🧱 Foundation: Professionalism and Communication
Scenario Analysis and Reflective Scenes
The following pages contain a scenario and two video scenes to watch, followed by prompting questions to reflect on. There are no right or wrong answers. Write your reflections in the downloadable worksheet.
Scenario 1
A new supervisor was hired for the division and immediately implemented changes to the daily workings and procedures. No consultation meetings were held regarding current practices. One of the staff members asked the supervisor in the staff meeting about one of the changes, and the response was “it's the best approach.”
- What is your perception in terms of the supervisor’s professionalism in terms of communication, level of competence in leadership, personality characteristics, and conduct in this scenario?
- What are the human elements that influence this dynamic?
- How would you respond if you were the receiver of that message?
- How would you respond if you were a staff member witnessing this interchange?
Scene 1 (video)
Asian Jim - The Office (1:42)
Let's change the tone a bit for this scene. You may know of or have watched the TV show, The Office. The scene is about a prank being played on the character, Dwight Schrute. (The Office, NBC, September 10, 2019)
- What did you observe about the nonverbal communication and proxemics (the physical distance) between each of the characters?
- What did you notice with each character’s paraverbal communication (voice language - tone, speed, and volume) during the scene?
- The portrayal of mistrust emerged for both male characters during this scene: how did their nonverbal and paraverbal communication demonstrate this?
- What are the human elements that came into play during this scene?
Scene 2 (video)
A Conference Call in Real Life (3:28)
This is a satirical scene of a mock conference call. (Tripp and Tyler, January 22, 2014)
- How was miscommunication portrayed?
- What were the nonverbal messages that were conveyed with reference to the older gentleman’s character?
- How do you react when there is a lot of noise and you cannot understand the person’s message that they are trying to convey?
- What do you notice when you are interrupted?
- What do you do to reduce miscommunication in your interactions with people?