Planning Business Messages

Part 2: Applying the Three-Step Writing Process

Chapters 4, 5, and 6 introduce the three-step writing process, giving students three full chapters of practice. These chapters deal with the fundamentals of crafting messages including audience analysis, organization, style, tone, and basic document design. Your students can learn the skills required to write messages that are clear, interesting, concise, diplomatic, and convincing. (Chapter 7, in Part 3 of the text, addresses writing for electronic media so that your students can learn how to handle the most current types of messages effectively.)

To reinforce the learning process, give your students plenty of practice in planning, writing, and completing messages. Call attention to the proofreading symbols and correction marks in Appendix C. If your class needs to work on the basic principles of grammar and punctuation, you might also include in this unit one of the Diagnostic Tests of English Skills (earlier in this manual) and the Handbook of Grammar, Mechanics, and Usage (found at the end of the textbook).

4: Planning Business Messages 2

Chapter 4: Planning Business Messages

CHAPTER OUTLINE

Understanding the Three-Step Writing Process

Optimizing Your Writing Time

Planning Effectively

Analyzing the Situation

Defining Your Purpose

Developing an Audience Profile

Gathering Information

Uncovering Audience Needs

Finding Your Focus

Providing Required Information

Be Sure the Information Is Accurate

Be Sure the Information Is Ethical

Be Sure the Information Is Pertinent

Selecting the Right Medium

Oral Media

Written Media

Visual Media

Electronic Media

Factors to Consider When Choosing Media

Organizing Your Information

Recognizing the Importance of Good Organization

Defining Your Main Idea

Limiting Your Scope

Choosing Between Direct and Indirect Approaches

Outlining Your Content

Start with the Main Idea

State the Major Points

Provide Examples and Evidence

Building Reader Interest with Storytelling Techniques

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall


LECTURE NOTES

Section 1: Understanding the Three-Step Writing Process

Learning Objective 1: Describe the three-step writing process.

The three-step writing process helps ensure that your messages are

Effective (meeting your audience’s needs and getting your points across) Efficient (making the best use of your time and your audience’s time)

The writing process can be divided into three phases, each with specific tasks:

Step 1. Planning business messages

Analyzing the situation Gathering information Selecting the right medium Organizing the information

Step 2. Writing business messages

Adapting to your audience Composing your message

Step 3. Completing business messages

Revising your message Producing your message Proofreading your message Distributing your message

Optimizing Your Writing Time

When writing business messages, try scheduling your time as follows:

Planning: About one-half of your time Writing: About one-quarter of your time Completing: About one-quarter of your time

Devoting half your time to planning might sound odd, but doing so can save time overall.

Start with the 50–25–25 split as a guideline and use your best judgment for each project.



Planning Effectively

Careful planning helps in three significant ways:

It helps you find and assemble the facts your readers are looking for and to deliver that information in a concise and compelling way.

Good planning reduces indecision and stress as you write, and it reduces rework during the completing step.

It can save you from embarrassing blunders, such as failing to cover key issues.

Section 2: Analyzing Your Situation

Learning Objective 2: Explain why it’s important to analyze a communication situation in order to define your purpose and profile your audience before writing a message.

Every communication effort takes place in a particular situation, meaning you have a specific message to send a specific audience under a specific set of circumstances.

A successful message starts with a clear purpose that connects the sender’s needs with the audience’s needs.

Defining Your Purpose

All business messages have a general purpose:

To inform To persuade To collaborate

Within your general purpose, each message also has a specific purpose, which identifies

What you hope to accomplish with your message What your audience should do or think after receiving your message

To decide whether to proceed with your message, ask yourself four questions:

Will anything change as a result of your message? Is your purpose realistic? Is the time right? Is your purpose acceptable to your organization?

Developing an Audience Profile

Develop an audience profile by

Identifying the primary audience Determining audience size and geographic distribution Determining audience composition



Gauging your audience members’ level of understanding Understanding audience expectations and preferences Forecasting probable audience reaction

Section 3: Gathering information

Learning Objective 3: Discuss information-gathering options for simple messages, and identify three attributes of quality information.

