As an efficient means for practicing interpersonal skills, triads are used in many management courses. Skill development requires practice by undergoing not just one, but a series of exercises. The learning value of the series is contingent on the variety of exercises, and this is provided by variations in the exercise scenarios and by scheduling strangers together in triads. Scheduling a series of stranger triads, however, is not a simple matter. This article describes a scheduling method that can be used in face-to-face and online courses. Several scheduling contingencies are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Asherman, I. G., & Asherman, S. V. (1995). 25 role plays for negotiation skills. Amherst, MA: HR Press.
2.
Gordon, J. A. (2002). The prisoners’ dilemma game: An exercise in cooperation, negotiation, group dynamics, and communications in the online environment. Retrieved from www.ombuds.org/course2001/prisoners_dilemma.htm
3.
Janasz, S. C., Dowd, K. O., & Schneider, B. Z. (2002). Interpersonal skills in organizations. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
4.
Linowes, R. G. (1989). Assuming a management perspective: A job interviewing exercise. Organizational Behavior Teaching Review, 14(2), 129-137.
5.
Sankowsky, D. (1993). A problem-solving model for analyzing low student performance in technical courses. Journal of Management Education, 17(3), 332-348.
6.
Sims, H. P. (1989). An exercise to acquire the action skill of listening. Organizational Behavior Teaching Review, 4(4), 127-130.
7.
Whetten, D. A., & Cameron, K. S. (1983). Management skill training: A needed addition to the management curriculum [Special Issue on Teaching Managerial Competencies, edited by D. L. Bradford]. EXCHANGE: The Organizational Behavior Teaching Journal, 8(2).
8.
Whetten, D. A., & Cameron, K. S. (2002). Developing management skills (5th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
