ASSIGNMENT #: INTERNAL EMAIL Weight: 15%

Now, working on your own, you will get a chance to practice the basic business communication skills we have covered so far. Use all the techniques learned so far in this course to write a clear, professional message.

• Use the writing process: Think about your audience and their questions/needs, then plan and write a draft. Then take 30 minutes to 1 hour to revise and proofread, ensuring your work demonstrates your understanding of the content we've covered in the course so far.
  • In your Word or PDF document, include a "header" at the top with the fields your email program creates for you (To:, From:, Date:, Subject:, CC:, Attachment:). For readability, use a direct opening with the "Main Idea First". Also, be concise, and use at least one list (bullets), headings, and white space as "reader access techniques".
  • Include a closing (e.g., "Thank you," "Sincerely," "Best regards,") and your name and "signature" (usually your name plus your position/department and possibly your contact info beneath) under your final "action paragraph".

Task: Write the email message called for in the situation described below, using reader-focused language and a professional tone.

• Make up any details necessary, as long as they are consistent with this case; use your own words and include the relevant details.
• Save your document as a Word or PDF document and include your name and the assignment number in the file name.
• Submit your assignment to the Email assignment folder in Activities / Assignments.
• If you want to ensure you use the "direct approach" correctly, you can use the optional planning sheet in this module to plan your message (do not hand this plan sheet in, please).

From Business Communications Essentials:

Email Skills / Sustainability Media Skills: Email

According to a report published by Statistics Canada, in 2019, the proportion of people who purchased or boycotted a product for ethical reasons rose to 30 percent of the population, compared to 25 percent in 2017. Given this growing awareness about the environmental impact of our consumer behaviour, opportunities may exist for your company to make some changes that would broaden the appeal of your product to green consumers. You work for Canwest Foods, a chain of small grocery stores in Quebec. Currently take-out meals are packaged using Styrofoam trays. You would like to see these trays replaced with a green product, especially because you've seen an increase in the sales of take-out meals since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. You looked at some products available from Earthcycle Packaging (www.earthcycle.com) and Go-Green (http://gogreenpackaging.com) and think your company should consider making the switch to this type of packaging or something similar. As well, you have been looking at ways to use social media to connect with customers and develop customer relationships and loyalty. Your boss is old-fashioned and is not that familiar with the use of social media, so the stores have not capitalized on how to use it to develop customer engagement.

Your task: Write an email message to your boss suggesting that the company research the costs and benefits of switching from Styrofoam packaging to an alternative green product. Suggest two different social media channels the store might use to let consumers know about the change, and include a brief description of each media and how the store would benefit from using it.