Module 1

 
1. Imagine you are the Director of Internal Communications for a medium-sized software development firm. Your department head has instructed you to e-mail the entire staff about the upcoming increase in monthly health care costs. This news will not be welcome since the costs just went up six months ago. Craft a letter to e-mail the staff that adheres to all of the communication techniques covered in this module.
2. As the Director of Internal Communications, you must deal with a situation in which you find out several workers have a tendency to gossip about their co-workers using the company e-mail. Write up a brief memo that explains why such activity would be considered unethical communication. Also write one paragraph that explains how you will discuss the situation with the employees and what, if any, technology you will use.
3. Your boss just selected you to organize a quality assurance team made up of people from your branch office and the office in Mumbai, and she wants to know how you will go about forming the team and guaranteeing its success with regard to ensuring quality of the new software roll out. Draft a document that outlines your plan for creating the team; how you will use technology to foster communication; how you will overcome obstacles and conflict among team members; and how you will hold productive meetings.
4. Describe two situations: one in which you were on a high-performing team and one in which you were on a poorly performing team. Describe the characteristics of the teams, and of each team member, and how those characteristics contributed to overall team success or failure. Also explain what did – or could have – hindered the high-performing team and what could have helped the poorly performing team improve.
5. Business etiquette can make or break a career. Describe in detail a situation you experienced, or one that was highly publicized in the media, in which a person’s lack of business etiquette cost them their job. Then explain what etiquette skills should have been used, and how, to lead to a better outcome.