Email and Memo Assignment 2020 PDF

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Download Email and Memo Assignment 2020 PDF

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GRANT MacEWAN UNIVERSITY ENGLISH DEPARTMENT ENGL211 BUSINESS WRITING Winter 2020 EMAIL AND MEMORANDUM ASSIGNMENT VALUE: 10% of term mark DUE: Jan. 29 (Submit your assignment on blackboard by 11:30 p.m.)

A. E-mail E-mails are an important part of your office day. You will send them internally and to clients, suppliers, and other agencies. In completing this assignment, you will follow the principles of clear, concise writing that we have covered in class. Revise and edit as you would other messages. Be sure your subject line includes enough information. Remember to check for document design as you want e-mails that are easy to read. Remember that e-mails are often printed and filed for future reference. Please adhere to the following guidelines: 

  

Include a title page. Center the title of the assignment in the middle of the page. In the bottom right corner, include your name, the date, the course and section (ENGL 211 PI01) and my name. Use 12-point Times New Roman, and single-space your document. Revise your work and proofread all assignments carefully at least three times. Check that your document is visually appealing. Attach a word document file that include a title page, an email, and a memo.

Respond with an e-mail to ONE of the three cases below:

1. Most of you have just completed WRIT101. After looking over your assignments, you should have a good idea of your writing skills. Send me an e-mail letting me know what you do well and what you can contribute to the group. Also, let me, Ghaida Naeem , know what you are going to be especially careful of in editing your own work. Is there anything I can do to help? Or are there special steps you will take with your writing? (If you were not in WRIT101, you were exempt. Answer based on your last writing course.) 2. Observe the listening habits of students in one of your classes for a week. What barriers to effective listening did you observe? How many of the suggestions described in

chapter 1 are being implemented by the listeners in the class? Write an email to me, Ghaida Naeem , to explain the barriers and solutions to effective listening. 3. For this topic, add details that reflect your own field of study. Your boss, Michael Kaufman, has scheduled three appointments to interview applicants for the position of ---------- (Invent a position). All of these appointments are for Thursday, Feb. 5. However, he now must travel to Toronto that week. He asks you to reschedule all the appointments for one week later. He also wants a brief background summary for each candidate. Although frustrated, you call each person and are lucky to arrange these times. Saul Salazar, who has been a ……. for nine years with ……, agrees to come at 10:30. Kaitlyn Grindell, who is a -------- to many companies, will come at 11:30. Mary Montgomery, who has an MA and six years of experience as ----------, will come at 9:30. You are wondering whether Mr. Kaufman forgot to include Grace Ho, operations personnel officer, in these interviews. Ms. Ho is usually part of the selection process. Write an email to your Mr. Kaufman including all the information he needs. For this email, consider bullets/numbers to make the information easy to read.

B. Memo In completing this assignment, you will follow the principles of clear, concise writing that we have covered in class. Revise and edit carefully. Be sure your subject line includes enough information. Remember to check for document design as you want memos that are easy to read. Select ONE topic and write a memo in response. Using complete and proper memo format (see pages 110-112), respond to one of the following cases. You may add any logical details required to complete your response.

1. Brenda Chumley is always looking for ways to improve operations in the B and R (you could invent any other company) office. You had a good idea when you suggested a suggestion box for the company. Brenda thanked you for that suggestion and asked you to seek out other areas in which day-to-day operations could be improved. You accept that request as an opportunity to do something about a problem you see in the company. Although you believe your colleagues are attentive to details of ticketing and consulting, they often write too formally or too casually for the clients.

Respond to Brenda’s request with suggestions to improve employees’ writing skills. (For example, you could recommend in-house or external workshops, peer tutoring or editing sessions.) Be sure you give Brenda enough information to be truly helpful. Your answer may require research to find online and community sources of help. 2. Your boss, Sue Curry, informs you one day that she is concerned about the fires and safe evacuation in your office building. She asks that you, as director of Human Resources, prepare a set of procedures for employees to follow in case of fires. She thinks that the two of you can work out the procedures in a conversation, and she begins by noting that if an employee sees a fire, that person should pull the alarm and call the fire department. The number of that department is 9-911. If the fire is small, the employee can attempt to extinguish it with a fire extinguisher. At this point, you ask your boss if the person who discovered the fire should also notify a supervisor, and your boss agrees. The supervisor is probably the one who should assess the situation and decide whether the building should be evacuated. You then being to think about the evacuation process: What to do? Ms. Curry says that all doors should be closed and employees should secure their workstations. You ask what exactly that means, and she says employees should turn off their computers and put away important documents, but perhaps that information is unnecessary. Just stick to the main points, she says. If employees are evacuating, they should go to the nearest exit in an orderly manner. In addition, it is very important that everyone remain calm. You ask about people with disabilities. “Sure,” she says, “we should assist all visitors and persons with disabilities.” Then Ms. Curry remembers that employees have been told about predetermined gathering places, and they should go there and wait for more instruction from floor monitors. It’s also important that employees not re-enter the building until given the all-clear. When they are outside, they should stay out of the way of the fire department personnel and equipment. “Do you have all the information?” she asks. “Great! Now prepare a draft memo to employees for my signature.” Draft a memo to employees from Sue Curry, CEW. Provide brief background data and explain the main idea. List clear fire instructions. Provide your name, title, and office phone number for receivers who want more information.

Evaluation Guidelines Excellent/ Strong 80-100 Content  Appropriate writing plan (organization)  Appropriate introduction  Adequate information  Clear conclusion  Proper emphasis placement Tone   

Reader Benefits (“you” attitude) Business voice Positive language

Composition  Accurate grammar  Accurate spelling  Accurate mechanics (punctuation and capitalization)  Coherent, concise, clear sentences and paragraphs  Appropriate use of writing techniques Document Design  Format  Layout

Satisfactory Very Good/Good 60-69 70-79

Weak/Needs Fail Improvement 0-49 50-59...