Assignment 1:Memo to Senior Management

by T. E. Roberts, InstructorENC 3250, Professional Writing • USF Sarasota-Manatee • Fall 2015

Week 2 LectureLength of this audio lecture (10 slides): 00:29:54

Write down the spoken audio codes and the slide numbers where they occur --you will be sending the Week 1 and Week 2 codes to me within the body of your email

to which you attach Assignment 1 by Sept. 7, 6 p.m.

http://www.todroberts.com/USF/3250_welcome.htm

© 2015 by T. E. Roberts

IMPORTANT: This lecture audio was originally presented in Fall 2014. Thus, you need to replace the dates in the audio with the dates shown in the PowerPoint slides for Fall 2015. (If you decrease the mentioned 2014 dates by one unit, you will be OK – for example, Assignment 1 is due this year on Sept. 7, not Sept. 8).

ENC 3250 • Fall 2015 • Week 2 • Slide 2 of 10

Week 2 Agenda

• Marketing and Customer Service• Memo Planning• Memo Content• Memo Style• Why Conciseness?• Bad Writing Is Bad for Business• Format Directions• Email Message Format• Closing Thoughts

ENC 3250 • Fall 2015 • Week 2 • Slide 3 of 10

Marketing and Customer Service

• These activities are the lifeblood of every business

• A well-written memo on this topic will avoid the “silo-blindness” typical in many large companies

• Your readers are a diverse group with varying interests and perspectives

• Exercise true EMPATHY -- put yourself in your reader’s position

ENC 3250 • Fall 2015 • Week 2 • Slide 4 of 10

Memo Planning

• KNOWLEDGE: What can you reasonably assume your reader knows and does not know?

• KEY ISSUES: What are the reader’s “hot buttons” (that is, key issues and phrases that stimulate the reader’s interest)?

• EXPECTATIONS: What information, questions, solutions, or action steps does the reader expect from your message?

• URGENCY: What is the urgency of your communication with the reader? Does your message require hours, days, weeks, or months for a response? Is it a “policy statement” that will endure for a long time?

• PURPOSE: What is the main purpose of your communication with the reader -- response to reader’s previous message? call to action? information? heads-up (warning)? suggestion? recommendation?

ENC 3250 • Fall 2015 • Week 2 • Slide 5 of 10

Memo Content

• Current company performance?

• Business goals over the coming fiscal year (12 months)?

• How should these goals be met and how should performance be measured against the goals?

• Costs and benefits of the proposed strategy?

• Specific action steps needed for implementing the improvements (who is responsible for doing what when?)

ENC 3250 • Fall 2015 • Week 2 • Slide 6 of 10

Memo Style

• See examples of memo on website … note the formatting and efficient use of language and detail (http://www.todroberts.com/USF/3250_Assign1_SampleMemos.pdf)

• See example of vehicle ad in assignment directions in syllabus …• 95 Ford 112K $2995 OBO (22 characters and spaces)• FOR SALE, LOW-MILEAGE 1995 FORD EXPEDITION, 4-DOOR SUV, 112,000 MILES,

ASKING $2995, WILL CONSIDER OFFER (104 characters and spaces -- almost five times longer than the previous example)

• Conciseness shows efficiency and courtesy• Conciseness is not the same as brevity -- it means conveying the

MOST meaning in the FEWEST words

ENC 3250 • Fall 2015 • Week 2 • Slide 7 of 10

Why Conciseness?

• Compare the following two passages:WHAT’S WRONG WITH OUR MARKETING. Our segmented marketing strategy, currently using different segments for different customers in the marketplace, tends to lack the coordination that would make it improved compared to the way it is done now. Our customers tell us that they get frustrated because they have to talk to a bunch of different guys in engineering every time they place an order, no matter what the product is and no matter when they place it or where. The same kind of thing happens with buyers of materials -- they have to talk to a whole lot of different account managers in order to figure out which of our product lines or products may be or may be not available at any given moment, today or in the future at some time. The guys in purchasing have to try to reach a different sales representative every time they want to order a product line, no matter what product it may be. When I researched this problem, I discovered that our customers are really getting confused because they have to be in touch with 12 or even more different people in marketing, depending on what they need. This is of course confusing and costly for the customer and might even lead a a customer to stop doing business with us, and that is clearly something we want and need to avoid if at all possible. This also might mean that we are unable to interest customers and sell them our best stuff at prices that are mutually satisfactory for us and them, and so we end up just competing on price alone and of course that can lead to a lot of problems down the road in the future. (290 words)

MARKETING WEAKNESSES. Our segmented marketing strategy is an uncoordinated effort. Our buyers must:• Deal with a different sales engineer for bids on each of our product lines• Call a different account manager to check availability of each of our product lines • Contact a different sales representative to order each of our product lines.

