1.Five main goals in delivering bad news?
1.Convey the bad news
2.Gain acceptance for it
3.Maintain goodwill with audience
4.To maintain a good image for your organization
5.To reduce need for future coresondence in the future
2.What questions should you ask yourself when deciding between direct and indirect approach?
1.Will the bad news come as a shock
2.Does the reader perfer short messages that get right to the point
3.How important is this news to the reader
4.Do you need to maintain a close working relationship with the reader
5.Do you need to get the reader's attention
6.What is your organizations preferred style
3.What is the sequence of elements in a negative message organized using the indirect approach?
1.Opening with a buffer
2.Providing reasons and additional information
3.Continuing with a clear statment of the bad news
4.Closing on a positive note
4.What is a buffer and why do some critics consider it unethical?
A neutral, nonconversational statment that is closley related to the point of the message.Critics think they can be manipulitive and unethical.
5.When using the indirect approach to announce a negative decision, what is the purpose of presenting your reasons before explaining the decision itself?
Leads the reader to the decisions and makes them stay on topic and defuse the emotions that come with bad news.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Corrected Memo
Memorandum
TO: Metro power Employees
FROM: Susannah Beech, Hr Administrator
SUBJECT: Improved response to Technology Failures
Date: 22 September 2009
Dear Metro Employees:
There is always a risk of attempting to beat a deadline and suddenly having equipment that fails. Down below are a few proposed suggestions to help cope with technical equipment and system failures:
1) Stay Calm: In the business world there are many technological errors that occur on a regular basis. Those in the business such as co-workers and bosses have experienced similar difficulties and will be understanding of the situation.
2) Practice preventative maintenance: Use cleaning cloths and sprays on a regular basis on your equipment. Liquids and food substances should be kept away from technological equipment at all times. The system that you are working on should also be shut down each night.
3) Report Problems: In order to receive faster repair services it is necessary to report issues immediately to Bart Stone, who is the assistant director of information services at ext. 2238. It is important to obtain a list of the different support systems, so that if a problem arises, you will know who to call for help. Report problems that could possibly happen in the near future, do not wait until the last minute. The reports will be looked at as soon as possible, but keep in mind the many others who also are in need of repair services as well.
4) Relax: If a last minute repair issue is interfering with your composure, instead of getting frustrated, take a walk and calm down. Getting frustrated could result in lost tempers, violent outburst, rude or threatening language towards co-workers. These actions could result in serious consequences that could put your career off track.
Sincerely,
Susannah Beech
Human Resources Administrator
TO: Metro power Employees
FROM: Susannah Beech, Hr Administrator
SUBJECT: Improved response to Technology Failures
Date: 22 September 2009
Dear Metro Employees:
There is always a risk of attempting to beat a deadline and suddenly having equipment that fails. Down below are a few proposed suggestions to help cope with technical equipment and system failures:
1) Stay Calm: In the business world there are many technological errors that occur on a regular basis. Those in the business such as co-workers and bosses have experienced similar difficulties and will be understanding of the situation.
2) Practice preventative maintenance: Use cleaning cloths and sprays on a regular basis on your equipment. Liquids and food substances should be kept away from technological equipment at all times. The system that you are working on should also be shut down each night.
3) Report Problems: In order to receive faster repair services it is necessary to report issues immediately to Bart Stone, who is the assistant director of information services at ext. 2238. It is important to obtain a list of the different support systems, so that if a problem arises, you will know who to call for help. Report problems that could possibly happen in the near future, do not wait until the last minute. The reports will be looked at as soon as possible, but keep in mind the many others who also are in need of repair services as well.
4) Relax: If a last minute repair issue is interfering with your composure, instead of getting frustrated, take a walk and calm down. Getting frustrated could result in lost tempers, violent outburst, rude or threatening language towards co-workers. These actions could result in serious consequences that could put your career off track.
Sincerely,
Susannah Beech
Human Resources Administrator
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Document Design Instructions for Administrative Assistants
Document Design
· Cosmetic and Functional
· Visually Accessible
· Representation and first impression of company/institution
· Elicits emotional response from receiver
1) Organization
Organization is clearly important. The text should be presented in small, easily accessible chunks. To do this you should use headings (which are typically summaries in one to three words), white space, rules (horizontal lines that separate), and section dividers for long documents.
