4.8 End of Chapter Activities
4a. Thinking About the Content
What are your key takeaways from this chapter? What is something you have learned or something you would like to add from your experience?
4b. Discussion Questions
Discussion Questions
- What functions does organization serve in a document? Can they be positive or negative?
- Create an outline from a sample article or document. Do you notice an organizational pattern?
- Which of the following sentences are good examples of correct and clear business English? For sentences needing improvement, describe what is wrong and write a sentence that corrects the problem. Discuss your answers with your classmates.
- Marlys has been chosen to receive a promotion next month.
- Because her work is exemplary.
- At such time as it becomes feasible, it is the intention of our department to facilitate a lunch meeting to congratulate Marlys
- As a result of budget allocation analysis and examination of our financial condition, it is indicated that salary compensation for Marlys can be increased to a limited degree.
- When will Marlys’s promotion be official?
- I am so envious!
- Among those receiving promotions, Marlys, Bob, Germaine, Terry, and Akiko.
- The president asked all those receiving promotions to come to the meeting.
- Please attend a meeting for all employees who will be promoted next month.
- Marlys intends to use her new position to mentor employees joining the firm, which will encourage commitment and good work habits.
4c. Applying chapter concepts to a situation
Organizing information for the audience
The Maple All-Suite Hotel is a boutique hotel that is located in Vancouver and has 90 rooms. They recently upgraded their key card system as they had received numerous guest complaints that their key cards were malfunctioning. There have been no guest complaints with the new system. However, the employees find it challenging to use the manual as it is long and uses technical language.
The Duty Manager, Donneil Chance, was asked to extract the relevant information from the 500-page manual and simplify the language to make it easier for the team to understand. While doing so, she notices that the manual has troubleshooting instructions related to all potential guest and employee issues with the new system. However, this information has no clear sections or headings.
In hospitality, the goal is to resolve all guest issues as quickly as possible. It would be time-consuming for an employee to find the information they need to solve any problems promptly using the manual in its current format.
How should Donneil organize the required information into a simplified manual?
4d. Writing Activity
Find some articles about the Deepwater Horizon Oil spill, then read this article from the BBC about gaffes made by former BP boss Tony Hayward. Evaluate some of his actions or comments that have caused controversy. In a crisis why is it important to plan your message?