For simple messages, you may already have all the information at hand, but for more complex messages, you may need to do considerable research and analysis before you’re ready to begin writing.

For many messages, you can informally gather the information you need by

Considering the audience’s perspective Reading reports and other company documents Talking with supervisors, colleagues, or customers Asking your audience for input

Uncovering Audience Needs

Find out what your audience members want to know:

Listen to their requests. Clarify vague or broad requests by asking questions to narrow the focus. Try to think of information needs that audience members may not have expressed.

Finding Your Focus

If an assignment or objective is so vague that you have no idea how to get started in determining what the audience needs to know, try these discovery techniques:

Free writing—write whatever comes to mind without stopping to make any corrections for a set time period.

Sketching—if you’re unable to come up with words, grab a sketchpad and start drawing.

Providing Required Information

Provide all the information your audience requires.

One good test is the journalistic approach (answering who, what, when, where, why, and how).

Be sure the information you provide is accurate:

Quality is as important as quantity. Double-check every piece of information you get, particularly from unknown online sources.

Be sure your information is ethical (as honest and complete as you can make it).



Be sure the information you provide is pertinent, as in tailored to your audience’s interests and needs.

Section 4: Selecting the Right Medium

Learning Objective 4: List the factors to consider when choosing the most appropriate medium for a message.

A medium is the form through which you choose to communicate your message.

Although media categories have become blurred in recent years, think of media as being oral, written, visual, or electronic forms of those three.

Oral Media

Oral media include

Face-to-face conversations Interviews Speeches In-Person presentations Meetings

Oral media have several advantages:

Provide opportunity for immediate feedback Promote interaction Involve rich nonverbal cues (both physical gestures and vocal inflection) Allow you to express the emotions behind the message

Oral media also have disadvantages:

Restrict participation to those physically present Unless recorded, provide no permanent, verifiable record of the communication In most cases, reduce communicator’s control over the message Other than for messages that are prewritten and rehearsed, offer no opportunity to revise or

edit spoken words



Written Media

Written media take many forms.

Memos are

Relatively brief Used for routine, day-to-day exchange of information within an organization IM, email, blogs and other electronic media have largely replaced paper memos, but they still

have a purpose

Letters

Are relatively brief Are used to convey a particular message Are used to perform an important public relations function in fostering good working

relationships with customers, suppliers, and others Can be prepared as form letters to save time and money on routine communication

Reports and proposals are

Usually longer than letters and memos Written in a variety of lengths (ranging from a few pages to several hundred) Usually fairly formal in tone

Written media have a number of advantages over oral media:

Allow you to plan and control your message Reach geographically dispersed audiences Offer a permanent, verifiable record Minimize the distortion that can result with oral and some forms of electronic messages Can be used to avoid immediate interactions Can help you control the emotional aspects of an interchange by eliminating interpersonal

communication

Written media also have a number of disadvantages compared to oral media:

Offer limited opportunities for timely feedback Lack the rich nonverbal cues provided by oral media Can require more time and more resources to create and distribute Elaborate documents can require special skills in preparation and production



Visual Media

In this context, visual media are format in which one or more visual elements play a central role in conveying the message content.

Infographics are now a major communication format in business communication.

Visual media offer several distinct advantages:

Can convey complex ideas and relationships quickly Often less intimidating than long blocks of text Can reduce the burden on the multilingual audience to figure out how the pieces fit Can be easier to remember than purely textual descriptions or explanations

Visual media have several potential disadvantages:

Can require artistic skills to design Require some technical skills to create Can require more time to create than an equivalent amount of text Are more difficult to transmit and store than simple textual messages

Electronic Media

Electronic media include

Electronic versions of oral media (telephone calls, teleconferencing, voice-mail messages and audio recordings such as compact discs and podcasts)

Electronic versions of written media (email, instant messaging, text messaging, blogs, websites, wikis, and social networks)

Electronic versions of visual media (electronic presentations, computer animation, and video, which can be distributed on DVD and online)

Electronic media offer several distinct advantages:

Deliver messages quickly Reach geographically dispersed audiences Can offer the persuasive power of multimedia formats Enable audience interaction through social media features Can increase accessibility and openness within an organization and between an organization

and its external stakeholders

Electronic media have several potential disadvantages:

Are easy to overuse (sending too many messages to too many recipients) Present privacy risks and concerns (exposing confidential data; employer monitoring;

accidental forwarding) Present security risks (viruses and spyware; network breaches) Create productivity concerns (frequent interruptions, lack of integration among multiple

electronic media in use at the same time, and time wasted on nonbusiness uses)



Factors to Consider When Choosing Media

When deciding which media to use, consider

Media richness (a medium’s ability to convey a message through more than one informational cue [visual, verbal, vocal], facilitate feedback, and establish personal focus)

Message formality Media limitations Urgency Cost Audience preferences

Section 5: Organizing Your Information

Learning Objective 5: Explain why good organization is important to both you and your audience, and list the tasks involved in organizing a message.

Organization can make the difference between success and failure.

Recognizing the Importance of Good Organization

Good organization helps your audience

Understand your message Accept your message Save time

Good organization helps you

Consume less of your creative energy Spend less time rewriting Develop a reputation as a clear thinker who cares about your readers

Defining Your Main Idea

Your topic is the overall subject of the message; your main idea is a specific statement about your topic.

For straightforward, informational messages, your main idea is simple.

For more complicated persuasive messages or negative messages, try to define a main idea that will establish a good relationship between you and your audience.

When unsure about your main idea, consider a variety of techniques for generating creative ideas:

Brainstorming Journalistic approach Question-and-answer chain



Storyteller’s tour Mind mapping

Limiting Your Scope

The scope of a message matches your main idea in every aspect, including the

Range of information you present Overall length Level of detail

Limit the number of major supporting points to a half dozen or so.

A smaller number of stronger points is more powerful than a mass of minor points.

Scope depends on

The nature of your subject Your audience members’ familiarity with the topic Your audience’s receptivity to your conclusions Your credibility

Choosing Between Direct and Indirect Approaches

When deciding on the sequence of your points, you have two basic options to choose from:

The direct approach: The main idea comes first and is followed by the evidence; use when you know your audience will be receptive to your message.

The indirect approach: The evidence comes first and is followed by the main idea; use when your audience will be skeptical about or even resistant to your message.

Your approach may differ depending on likely audience reaction and the purpose of your message.

Routine and positive messages: Direct approach Negative messages: Indirect approach for most non-routine message Persuasive messages: Indirect approach that captures attention

Outlining Your Content

Creating an outline

Saves you time Helps you create better results Helps you do a better job of navigating through complicated business situations Helps you visualize how the parts of a complex message fit together

Types of outlines include



The basic outline format (numbers or letters identify each point and are indented to show which items are of equal status)

The organization chart format (showing thoughts as boxes organized into divisions, similar to the charts that show an organization’s management structure)

To develop an outline, you usually

Start with the main idea State the major supporting points Illustrate with evidence

The main idea summarizes two things:

What you want your audience to do or think Why they should do so

Your major support points will be suggested by one of the following:

The natural order of your subject (based on something physical, the steps in a process, the description of an object, or a chronological chain of events)

The major elements of your argument (based on a line of reasoning)

Specific evidence helps audience members

Understand the more abstract concepts you’re presenting Accept those concepts Remember those concepts

Provide enough evidence to be convincing without becoming boring or inefficient.

To maintain audience interest, vary the type of detail:

Facts and figures Example or illustration Description Narration Reference to authority Visual aids

If your schedule permits, try to put aside your outline for a day or two before you begin composing your draft.

Building Reader Interest with Storytelling Techniques



Narrative techniques can be an effective way to organize messages in many business communication situations, from recruiting and training employees to enticing investors and customers.

You’ve been telling stories all your life; now it’s just a matter of adapting those techniques to business situations.