It is common for our customers to have as many as 12 points of contact with our marketing division. It is confusing to customers, and it costs them money. That means we cannot sell our best-in-class products for best-in-class prices, and we are forced to compete on price alone. (103 words)

• Which one would you rather read? Why?• Most readers are busy, distracted, and impatient, but they will respond well to a message they

can comprehend quickly and easily

ENC 3250 • Fall 2015 • Week 2 • Slide 8 of 10

“Bad Writing Is Bad for Business”

“Efficiently run businesses cannot tolerate unclear memos, letters, and reports. Business stops, or is slowed, as a result of poor communication. Orders don’t get delivered, or they don’t get delivered on time; tasks don’t get done, or they don’t get done correctly. Productivity decreases, while labor and supervisory costs increase. The morale of employees suffers, as does the image of the firm.

“William J. Gallagher, who was for many years Manager of Communication Services at Arthur D. Little, Inc., a major consulting company, has estimated that up to 30 percent of letters and memos in industry and government do nothing more than seek clarification of earlier correspondence or respond to that request for clarification. That estimate does not include the thousands of letters and memos that are not acted upon because they are unclear. Bad writing is bad for business.”

-- Maryann Piotrowski, EFFECTIVE BUSINESS WRITING, Chapter 1

ENC 3250 • Fall 2015 • Week 2 • Slide 9 of 10

Format Directions

• Follow formatting instructions on page 15 of syllabus (memo must conform to this standard appearance); pay attention to type size and typeface, spacing, indentation, punctuation, and headings -- do not take a casual approach to these details

• Name your file carefully …• If you want a detailed markup: Lastname_3250_1_markup.doc (remember that you must submit a

revision within one week after receiving graded work from me; the revision will not increase your grade but will strengthen your learning experience)

• If you want just a grade posted on Canvas (submission will not be returned to you): Lastname_3250_1.doc

• Send Assignment 1 by 6 pm on Monday, Sept. 7, 2015

• Include six audio codes for Week 1 and 2 lectures (three in each lecture)

ENC 3250 • Fall 2015 • Week 2 • Slide 10 of 10

Email Message Format

• IMPORTANT: I will send you an acknowledgment via email within a few hours of receiving your file (normally by 9 p.m. on Monday). If you don’t hear from me by 9 p.m., send the file again with a note indicating that this is the second attempt to reach me.

• Save your initial message with its internet header so you can prove that you tried to send me the file in time to meet the 6 p.m. deadline. If you can’t prove this, your submission may be penalized for lateness. (If a message to tr@sar.usf.edu bounces back to you, be sure you are spelling the address correctly.)

• If you continue to have problems, send to thorsdag06@yahoo.com and call me at 941-927-2898 to let me know that you have used the Yahoo address. I do not check the Yahoo account routinely.

• For information on “internet header,” see: http://www.todroberts.com/USF/Email_Headers.pdf.

ENC 3250 • Fall 2015 • Week 2 • Slide 11 of 10

Closing Thoughts

• If you have a question, first consult the syllabus, email messages, lectures, or the course website before contacting me.

• Advice about “instructions”: in the workplace you will seldom receive clear, if any, instructions. If you want to be treated as a mature and prepared professional, you are expected to figure these out on your own. (Learn how to think like a professional, not a student.)

• The student memo examples are meant for guidance, not for direct imitation. You will learn very little if you simply copy the structure and change a little of the wording here and there. Taking such an approach will also negatively affect your grade.

• Proofread your work. If possible, read it into an audio recorder and listen to it objectively so you can spot ways to eliminate confusion, wordiness, or imprecision. If you find it boring or confusing, so will your reader.

• QUALITY CHECK: is the message your reader will receive exactly the message you want to send?

• Remember that your memo is limited to 500 words, even though some student examples may be longer than this.