出自:国家开放大学-管理英语4
A Teamwork Game
A team of about 35 employees had come together for a team building event. They were a young, bright and enthusiastic team. However, one of their chief problems was the fact that they wouldn.t share information or solutions with each other, and the team leader thought they were too focused on themselves and not on the team. As a result, she brought them all into the cafeteria. All of the tables and chairs had been stored away, and fun decorations and hundreds of different colored balloons had been placed around the room.
In the center of the room was a big box of balloons that hadn.t been blown up yet. The team leader instructed everybody to pick a balloon, blow it up, and write their name on it, but they had to be careful not to burst the balloon.
Although they were given a second chance if their first balloon popped, they were out of the game the second time round. In the end, about 30 team members wrote their names without their balloons popping. They were then asked to leave the room and, after five minutes, the team leader brought them back in and asked them to find the balloon with their name on it amongst the hundreds of other balloons in the room. After 15 minutes of searching, no one had found their balloon, and the team were told that they were then going to move on to the third round of the activity.
In this round, each team member was instructed to find any balloon with a name on it and then give that balloon to the person whose name was on it. Within two minutes, everybody had their own balloon. The team leader summarized the activity thus: “We are much more efficient when we are willing to share with each other and much better at problem solving when we are working together, not individually.”
Sometimes, members of teams create obstacles by focusing solely on their own pursuits and goals. Every member of the team should ask themselves on a regular basis what they are doing and what they can do for the team.
操作提示：通过题目后的下拉选项框选择正确答案。
1. This team building event was aimed at 回答
.
A. helping these young, bright and enthusiastic employees become more concentrated on their work
B. making the team members know how to share information or solutions and cooperate with each other
C. building up team morale
2. This event was held in 回答
.
A. a self-service restaurant
B. a coffee shop
C. a classroom
3. About how many team members were out of the second round of the activity?回答
A. 30.
B. 35.
C. 5.
4. Which statement below is correct?回答
A. In the second round, every one of the team had found their balloons after 15 minutes.
B. In the third round, the team members were asked them to find the balloon with their name on it amongst the hundreds of other balloons in the room.
C. In the third round, everybody had their own balloon with help from others within 2 minutes.
5. What was the event going to teach these employees?回答
A. Sharing and cooperating with other team members is more efficient when they are working together.
B. Focusing solely on employees. own pursuits is not allowed in workplace.
C. Failure of teamwork is caused by individual.
This evening I met a friend at a local bar. She brought her laptop 回答
along
得分 0.00/2.00 分 so she could show me some of her latest digital art designs. As we looked through her artwork, the laptop suddenly started making an unhealthy noise, then the screen twinkled on and off and then cut off 回答
completely
得分 0.00/2.00 分. And as we both stared at one another surprisingly, the terrible smell of fried computer circuits appeared.
I grabbed the laptop off the bar to inspect it and the problem instantly arose itself. The bottom of the laptop was completely wet and empty, spilt water glass rested against the side of her purse just behind where the laptop was sitting. While we were chatting and shifting the laptop.s 17 inch screen 回答
back and forth
得分 0.00/2.00 分, we somehow spilt a glass of water that the waiter had inadvertently (无意地) placed behind the screen, which was out of our view.
When life throws id some troubles like this, it typically doesn.t make any sense to us, and our natural emotional reaction might get extremely 回答
upset
得分 0.00/2.00 分 at the top of our lungs. But how does this help our dilemma? Obviously, it doesn.t.
The smartest and hardest thing we can do in these kinds of situations is to be more tempered in our reaction. You.d be much wiser and more disciplined than scream extremely. You should remember that emotional rage only makes matters worse. And please remember that once it happens, that will give us an opportunity to grow stronger.
Every difficult moment in our lives is accompanied by an opportunity for personal growth and 回答
activity
得分 0.00/2.00 分. But in order to attain this growth and creativity.
We must first learn to control our emotions. We must recognize that difficulties pass like everything in our life.
