 2017, The Boeing Company introduced a new generation of its venerable 737aircraft called the 737 Max, featuring design and equipment modifications which changed in-flight characteristics compared to previous 737 aircraft. These changes were not fully communicated to all airline customers in 737 Max training materials, leading to two high-profile fatal airline crashes in 2018 and 2019. These crashes caused significant ripples in the airline industry, and negatively impacted Boeing’s reputation as an aircraft manufacturer. Boeing had multiple whistleblowers that raised safety and quality concerns. One of these was John Barnett, a quality control manager at Boeing, who reported his findings to management and the FAA.
- Nike - In 1991, fashion retailer Nike was faced with the fallout of an independent investigative report, by labor activist Jeffrey Ballinger, outlining unethical and unsafe working conditions in its overseas factories. This report caused widespread anti-Nike sentiment globally, and the company reacted by improving its working practices while communicating with the public about the changes.
- The time it takes to complete an assessment can vary greatly. But it often takes longer than we think to explore the scope of a task, research it, write a draft, and then come back and revise it. Consider the following as rough guideposts for setting aside the time you need to do your work. You will want to adjust these as you learn more about your own pace and working style.
- Research and reading: 2 hours.
- Revisit Interactive activities: 45 minutes.
- Communicating Ethical Concerns.
- Ethical Business Communication in Times of Crisis.
- Writing: 6 hours.
- Revising: 2 hours.
- What was the ethical concern addressed by the whistleblower?
- Was the method of communication (channel, recipient, content) appropriate and ethical? Why or why not?
- How did the communication affect the outcome of the situation?
- What, if anything, should have been done differently?
- What lessons can be learned from this situation?
Consider the whistleblower’s decision to expose the illegal or unethical activity, their motivation, the manner in which they communicated the issues, and the recipients of the communication. Complete both parts of this assessment in a single Word document and be sure to cite all sources using APA reference style.Part 1: Analyze the Scenario
Using at least two of the provided scenarios:- Analyze the ethical decision that the whistleblower faced as it relates to how they communicated.
- Consider the sender, receiver, message, and channel.
- Analyze the outcomes of the communication strategy.
- Make sure to consider how the communication was distributed, the possible intent, and the content of the communication.
- Describe the effectiveness of the communication in the scenario.
- Focus on how specific events were influenced by the communication.
- What were the primary failures and successes?
Part 2: Write a Communication
Imagine that you are working in the same industry as the whistleblower in your chosen scenario and have followed this sequence of events closely. Your research has provided you with a great deal that can be applied to your industry, and you are anxious to share your lessons learned from the situation.- Write a communication to a colleague that conveys and reinforces the primary lessons learned from the incident.
- Be sure to focus on the actions of the whistleblower in your communication.
- The medium is your choice, but it is also very important, so state the medium you have chosen within your message and the reason you feel it is the most appropriate medium to use. Address possible reasons such as confidentiality, tone, and convention.
Your assessment should also meet the following requirements:- Written communication: Address assessment purpose in a well-organized text, incorporating appropriate evidence and tone in grammatically sound sentences.
- Format and length: Complete and submit Parts 1 and 2 of this assessment in a single Word document.
- Part 1 should be 3–4 double-spaced pages.
- Part 2 should be 1 double-spaced page.
- Page counts do not include your cover page or reference page.
- APA style and formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style and formatting standards.
- Use Academic Writer for guidance in citing sources and formatting your paper in proper APA style. See the Writing Center for APA resources specific to your degree level.
- Also refer to the Business Academic Professional Document Guidelines [PDF], which provides basic formatting and APA guidelines you should follow to create attractive and usable documents not just within your business program but in the workplace as well.
- Cited resources: Use a minimum of three sources. All literature cited should be current, with publication dates within the past five years. Do not use any books other than the course text as references. Professional websites, news articles, and journal articles should be used as references.
- Academic integrity and honesty: You must adhere to academic integrity and honesty policies and incorporate practices that support ethically sound work in your assignments. View Academic Integrity at Capella University: Some Guidelines.
- Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point, Arial, 11 point, or Calibri, 11 point.
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- Assessment 2: Communication and Conflict reading list.
Conflict occurs in all types of communication, whether the communication is among family, friends, or business partners. Therefore, it is important to understand conflict and the causes that create the conflict. Understanding how to effectively communicate with those we are experiencing conflict can reduce the conflict and lead to positive outcomes.
Ethical Business Communication in Times of Crisis
Ethical Business Communication in Times of Crisis narrated by Bradly Roh, examines two large corporations faced with crisis and how they navigated through it. This historical documentary video highlights the lasting importance of employing strong ethics when practicing strategic communication. This activity is intended to support your understanding of the scenarios in this assessment. -
- Assessment 2: Whistleblower Scenarios reading list.
- Visit the BUS3050 & FPX3050: Fundamentals of Organizational Communication Library Guide for research resources.
In this assessment, you will examine one of the provided whistleblower scenarios and conduct your own research. There are many resources available on the Internet and in the Capella library you can use to inform yourself of the communication and ethical issues tied to the scenarios. You are encouraged to find your own resources, in addition to the following, to get you started:
- Competency 1: Analyze business communication situations.