Examples:

Television commercials and other advertisements Career-related stories to entice talented people to join a firm Stories to help investors see how an entrepreneur’s new ideas have the potential to affect

people’s lives (and therefore generate lots of sales) Cautionary tales

Stories can

Help readers and listeners imagine themselves living through the experience of the person in the story.

Stories “put knowledge into a framework that is more lifelike, more true to our day-to-day existence” (Chip Heath and Dan Heath).

Demonstrate cause-and-effect relationships in a compelling fashion.

A classic story has three basic parts:

The beginning of the story presents someone whom the audience can identify with in some way, and this person has a dream to pursue or a problem to solve.

The middle of the story shows this character taking action and making decisions as he or she pursues the goal or tries to solve the problem.

The end of the story resolves the “hero’s” quest and usually offers a lesson to be learned about the outcome as well.

By the way, even though these are “stories,” these must not be made-up tales.

Consider adding an element of storytelling whenever your main idea involves the opportunity

To inspire To persuade To teach To warn

HIGHLIGHT BOX: PRACTICING ETHICAL COMMUNICATION (p. 100)How Much Information Is Enough?

1. Yes, the wholesaler was guilty of an ethical lapse because the information given to your company omitted very serious steps that must be followed (e.g., fill the metal containers with water to avoid



spontaneous combustion). By directing you to merely follow “local regulations” the wholesaler put you and your company at risk.

2. No, the warning would not be as effective without the second sentence, because it explains the causes and consequences of spontaneous combustion. This information helps customers understand the seriousness of the danger.

COMMUNICATION DILEMMAS AT H&R BLOCK (p. 115)

1. A carefully defined purpose is essential for every message, but particularly so with marketing messages. These persuasive messages can accomplish any number of different tasks, from changing perceptions about an overall category of products to encouraging shoppers to visit a retail store to enticing people to place an order for a specific product right away. Any confusion about purpose will result in a message that either doesn’t know what it’s trying to accomplish or tries to accomplish too much. Turtledove has asked you to plan a promotional campaign that encourages people to at least consider these products even if they do their own taxes and have never used tax preparation software. Which of the following statements does the best job of defining the specific purpose of this message?

a. No. First, because H&R Block is a major provider of tax preparation services in addition to being a software vendor, many of its customers and potential customers are looking for someone else to do their taxes. In other words, the universe of people who visit the H&R Block website surely includes a large segment that has no interest in preparing their own taxes and therefore would have no interest in buying tax preparation software. Second, expecting every website customer to purchase the product is unrealistic; many visitors might be curious but not ready to buy, for example.

b. No. This goal tries to leap too far in a single bound, so to speak. People who have never used tax preparation software first need to be convinced to make the change from pencil and paper to computer software before they’ll be ready to decide which particular program to buy. There are two separate persuasive objectives here (explaining why software is better than pencil and paper and explaining why H&R Block At Home is better than other software), so it is better to address them with separate messages.

c. No. This specific purpose illustrates an important point about setting a specific goal (75 percent), but as explained in (a), the goal is off the mark and unrealistic.

d. Yes. This statement of purpose could certainly benefit from a specific, measurable goal, but it establishes the realistic objective of getting pencil-and-paper do-it-yourselfers to at least learn more about the benefits of using software.

2. You’ve just learned that the company’s software developers are going to redesign the At Home software to make it easier to use, and they have asked for feedback from Turtledove’s department to help prioritize their work. Unfortunately, they actually made the request about a month ago, but the message fell through the cracks somehow and no one in marketing has prepared any information. The design team needs the information first thing tomorrow morning, and it’s already 3:00 P.M. You have a couple of hours to gather as much information as possible, then you can write a brief report this evening and e-mail it to the development manager. Which of these is the best way to gather useful information?

a. No. This is a good answer, but not as good as (c) because many users won’t bother to call for help when using the software. Instead, they’ll ask friends, family members, or online contacts or help—or simply go online and complain about the software. If possible, combine (a) and (c). (Moreover, you might not even be able to talk to the customer support manager on such short notice.)