Habits of Highly Effective Communicators
It.s no secret that good leaders are also good communicators. Indeed, communication and leadership are inextricably tied. How can you galvanize, inspire or guide others if you don.t communicate in a clear, credible and authentic way? Here are 5 essential communication practices of effective leaders:
1. Mind the say-do gap. Trust is the bedrock of effective leadership – your behavior is your single greatest mode of communication, and it must be congruent with what you say. If your actions don.t align with your words, you are storing up trouble for the future.
2. Make the complex simple. Effective leaders distill complex thoughts and strategies into simple, memorable terms that colleagues and customers can grasp and act upon. The most important thing is to clarify what you want to say, look out for technical jargon and avoid business speak, which add complexity. Say what you mean in as few words as possible.
3. Find your own voice. Use language that.s distinctly your own; let your values come through in your communication. Correct use of language and grammar are important, of course, but don.t become overly fixated on eloquence for eloquence.s sake; concentrate on being distinct and real. People want real, people respect real, people follow real.
4. Be visible Visibility is about letting your key stakeholders get a feel for who you are and what you care about. Don.t hide behind a computer and only interact with people electronically – see them face to face and voice to voice, and interact with them in a real, substantial way. In today.s environment, where people are often burned out, it.s important for employees to have a personal connection with you and the work you believe in. Show the people that work for you that you.re engaged and that you care about them and their work.
5. Listen with your eyes as well as your ears. Effective communication is a two-way process, and good leaders know how to ask good questions, and then listen with both their eyes and their ears. Because you are in a position of authority, others may be reluctant to express their real opinions to you directly. You won.t always get direct feedback, so you need to also be able to read between the lines and look for the non-verbal cues.
操作提示：正确选T，错误选F。
1. Communication and leadership don.t always go hand in hand.回答
2. The say-do gap happens when people misunderstand their leader.s intention.回答
3. Using technical jargon makes a leader convincing.回答
4. Communicating sincerely is always the best.回答
5. Observation is as important as communication when you want to know what people really think.回答
Jack Welch Leading Organizational Change at GE
When Jack Welch, the Chairman and CEO at General Electric (GE) retired in 2001, he could look back at a very successful career. He became CEO in 1981 at the age of 45. At that time, GE had a very complex organizational structure with considerably bureaucratic rules.
One of his first changes was to initiate a strategy formulation process with the guideline that each of the businesses should be number 1 or 2 in their respective areas. If this was not the case, managers had the options of fixing the problem, selling their particular business, or closing it. In an effort to streamline the organization, Welch removed the sector level and eliminated thousands of salaried and hourly employee positions.
The restructuring was followed by changing the organizational culture and the managerial styles of GE.s managers. One such program was the Work-Out（群策群力）.Groups of managers were assembled to share their views openly in three-day sessions. At the beginning of the meetings, the superior presented the challenges for his or her organizational unit. Then the superior had to leave, requesting the groups to find solutions to the problems. Facilitators (会议主持人) helped these discussions. On the last day, the superior was presented with proposed solutions. He or she then had three choices: to accept the proposal, not to accept it, or to collect more information. This process put great pressure on the superior to make decisions.
Another program to improve effectiveness and efficiency was Best Practices. The aim was to learn from other companies how they obtained customer satisfaction, how they related to their suppliers, and in what ways they developed new products. This helped the GE people to focus on the processes in their operations that would improve the company.s performance.
Jack Welch was personally involved in developing managers at GE.s training center in Crotonville. Leaders, Welch suggested, are not only those who achieve results but also those who share the values of the company.
操作提示：正确选T，错误选F。
1. Jack Welch retired at the age of 65.回答
2. Jack Welch insisted that each of the businesses should be at least number 3 in their respective area.回答
3. If the business could not meet Welch.s change requirements, its manager had 3choices.回答
4. The restructuring went before changing the organizational culture and the managerial styles of GE.s managers.回答
5. The Work Out lasted a week.回答