57 Introduction

Dhavit will be interviewing a group of potential employees to fill a role called “Library Coordinator.” In this role, an employee will need to have excellent communication skills to interact with a variety of visitors to the library including faculty members, staff, and students. Dhavit wants to ensure he includes some good questions in his interview script to determine interpersonal skills among the applicants. What types of questions might Dhavit ask to find out more from each candidate?

When asked the question, “What are you doing?” in a professional context, the answer typically involves communication; communication with self, with others, in verbal (oral and written) and nonverbal ways. How well do you communicate, and how does it influence your experience within the business environment? Through communication, how might you negotiate relationships, demands for space and time, across meetings, collaborative efforts, and solo projects? In this chapter you will explore several concepts and attempt to answer the question, “What are you doing?” with the answer: communicating.