b. No. This approach could certainly uncover some areas in need of improvement, but it represents a sample of one, so it won’t provide a representative look at the market’s perceptions of the product. Also, as a company insider, chances are you are already proficient



at using the software, so you might not notice or remember aspects that are difficult to use.c. Yes. This comes closest to an actual market survey because it will collect unfiltered feedback

from a cross-section of users. Of course, it won’t be a statistically valid sample of the target market, but given the wide range of options people have for voicing opinions these days, it should identify most, if not all, the product design aspects that are causing frustration. It’s also likely to uncover suggestions for improvement from product reviewers. If possible, combine (a) and (c).

d. No. This is better than (b), but it will still generate a narrow view of the product’s usability. Moreover, it relies on people’s memories to a large extent; these company insiders may well have forgotten the things that frustrated them when they learned how to use the software.

3. After submitting the emergency report on usability frustrations, you realize the company could benefit from a more systematic way of collecting feedback from customers. Which of the following media choices would you recommend and why?

a. No. This will overload the development manager with both legitimate feedback and spam. Also, it won’t provide any means of organizing the incoming data, so someone will have to read, filter, and categorize every e-mail message.

b. No. Giving users the chance to talk about their frustrations could certainly be beneficial, but this approach will require a tremendous amount of time and effort because operators will need to transcribe the conversations.

c. Yes. This will collect feedback at the most crucial moment: when people are actually experiencing frustration, and it doesn’t require the extra steps of going online and navigating through a website as in (d).

d. No. This is better than (a) and (b) because it automatically sorts and organizes the incoming data, but it’s not as convenient for customers as (c). Many users won’t bother to go online to complain, so you’ll miss vital data.

4. You think you’ve spotted a potential business opportunity for H&R Block. After scanning some of the many “apps” (software applications) for the Apple iPhone (www.apple.com/iphone/apps-for-iphone), you think H&R Block should explore the possibility of creating an app for the iPhone as well. Most consumers don’t use tax software more than once a year and don’t need to do their taxes on the run, so an iPhone version of At Home might not make sense. However, a general-purpose financial app that would let them track expenses, balance their checkbook, and perform other routine tasks could be used quite often and therefore be a good candidate for the iPhone. You know that such a product would be a strategic departure for H&R Block, which has always been all about taxes, so your proposal will surely encounter some resistance and skepticism. Which of the following approaches should you take in organizing a proposal that recommends the company explore the possibility of creating this new iPhone app?

a. No. This product concept would be a dramatic departure for the company, so it will surely encounter resistance and would therefore benefit from the indirect approach.

b. No. This is even worse than (a) because it doesn’t address the objections the audience will definitely have, and it insults them for not agreeing to an idea they haven’t had time to even consider.

c. No. This response is correct in calling for the indirect approach, but its lack of a specific recommendation might not accomplish the objective of getting the company to consider the financial app that you have in mind.

d. Yes. This combines a bold attention-getter (announcing a business opportunity but one that needs attention quickly or it will be lost) with the chance to build a case for your recommendation using the indirect approach.



APPLY YOUR KNOWLEDGE (p. 119)

1. Regardless of how many times you change your mind as you write, planning enables you to make consistent, rational decisions about the message as a whole. If you begin with a general idea of what you’re trying to accomplish and what basic strategy you’ll use, you can change the details of the message in a directed way. Without a plan, the changes are arbitrary. A plan helps you know why changes are necessary and whether one change is better than another.

2. This question should initiate a discussion of how much information you need to include in order to be ethical. It would be important to inform your audience that you’ve discovered the plagiarized material, but it would be equally vital to assure them that the information they received is accurate. Students should also recognize the need to protect their own credibility as they pass along this information. One important issue to discuss would be whether or not to include an apology in the follow-up message.

3. A two-pronged approach would be best: direct to residents and indirectly through the news media. For reaching residents directly, the company definitely should take advantage of social media because it is inexpensive and easily “forwardable.” However, it’s unlikely that a significant portion of the local population is connected to your company via social media, so some “outbound” efforts would be advised as well, such as a postcard mailing or participation in community events such as street fairs.To share the information with the news media in the hope of having one or more outlets do a story on your success, video would meet several requirements: immediacy, compatibility with user needs (even most newspapers now host video segments on their websites), and the ability to convey images with an emotional impact. The message could take the form of a video news release sent to local television news departments. Perhaps the company president could narrate views of the cleaned-up waste sites. A written news release (similar to a one-page letter, memo, or report) should be prepared to accompany the video. The written material provides facts that both TV and newspaper reporters can refer to easily.

