Recently a CEO of a company sent out an e-mail to his managers stating the following:

"We are getting less than 40 hours of work from a large number of EMPLOYEES. The parking lot is sparsely used at 8am; likewise at 5pm. As managers, you either do not know what your EMPLOYEES are doing or you do not CARE.  In either case, you have a problem and you will fix it or I will replace you.  NEVER in my career have I allowed a team which worked for me to think they had a 40-hour job.  I have allowed YOU to create a culture which is permitting this.  NO LONGER!  I want to see the parking lot nearly full by 7:30 am and half-full on weekends.  You have two weeks to fix this. Tick, tock."

 

1. Identify the audience that this memo would affect.  Explain.
2. Is the CEO sensitive to the needs of the audience? Explain.
3. Has the CEO maintained a standard of etiquette as described in your textbook?  Explain.
4. Did the author of this memo use bias free language? Explain.
5. How does this memo project the company's image? Explain.
6. Was this the best communication channel to use for this message? Explain.
7. Utilizing the tools you have learned thus far in your readings, please rewrite this message to improve the effectiveness.
8. Identify which communication channel or channels you would use to convey your message above.  Explain.
9. What communication channel would you use to convey this revised message? Explain.

Considerations in Choosing a Communication Channel
Channel	Time Required for Feedback	Richness of information Conveyed	Sender's control over how the message is composed	Control over receiver's attention	Effectiveness for detailed message
Face-to-Face	Immediate	High	Moderate	Highest	Weak
Phone Conference and Video Conferencing	Immediate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Weak
Voice Mail	Delayed	Moderate	High	Low	Weak
E-mail	Varies	Low	High	Low	High
Instant Messaging	Varies	Low	High	Varies	Weak
Text Messaging and Twitter	Can be immediate	Low	High (given the briefness of the message)	Low	Good for brief messages
Facebook/Web Site	Varies (If any)	Low - High	High	Low	Weak to High
Hard Copy	Delayed	Low	High	Low	High