You will reword negative language used in the attached memo. You will identify the cliche used and replace or remove it from the memo.

You are a supervisor in your company’s Marketing Department. You and four others have been working on a campaign for a company product that will be released in three months. Today is Wednesday. Because your boss, the manager of the Marketing Department, needs a week to prepare the presentation of the campaign to the board of directors, she has asked for the campaign materials by Monday of next week. You and the rest of your team have known about the deadline for three months. As a supervisor you’re the team leader.  

This morning you received a message from Mary, the graphic artist, saying that there is no way she can finish her portion of the project by Monday. She is requesting an extension of only three days; she estimates that she can have her work completed by Thursday of next week. In her message she says she has been swamped with work for two other projects. In addition, her children have been sick this week with colds, so she has taken time off to care for them; she is hosting a birthday party for one of her children on Sunday, so she can‘t work over the weekend to finish her part of the project.

You talk to your boss, who says she cannot wait until Thursday for Mary’s work. To be honest, neither can you, as it reflects poorly on your leadership and supervisory abilities if you cannot deliver a team project on time. It’s not that your boss is unsympathetic. Her calendar is so busy that she really needs a full week to get her presentation ready for the board, and if her presentation is not excellent, it reflects badly on the entire department.  You, though, may be just a bit unsympathetic; Mary has had three months to get her work done, and many times— just yesterday, as a matter of fact— you have seen her on Facebook or on personal phone calls when she should have been working on the project. She was also late with her work for the last project you worked on together, and you are a bit annoyed that this is happening again.

You think since you have two other graphic artists in the department, you will ask one of them to work with you on future projects. You know for sure if Mary does not have her material ready by Monday, you will be talking about Mary’s inability to meet deadlines in her performance and salary review next month. Though you plan to talk with Mary in person, you also want a permanent record of your decision, so you decide to write a message (memo) to Mary denying her request for an extension and offering at least one suggestion for what she might do to meet the deadline.

Indirect Claim Checklist

Begin with words that indicate a response to the requests, are neutral about the answer and set up strategy.

Present your justification or explanation, using positive language and you viewpoint.

Refuse clearly and positively.

Include a counterproposal or compromise when appropriate.

End with an adapted goodwill comment.