4. To be certain your request is met with a positive response, an indirect approach is best. That way, you’ll be able to defuse resistance by attracting interest and support for the idea before actually making the request. If you’re successful, you’ll be giving your employees a positive motive for complying with your request.

5. Fourteen points to support your main idea is excessive; review your main points and try to group them together so that you have no more than a half dozen main points.

PRACTICE YOUR SKILLS (p. 119)

Message for Analysis

The students should organize the list of items into a few main categories, group related ideas under those categories, and finally put all items in logical order. Here is a suggested revised outline:

I. BenefitsA. Accidental death on common carrier

1. Benefit is $100,0002. Paid in event of accidental death while riding as a fare-paying passenger on public



transportation, including buses, trains, jets, ships, trolleys, subways, or any other common carriers

B. Accidental death in motor vehicle accident1. Benefit is $20,0002. Paid in event of accidental death occurring while driving or riding in or on an automobile,

truck, camper, motor home, or non-motorized bicycleC. Hospitalization

1. Benefit is $100 a day 2. Paid when hospitalization is the result of a motor vehicle or a common carrier accident

D. Cash paid in addition to any other insurance carried

II. CostsA. Individual coverage is $17.85 per quarterB. Family coverage is $26.85 per quarterC. Amounts to just pennies a dayD. Free no-obligation examination periodE. Convenient payment—billed quarterlyF. No individual rate increases

III. QualificationsA. No physical examination or health questionsB. Guaranteed acceptance for all applicants

Exercises

1. This exercise helps students see that their messages have a purpose. For each example students cite, they should identify the general purpose (inform, persuade, collaborate) and a specific purpose (get a job, make a purchase, obtain a refund, and so on).

2. Possible statements of purpose might include the following:a. I want to inform the manager about the type and number of outdated items in the

warehouse. Or: I want to persuade the manager to get rid of outdated items in the warehouse. Or: I want to work with the manager to solve the problem of outdated items in the warehouse.

b. I want to inform clients that I will be at the trade show. Or: I want to persuade clients to come by my booth at the trade show.

c. I want to convince the customer to make an immediate payment.d. I want to encourage employees in my department to use their cell phones more wisely (this

could mean less often, for business calls only, and/or only during certain hours).e. I want to find out what happened to the shipment.f. I want to explain how the computer program works.

3. The precise answers to this exercise are less important than the process of thinking about the audience. Urge students to consider both informational and motivational needs. Suggest they put themselves in the audience’s position. Here are some possibilities to use as guidelines:

a. The reader is a dealer in financial trouble who is likely to be embarrassed and hostile when your letter is received. The dealer needs to know what can be done to satisfy the manufacturer and what will happen if nothing is done about the bill.



b. Based on the medium you are using, it is likely that the readers own digital cameras. They may be interested in learning about this opportunity to save money on digital cameras but may have questions about product quality. They need to be convinced that the vendor’s cameras are well made. They also need to know the ordering procedures.

c. The readers of the proposal are either indifferent to or moderately interested in the topic. They need to know why this consolidation would benefit their company.

d. The readers are homeowners who may or may not have fireplaces. Most of them will be indifferent to the flyer, but a few may say, “Boy, it’s been four years since I had the chimney cleaned; maybe I should call.” These potential customers need to know the benefits of having a clean chimney, the price, and the number to call.

e. The reader will be a recruiter in the personnel office who receives hundreds of similar résumés. She or he will be basically indifferent, unless the company is actively recruiting large numbers of new employees. The reader needs to know what makes this particular job candidate different from all the rest. She or he also needs to know about the candidate’s career objectives, background, and experience to determine whether the company might want to hire her.

f. The readers are busy managers who will recognize the importance of maintaining compliance with government regulations at both the federal and state levels. They need to be convinced that: (a) your firm knows what regulations are likely to concern them, and (b) has the experience and knowledge to help address those concerns.

