Debate Demeanor

Source: changingworldviews.blogspot.com

During the presidential debate on Wednesday, the behaviors of the two candidates were different. Barack Obama appeared more relaxed and confident, intently watching as John McCain spoke. He also made an effort to make eye contact with viewers at home through the camera. McCain, on the other hand, often looked scared or uncomfortable, rapidly blinking his eyes with a frozen smile or a smirk on his face. While Obama spoke, McCain fidgeted with a pen.

Kopacz (2006) wrote that nonverbal behaviors visible through mass media impact how voters judge political candidates’ characters. She writes that particularly when voters are not informed about the issues, or are not motivated to learn about candidates’ policy stances, they may rely on visual and verbal cues to help make decisions on credibility and suitability for office.

If this is true, McCain could be in trouble, especially as many U.S. voters are not well-informed. Direct eye contact and facial displays of reassurance convey dominance (Burgoon, Birk and Pfau, 1990, as cited in Kopacz, 2006). This dominance-credibility theory posits that uninformed voters watching the debate may have viewed Obama as a suitable leader and McCain as a less desirable candidate.

I understand my previous views bias my opinion (hey! boomerang effect of social judgment theory!), but regardless of how you plan to vote on November 4, how did you interpret the candidates’ debate demeanors?

Source: abcnews.com

Kopacz, M. (2006). Nonverbal communication as a persuasion tool: Current status and future directions. Rocky Mountain Communication Review, 3(1), 1-19.

Motivate your employees, don't insult them!

When my company switched to a different editing program last year, there was a severe dip in production. This was due to the time lost to training and the learning curve. To counteract this, management had two 3-4 week long production pushes. We were asked to come in early and stay late.

The problem was that nothing like this had occurred within the department before. People were reluctant to work the overtime. Management's solution was to bribe us with crummy pizza and frozen bagels. This offended me, and my coworkers. Because emails associated the extra time working with food as the compensation, it implied that our time was only worth the cheap food they occasionally provided. In the end, it didn't work, and we made little progress in reducing our work load.

This year, we are again in production time crunch. Management learned its lesson. This time, they were not going to bribe us with free food. Instead, we were given heartfelt thanks and appreciation for pulling together and working to maintain our customer's high expectations for publication times. This has already been proven to work - after 2 weeks, we have edited record numbers of articles.

In the absence of paying us additional money, this was the company's best bet. It encouraged us to take pride in our work and the company's reputation, and helped morale by treating us as a team working toward a goal. Although this was what was intended before, the context and tone of the communication and the motivation used this time were more effective.

Shah, K. & Shah, P. (n.d.) Motivation. Retrieved July 10, 2007, from http://www.laynetworks.com/Motivation.html.

a little humor on how NOT to motivate your employees:

Improving Team Efficiency with Computer Software

Berry (2006) wrote that computer-mediated communication can help overcome the time pressures of today's workplace. Compared to a face-to-face environment, he discusses how using computer tools can improve team efficiency: more active participation, lack of time/location constraints, opportunity to reflect before responding, and record of discussion.

I have experienced these benefits. A board I chair at work was, until 3 years ago, keeping paper records of all events. They sit in a filing cabinet that moves offices as the president changes. This year, we've implemented a Microsoft Sharepoint site to which all members have access.

This gives us a central storage location for files. The president doesn't have to spend time hunting down previous year's staff memos and marketing materials for other people, and documents can just be modified rather than retyped from scratch. The site's discussion board, calendar, and IM functions allow us to quickly communicate changes and make decisions. This has lessened the time we spend on planning events.

Berry does state that these tools might not be a good choice when immediate feedback is needed. I disagree, as my board meets once a month. We are currently working on six events that need input and action before the next meeting. It is easier to send out an email or post to Sharepoint, with a deadline for responding. This lets everyone take a couple minutes between their other work responsibilities to respond, rather than trying to schedule a meeting for 13 busy people.

Berry, G. (2006, October). Can Computer-Mediated, Asynchronous Communication Improve, Team Processes and Decision Making? Journal of Business Communication, 43(4), 344-366. Retrieved October 1, 2008, doi:10.1177/0021943606292352