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5. Judging the other person negatively:
o “You’re not thinking straight.”
o “You’re wrong.”
6. Giving insincere praise:

o “You have so much potential.”
o “I know you can do better than this.”
7. Psychoanalyzing the other person:
o “You’re jealous.”
o “You have problems with authority.”
8. Making light of the other person’s problems by generalizing:
o “Things will get better.”
o “Behind every cloud is a silver lining.”
9. Asking excessive or inappropriate questions:
o “Why did you do that?”
o “Who has influenced you?”
10. Making light of the problem by kidding:
o “Think about the positive side.”
o “You think you’ve got problems!”
KEY TAKEAWAY
By practicing the skills associated with active listening, you can become
more effective in your personal and professional relationships. Managing your
online communications appropriately can also help you avoid career pitfalls.
Finally, be aware of the types of remarks that freeze communication and try not
to use them.
EXERCISES
1. How can you assess if you are engaging in active listening?
2. How does it feel when someone does not seem to be listening to you?
3. Some companies have MySpace pages where employees can mingle
and share ideas and information. Do you think this practice is a good idea?
Why or why not?
4. What advice would you give to someone who is going to become a
first time manager in terms of communication?

Chapter 8
Decision Making

WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?
Reading this chapter will help you do the following:
1. Understand what decision making is.
2. Know key causes of faulty decision making.
3. Compare and contrast individual and group decision making.
4. Understand how to develop your own personal decision-making
skills.
Figure 11.2 The P-O-L-C Framework

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