Week 2 Assignment – Professional Email Message

Preparation

Assignment Walkthrough

Watch the Assignment Walkthrough video.

Note: The specific book information referenced in the video has changed. Refer to the following assignment instructions for correct page numbers in BCOM, 9th edition. Individual sections may have different policies regarding handing in work early for review. Please check with your professor.

Scenarios

Choose one of these professional scenarios.

Scenario 1

• Saban is a top-performing industrial equipment salesperson for D2D. After three years of working with his best client, he receives a text message from Pat, his direct manager, assigning him to a completely different account.
• Pat has received complaints that Saban “gets all the good clients” and “is not a team player.”
• Saban responds to the message and asks for a meeting with Pat to discuss this change. Pat responds with another text message that reads “Decision final. Everyone needs to get a chance to work with the best accounts, so it is fair. Come by the office and pick up your new files.”
• Moments later, Saban sends a text message to Karen, his regional manager and Pat’s boss. It simply reads “We need to talk.”

Scenario 2

• Amber, Savannah, and Stephen work for Knowledge, Inc., a consulting firm. While on a conference call with Tim Rice Photography, an established client, the group discusses potential problems with a marketing campaign. Tim Rice, lead photographer and owner, insists the marketing is working and changes are not needed.
• Amber reaches over to put Tim on mute but inadvertently pushes the wrong button. She immediately says to Savannah and Stephen that the marketing campaign is not working and that “Tim should stick to taking pretty pictures.” Tim responds, “You know I can hear you, right?”

Scenario 3

• James shows up to work approximately five minutes late one morning, walking silently and quickly to punch in at the time clock near the front desk.
• Sarah, the front desk manager, says, “Good morning, James,” but James ignores her, punches in, and heads into the shop to his desk. Sarah rolls her eyes, picks up the phone, and dials the on-duty manager to alert her that James just arrived and should be reaching his desk at any moment.

Scenario 4

• Paul works for the website division of SuperMega retail company. He receives an email late Friday afternoon indicating that a new computer will launch at the end of next June and it will be in high demand with limited stock. The three-page message also indicates that customers will be able to preorder the item 30 days before launch, according to the production company. Paul is asked to create a landing page for consumers who are interested in learning more about the product.
• By mistake, Paul sets up a page that allows customers to preorder product that afternoon, well in advance of the company authorized preorder period. Late Friday evening consumers begin to preorder the product.
• Sharon, vice president of product sales at SuperMega, learns of the error Saturday morning and calls Paul to arrange a meeting first thing Monday morning. Sharon explains to Paul on the phone that the company intends to cancel all of the preorders, and Paul responds that the company should honor the preorders because the error was internal and not the fault of consumers. After a heated exchange, Paul hangs up on Sharon when she insists that the preorders will be canceled because of Paul’s error.

Instructions

Write a professional email message (in the form of Figure 5.1 on page 84 of BCOM) from the perspective of a character in the scenario. The email should be addressed to another character regarding the communication issue provided in the scenario.

While the message must take the form of an email, you will submit it as an assignment. It must adhere to the following requirements:

• Content:
  • Address the communication issue from the scenario.
  • Request a face-to-face meeting to discuss the issue at a specific time.
  • Concentrate on the facts of the situation and avoid using overly emotional language.
  • Assume your recipient is learning about the situation for the first time through your communication.
• Format:
  • Use a descriptive subject line or heading.
  • Include an appropriate and professional greeting or salutation.
  • Use email form including To:, From:, Subject:, and Signature.
• Clarity or Mechanics:
  • Focus on clarity, writing mechanics, and professional language and style requirements.
  • Run spelling and grammar check before submitting.