5. Discuss five tips for effective business memos. (5 points) Answer:

6. Identify the typical stages in the life cycle of a group (5 points) Answer:

7. Describe different types of group members and group member roles. (5 points) Answer:

8. Choose one of the two following scenarios and respond: (7 points) a. Choose a piece of writing from a profession you are unfamiliar with. For example, if you are studying biology, choose an excerpt from a book on fashion design. Identify several terms you are unfamiliar with, terms that may be considered jargon. How does the writer help you understand the meaning of these terms? Could the writer make them easier to understand? Be sure to provide a link to, or citation for, the excerpt. b. In your chosen career field or your college major, identify ten jargon words, and define them. Answer:

9. Review the expectations for an elevator speech. Then choose one of the following: (8 points) a. Find an example of an elevator speech online (YouTube, for example) and review it. Include the link to the speech and a brief summary of strengths and weaknesses. b. Prepare your own elevator speech and present it in writing for review. Answer:

10. Analyze the following e-mail message. Revise the message so that it reflects some of the writing techniques you learned from this course. Hint: How can you make the message more courteous, positive, precise, and professional? Focus on conciseness, familiar words, and developing the "you" view. (10 points) To: All Environmental Health Department Team Members From: Jonathan Westgate Subject: Please Reduce Your Employee Driving Trips to Office Our company faces harsh governmental penalties if we fail to comply with the Air Quality Management District's program to reduce the number of automobile trips made by employees. The aforementioned program stipulates that we offer incentives to entice employees to discontinue driving their vehicles as a means of transportation to and from this place of employment. First, we are prepared to offer a full day off without penalty. However, the employee must not drive to work and must maintain a 75 percent vanpool participation rate for six months. Second, we offer a vanpool subsidy of $100 a month, and the vanpool driver will not be limited in the personal use he makes of the vehicle on his own time. Third, employees in the vanpool will not be forced to park in outlying lots. Pertaining to our need to have you leave your cars at home, all employees are herewith instructed to communicate with Ralph Mancini, who will be facilitating the above-referenced program. Answer:

11. Providing Routine Information: You are normally an easygoing manager who gives your employees a lot of leeway in using their own personal communication styles. However, the weekly staff meeting this morning pushed you over the edge. People were interrupting one another, asking questions that had already been answered, sending text messages during presentations, and exhibiting just about every other poor listening habit imaginable. Review the advice in your text concerning good listening skills, then write a post for the internal company blog. Emphasize the importance of effective listening, and list at least five steps your employees can take to become better listeners. (10 points) Answer:

12. Granting Claims: Your company sells flower arrangements and gift baskets. Holidays are always a rush, and the overworked staff make the occasional mistake. Last week, someone made a big one. As a furious email message from a customer named James Swinson explains, he ordered a Valentines Day bouquet for his wife, but the company sent a bereavement arrangement instead. Respond to Swinsons email message, apologizing for the error, promising to refund all costs incurred. Decide how you want to make this a more positive outcome for Swinson. Do you inform him that the correct arrangement will arrive tomorrow? Do you offer a choice of any floral arrangement or gift basket free on his wifes birthday? Both? Other? (10 points) Answer:

13. Goodwill message: Your office was somber this morning when you arrived at work, as employees learned that Cody, the partner of the chief operating officer, Mike Hines, had been killed in a car accident over the weekend. You never met Cody, and Hines is two levels above you in the corporate hierarchy (you are a first-level supervisor), so you dont have a close working relationship. However, you have been on comfortable terms with Hines during the eight years you have been at this company, and although youve never socialized with him outside of work, youve both occasionally shared personal and social news during casual conversations in the cafeteria. Write a letter of condolence to Hines. (10 points) Answer:

14. Negative News: Your company markets a line of rugged smartphone cases designed to protect sensitive devices from drops, spills, and other common accidents. Your guarantee states that you will reimburse customers for the cost of a new phone if the case fails to protect it from any of the following: A drop of no more than six feet onto any surface Spills of any beverage Being crushed by any object weighing up to 100 pounds Being chewed on by dogs, cats, or other common household pets Jason Flanagan, a rancher from Wyoming, emailed your customer support staff requesting a reimbursement after he dropped his iPhone in his hog barn and an 800-pound boar crushed it in a single bite. Write an email response to the customer, denying his request for a new phone. Follow the guidelines from the course concerning delivering this message. (10 points)