4. The goal of this exercise is for students to practice addressing two different audiences. The instructions for the person unfamiliar with the equipment chosen should be detailed enough so that this reader can operate it without further instruction but not so detailed as to daunt the reader. Encourage students to consider all the reader’s needs and then include all the steps they believe are necessary. The instructions for the more knowledgeable reader can be less detailed, but they should be clear, and they should not assume too much knowledge on the part of the reader.

5. For each message, students should identify a general and a specific purpose, and they should comment on appropriate timing (such as phone solicitations at dinner time), appropriate medium (such as a form letter for a personal message), credibility of the sender (such as celebrity endorser), and practicality of purpose (such as a sales message for a high-ticket item sent to a college student).

6. Students will find that the chairperson is writing primarily for investors. The general purpose is to inform the audience about PepsiCo’s financial results and business operations. The audience will want to know details about profit and loss, areas of strength and weakness, future prospects, and other data related to the company’s performance—which affects its stock price (and the value of shareholders’ investments). Students should be able to point out how the chairperson emphasizes the positive in her letter.

7. Like messages, meetings must also have a purpose, or there is no reason to hold one. When preparing the agenda, you should analyze your audience (the meeting participants) as you would when you prepare a message. Ask yourself: How much do they understand? How might they react to the items being discussed? How much detail will you need to discuss? What types of questions will they have? What items will they be most interested in? How much time will they be willing to devote to these topics or to the meeting as a whole? By asking these questions you will be able to construct a better



agenda and allocate the time needed for each agenda item. Furthermore, you will be able to adapt your meeting to your audience, as you would with any message.

8. Students should be able to surmise target audiences based on the types of products presented, the benefits that are promised, the language used to convey all these messages, and the overall visual presentation.

9. Student answers should focus on what they need to know about their audience to respond. They must address two audiences: the disgruntled passenger and the other readers of the newspaper, who may be potential cruise customers. A personal letter to the passenger would be appropriate, as would a diplomatically worded letter to the editor. For the travel publication, they would need to respond directly to the customer (if possible), provide an answering letter to be published in the publication, and perhaps send out a special mailing to travel agents (if that seems warranted). A secondary audience in both cases would be the cruise line’s management, who would be monitoring their handling of the situation.

10. One way to resolve this type of dilemma is to write a memo to your supervisor. Describe the action your supervisor has asked you to take, then ask if you have understood the instructions. As your supervisor sees the unethical request in writing and realizes that a paper trail now exists that documents this poor judgment, he or she might reverse the decision. Although it may also weaken your relationship with your supervisor, at least you’ll have a record to back up your actions and a clear conscience. This situation appears to be an ethical dilemma because the supervisor may have good reason for asking you to withhold the information. However, as the report writer, you have the ethical responsibility to advise your supervisor of your concerns, providing an opportunity to justify the request.

11. This exercise involves two sets of decisions: choosing which topics to include in the presentation and determining the best order in which to present those topics. Both sets of decisions require the student to make some assumptions about the audience and the assignment. First, to choose which topics to include, students need to identify which topics are likely to be of interest to high-level managers making what is probably a significant capital investment. At the same time, heating is not a strategic concern that top managers are going to want to spend a lot of time exploring. Heating is a “necessary evil,” so managers will be interested primarily in a solution that minimizes costs, risks, and disruptions (particularly during the installation phase) while offering at least acceptable performance. A good approach is to group the topics into high, medium, and low priorities. High priority topics would be those associated with gaining acceptance for the proposal, medium priorities would involve implementation details and supporting information, and low priority topics are those that should not be presented at all. Here is one possible way to group them (note that the groupings could change based on the assumptions made about the audience and assignment):

High priority topics (getting management to approve the proposal):

Risks assumed in using this process Stories about the successful use of cogeneration technology in comparable facilities Costs of installing and running the new equipment Advantages and disadvantages of using the new process Alternative systems that management might want to consider