2) Order
Generally, documents are set up in order of importance or chronologically. The relationship of ideas is shown to readers by the headings and visual clues that we most typically associate with outlining. To achieve order, take into consideration the use of typefaces (fonts): serif typefaces are best used in text because they are easier to read, while sans serif typefaces are better for headings. Also consider type size, using smaller sizes as sub-points in descending order, density (the use of bolding or italics), spacing (the amount of space left around headings), as well as the positioning of headings for effectiveness (whether centered, left-margined, indented, or outdented).
3) Accessibility
A third major aspect is the document's ability to allow readers to access information rapidly. You will want to use eye-catching techniques, but be cautious not to overwhelm the reader's eyes with too much razzle-dazzle. To achieve this, you might consider using vertical white space, which will break up the density of the text; bullets, maintaining parallel structure; numbering; a limited use of all capital letters; a limited use of italics; windowing, placing information in boxes; fills, the amount of shading or patterning you might want to include in windows; including color, making sure the colors are appropriate to the message's purpose; and using inverse type and headers/footers.
4) Variety
This might include considering other possible print production options available, such as varying paper size, paper stock weight, printing the document in landscape format instead of portrait format, using columns, varying gutter width (white space between columns), using ragged right margins, and, of course, inserting graphics to add clarity and accommodate some readers' learning style differences.
Document Design
· Cosmetic and Functional
· Visually Accessible
· Representation and first impression of company/institution
· Elicits emotional response from receiver
1) Organization
Organization is clearly important. The text should be presented in small, easily accessible chunks. To do this you should use headings (which are typically summaries in one to three words), white space, rules (horizontal lines that separate), and section dividers for long documents.
2) Order
Generally, documents are set up in order of importance or chronologically. The relationship of ideas is shown to readers by the headings and visual clues that we most typically associate with outlining. To achieve order, take into consideration the use of typefaces (fonts): serif typefaces are best used in text because they are easier to read, while sans serif typefaces are better for headings. Also consider type size, using smaller sizes as sub-points in descending order, density (the use of bolding or italics), spacing (the amount of space left around headings), as well as the positioning of headings for effectiveness (whether centered, left-margined, indented, or outdented).
3) Accessibility
A third major aspect is the document's ability to allow readers to access information rapidly. You will want to use eye-catching techniques, but be cautious not to overwhelm the reader's eyes with too much razzle-dazzle. To achieve this, you might consider using vertical white space, which will break up the density of the text; bullets, maintaining parallel structure; numbering; a limited use of all capital letters; a limited use of italics; windowing, placing information in boxes; fills, the amount of shading or patterning you might want to include in windows; including color, making sure the colors are appropriate to the message's purpose; and using inverse type and headers/footers.
4) Variety
This might include considering other possible print production options available, such as varying paper size, paper stock weight, printing the document in landscape format instead of portrait format, using columns, varying gutter width (white space between columns), using ragged right margins, and, of course, inserting graphics to add clarity and accommodate some readers' learning style differences.
Question from 1/21
Page 63
9) An advertisement for peanut butter
1) who is my audience?
People who consume and could potentially buy peanut butter.
2) What is my audience's general attitude toward my subject?
Good, non threatening
3) What does my audience need to know?
What is good about the product, the price and location of it being sold
11) A cover letter sent along with your resume to a potential employer
1) who is my audience?
the potenial employer
2) What is my audience's general attitude toward my subject?
good, critical of my skills, experience
3) What does my audience need to know?
My work experience, qualities, traits, abilites, education level.
9) An advertisement for peanut butter
1) who is my audience?
People who consume and could potentially buy peanut butter.
2) What is my audience's general attitude toward my subject?
Good, non threatening
3) What does my audience need to know?
What is good about the product, the price and location of it being sold
11) A cover letter sent along with your resume to a potential employer
1) who is my audience?
the potenial employer
2) What is my audience's general attitude toward my subject?
good, critical of my skills, experience
3) What does my audience need to know?
My work experience, qualities, traits, abilites, education level.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
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