Memo

Assignments

2. Memo

Assignment 2: Memo

This assignment follows up on Assignment 1, continuing the work of addressing the ethical issue you’ve identified in your (hypothetical) workplace. This memo will be written to the next level of hierarchy in the organization, beyond your immediate supervisor, in order to further pursue the response you feel is necessary.

Preparing for your memo:

1) Consider the reading we’ve done and the discussions we’ve had about ethics, language, and workplace culture.

2) Review your work on Assignment #1, including the Code of Ethics for your field.

3) Browse the “how to” resources for writing memos available in our Moodle “How To” book for assignments.

4) Take some time to further develop your hypothetical case. You will need a reason and purpose for writing this memo. There are at least two possible reasons for writing a memo to your supervisor’s supervisor (you might think of additional reasons):

your supervisor may feel s/he does not have sufficient authority to solve the problem, and needs her/his supervisor to take some action (in which case you’d maybe write a memo like this with her/him or on her/his behalf); or
your supervisor may not feel inclined to do anything, in which case you might find it necessary to communicate with someone with more influence.

Writing the memo:

Write a memo to someone with a high level of authority in your organization about this issue. Consider how their knowledge of this situation may be different from yours and your supervisors, and also how their role and responsibility in the organization is different. Think about how you will make your concerns of concern to them. And again, you will want to carefully consider your approach and writing style, because again, this is a sensitive issue, perhaps made more sensitive by the fact that you are formalizing this concern in a company memo.

Please make sure to write this in memo form. The “how to” resources for this assignment will help you with this.

Criteria:

1. Document has a clear focus and purpose
2. Audience(s) is/are considered appropriately and effectively.
3. Writing style and tone are appropriate for audience, document type, and writing situation
4. Document earns reader’s confidence in its honesty, accuracy, and ethics
8. Document is edited, proofread, and polished.

Workshopping / Reader-ready draft:

Make your memo available to classmates for workshopping:

Save your memo as .rtf
Attach your .rtf file to a post in the Workshopping discussion for this assignment. (You will need to type something into the text area as well, to avoid getting an error.)

Responses: Respond to two others’ memos with suggestions for improving in each of the criteria areas for this assignment. Be sure to read the instructions in the workshop area (where drafts are submitted) to guide your responses. Use the class criteria as well as the workshopping guidelines to help you be thorough and specific.
Turning it in: You will need to turn in two files to complete this assignment. Upload these to the “drop box” for this assignment.