Medium priority topics (explaining how it will be implemented):

Your plan for installing the equipment in the headquarters building Plans for disposing of the old heating equipment Detailed 10-year cost projections (this one is tricky since managers will want to know the

long-term costs but not necessarily all the details; because the costs are already addressed in a previous item, the details could be eliminated from the presentation and offered as a handout or backup material available upon request)

Estimates of the time needed to phase in the new system

Low priority topics (not covered or offered as handouts or backup material):

Specifications of the equipment that would be installed History of the development of the cogeneration heating process Scientific credentials of the developers of the process

Second, to determine the order of presentation, students need to choose the direct or indirect approach. For instance, if management has requested a recommendation for replacing the existing heating system, the presentation can start with the assumption that the executives recognize a problem or opportunity and want to hear solutions. In contrast, if the recommendation is unsolicited, the presentation will need to explain why the audience should care about the topic in the first place.

Assuming that management has asked for a recommended replacement for the existing heating system, the presentation could be sequenced as follows (additional material might be needed to tie the topics together smoothly):

I. Choosing a new heating systemA. Stories about the successful use of cogeneration technology in comparable facilitiesB. Advantages and disadvantages of using the new processC. Risks assumed in using this processD. Costs of installing and running the new equipmentE. Alternative systems that management might want to consider

II. Implementing a cogeneration systemA. Your plan for installing the equipment in the headquarters buildingB. Estimates of the time needed to phase in the new system

III. Supporting details (prepared but not presented until the audience asks)A. Plans for disposing of the old heating equipmentB. Specifications of the equipment that would be installedC. Detailed 10-year cost projections

12. For each situation, the suggested approach is as follows:a. Direct approach. This is a routine message. Email would be an appropriate medium, and it

also puts the facts of the situation in writing.b. Direct approach. Assumes that the professor has a good opinion of the student and will be happy

to write the letter of recommendation. Probably better as a letter than as email.c. Indirect approach. To soften the bad news, the letter should begin with a neutral buffer.



d. Indirect approach. Again, a neutral buffer would make the audience more receptive. Presenting the reason first will help the audience understand why the uncomfortable temperature is necessary. Okay to send by email, but better media are available.

e. Indirect approach. To soften the bad news, the message should begin by providing reasons why the agency is no longer able to work on the client’s account; this message is appropriate for email.

13. Students should approach this exercise by thinking about the audience’s information needs and psychological needs. What facts are required to achieve the purpose? What motivational factors must be considered? The important thing is for students to base their reasoning on solid assumptions about the audience. Following are some suggestions:

a. The reader will be motivated mainly by “bottom-line” considerations. Demonstrate that the cost of hiring two more people will lead to increased sales or profits.

b. The company recruiter will be looking for qualified people to fill existing openings. Begin with the type of job you’re seeking; then explain your qualifications for that job.

c. The bank will be motivated by financial considerations. You need to demonstrate that the loan is justified and that you will be able to pay it back. Explain why you need the money; then offer evidence that you are a good credit risk.

d. The person will probably be willing to pay, given a history of prompt payment. Begin the message by pointing out the benefits of paying; then make a direct appeal for payment.

e. The person is either unable or unwilling to pay. You need to provide a real incentive to settle the debt. Point out the consequences of failing to pay. You might also offer to arrange a repayment schedule that is practical, given the person’s financial position.

14. Students’ responses should demonstrate a clear understanding of the difference between an ethical dilemma and an ethical lapse. They should also implement the journalistic approach by giving specifics on the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the incident. Their podcasts should be structured with a clear dramatic arc: a beginning that introduces the “hero” of the story (who doesn’t have to be “heroic,” to be sure), a middle section in which the hero makes choices that improve or worsen his or her situation, and an ending that resolves the story in a logical way. Finally, their podcasts should draw a general conclusion (based on the specifics they provide) that offers advice on what to do and/or avoid doing in order to engage in ethical leadership.


Planning Business Messages

Business

Transcript of Planning Business Messages