This activity is important because most people communicate with little thought about the underlying rules that govern communication. As you consciously develop awareness of the explicit and implicit rules of communication, youre able to communicate more effectively and avoid miscommunication.

The goal of this activity is to demonstrate your understanding of explicit versus implicit rules of communication.

Select the most appropriate type of ruleeither explicit or implicitthat governs the actions listed below.

1. Your supervisor tells each member of the team not to share financial information with people outside the team.

Explicit Rules / Implicit Rules

2. Your team members show one another they respect one another by maintaining eye contact when others are speaking to them.

Explicit Rules / Implicit Rules

3. Your team develops a document with expectations of one another. The document includes rules to follow in meetings.

Explicit Rules / Implicit Rules

4. A person introduces a speaker and reminds the audience to avoid any use of mobile phones during the speech.

Explicit Rules / Implicit Rules

5. A team leader tells her team that instead of using email to give feedback about a project, they should all give feedback in a single Google Doc.

Explicit Rules / Implicit Rules

6. A marketing team has an unspoken rule that they dont eat or drink during meetings.

Explicit Rules / Implicit Rules

7. Over the years, employees have developed the practicewithout any training or plan involvedof giving feedback very politely.

Explicit Rules / Implicit Rules