Assessment 1 Part A. Email address

We will start with the use of emails to staff or the Unit Coordinator. Always ensure that the subject line includes the unit code (BUSN20017) and the specific issue that needs attention such as Assessment 2.

For the purposes of this assessment, please address the email to me as your Unit Coordinator and type in the subject line: Introduction of (insert student name) to Unit Coordinator for BUSN200017.

Please firstly in the body of the email address the staff member by name. Then write your message briefly introducing yourself and stating where you are studying and what course you are enrolled in.

At the end of your email include a signature: Student Name (as it appears in Moodle) Student Number

Location (campus such as Sydney, distance etc.) Contact details - mobile number

Editing is an important skill that you need to learn. Before you press send, read through the email and check it for spelling and grammar issues and re-read it to make sure that the message is clear.

Send me the email which I will immediately delete and from your sent items, copy that email into a word document for uploading in Moodle Assessment 1 Part A.

As part of this assessment, throughout the term all staff will be advised to send your email straight back to you if all the elements requested are not included and the message is not immediately clear.

Assessment 1 Part B. Editing and rewriting a document
Below is a document that has been edited with codes at the bottom to inform you the meanings of the symbols used.
Please rewrite the letter to reflect the editing corrections asked for including formatting errors.

Assessment 1 Part C. Research an important part of communication Will emoticons give you career a frowny face?
Your project team has just been reprimanded by your boss for missing a deadline. Your colleagues left the meeting grumbling about being criticised in public after working nights and weekends, and you fear that morale has slipped.

You can craft an inspirational message to soothe the bruised egos and get the team's energy turned around in a positive direction. However, writing such a message could be risky, because world-weary teammates might just brush it off as happy talk and resent you for trying to be a cheerleader.

Alternately, you could suggest that your colleagues lighten up and stay focused on the ultimate goal of the project. However, you already know that telling grumpy people to cheer up is a surefire way to make most of them even grumpier.

Instead, you opt for a quick bit of gentle sarcasm, designed to help release the negative emotions in a collegial way. When you get back to your desk, you write the following instant message:

Well, let's pick up the pieces of our shattered lives and move on ;-)

The over the top phrasing is a subtle way to remind everyone that the criticism wasn't all THAT traumatic, and the winking emoticon tells everyone to lighten up without actually saying so. The apparent sarcasm connect with people who are marinating in their negative emotions, but it is really a pep talk disguised as sarcasm.

Then you worry that the emoticon will seem unprofessional, so you replace it with a simple period.

Well, let's pick up the pieces of our shattered lives and move on.

Oops. That one minor change to make the message more professional turned it into a statement of resigned sadness. You search your keyboard for an acceptable symbol that might help:

Well, let's pick up the pieces of our shattered lives and move on!

Great, now you have managed to sound bitter and demanding at the same time.

1. Given the difficulty of communicating emotional nuance in lean media such as instant messaging (IM) and email, are emoticons really all that bad?

2. As a manager, what reaction would you have to job applicants where emoticons are used in the email message accompanying the job application?

Research your answers using journal articles where possible.