Message Strategies: Writing Positive Messages; Collaboration:

Team Projects [LO-4], Chapter 2 As a project manager at Orbitz, one of the largest online travel services in the world, you’ve seen plenty of college interns in action. However, few have impressed you as much as Maxine “Max” Chenault. For one thing, she learned how to navigate the company’s content management system virtually overnight and always used it properly, whereas other interns sometimes left things in a hopeless mess. She asked lots of intelligent questions about the business.

You’ve been teaching her blogging and website design principles, and she’s picked them up rapidly. Moreover, she has always been on time, professional, and eager to assist, and she doesn’t complain about doing mundane tasks.

On the down side, Chenault is a popular student. Early on, you often found her busy on the phone planning her many social activities when you needed her help. However, after you had a brief talk with her, this problem vanished.

You’ll be sorry to see Chenault leave when she returns to school in the fall, but you’re pleased to respond when she asks you for a letter of recommendation. She’s not sure where she’ll apply for work after graduation or what career path she’ll choose, so she asks you to keep the letter fairly general.

Your task: Working with a team assigned by your instructor, discuss what should and should not be in the letter. Prepare an outline based on your discussion and then draft the letter.