Media Skills: Email [LO-4]. The following email message contains numerous errors related to what you’ve learned about planning and writing business messages.

First, list the flaws you find in this version. Then use the following steps to plan and write a better memo.

Kind attn.: Nikolas Stavrosky, HR Manager

SUBJECT: Friday dressing – Not Party dressing!!

It is appalling to observe employees coming to work on Fridays! The office does not bear the semblance of a workplace but rather of a weekend camp thanks to employees who dress inappropriately on Fridays. Casual Fridays is all about wearing smart casual attire in place of stuffy formal attire worn during the rest of the week. But people have been strolling in to work with frayed jeans, untucked shirts, tank tops, and even flip-flops. Let me remind you that Fridays are also working days, and the company continues to transact business and deal with customers in the office. It is imperative that employees uphold the image of the company as well as respect customers by dressing suitably. Customers have even remarked that our office looks like a nightclub on a Friday with a wide assortment of colors, designs, and accessories.

Despite numerous warnings, many employees have paid little heed to the appropriateness of their attire on Fridays.

The management has proposed a set of Friday dressing rules that must be followed. Employees who do not abide by them will henceforth be asked to go back home, change into suitable attire, and return to the office. During this time, their absence from office will be flagged and will come up for review at the end of the year.

Please take this seriously!

Nikolas Stavrosky Manager Human Resources First, describe the flaws you discovered in this email message.

Next, develop a plan for rewriting the message. Use the following steps to organize your efforts before you begin writing:

• Determine the purpose.

• Identify and analyze your audience.

• Define the main idea.

• Outline the major supporting points.

• Choose between the direct and indirect approaches.

Now rewrite the email message. Don’t forget to leave ample time for revision of your own work before you turn it in.