6. Skill Builder Describe an avoiding, accommodating, competing, collaborating, and compromising response to each of the following situations. Then decide which approach you would recommend. Because the meaning of a message varies with the context, you will need to decide on the specifics of the situation in order to make an informed choice. Explain your choice, using the information on pages 139–143.

a. At 4:30 P.M. a boss asks her assistant to work late to retype a 25-page report due the next morning. The assistant has already purchased nonrefundable tickets to attend a concert that evening.

b. The co-worker with whom you share a small cubicle habitually leaves papers, files and books strewn all over her desk. The litter bugs you. Besides, you are concerned that it gives your clients a bad impression.

c. The assistant manager of a bookstore is faced with a customer demanding a refund for a book he claims was a gift. The book has several crumpled pages and a torn cover.

d. You are facilitator of a student group that is writing a research report worth half of your grade for the term. One group member misses two meetings without contacting you. When he returns, he explains that he had a family emergency and asks what he can do to make up the work.