Quote of the Week

"Communication works for those who work at it."
~John Powell

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Memo Writing Sample 3-Professional Communications

Memorandum

TO:  Jay Baldwin, Instructor

FROM:  Cassandra Tuenge, Student

DATE:  April 7th, 2009

SUBJECT:  Overworking Ourselves To Death

In a country experiencing such tough economic times, threatened by the obesity of McDonaldization and in danger of becoming “Flattened” by technology and globalization, we need to reevaluate our priorities, renew our definition of America, and recover from this “time famine” from which we suffer by joining The Slow Movement.  Joining the slow movement will create a healthier, more productive, more efficient, and certainly stronger United States of America as it improves our lives, our organizations and our ability to move with change.  “The Slow Movement began with a protest against the opening of a McDonald's restaurant in Piazza di Spagna, Rome that sparked the creation of the Slow Food organization. Over time, this developed into a subculture in other areas, such as Slow Travel, Slow Shopping, and Slow Design” (Wikipedia).

“Time Famine”

To increase efficiency and productivity in an overworked culture we need to join The Slow Movement.  The process for developing into a slow culture is as follows:

Ÿ  Reevaluate our priorities
Ÿ  Renew our definition of America
Ÿ  Recover from time famine

The Slow Movement

Have you ever noticed how productive you are when you don’t force yourself to adhere to a strict schedule?  If you were given the choice to work a shorter work week, do you think you would find a way to be more efficient to get extra time off?  If you had less than a 10-12 hour work day, do you think you might answer personal emails when you get home, skip checking your Myspace and just get your work done with the idea that you’ll still have some of the day to enjoy your family?  I would.

Reevaluate

This time deficiency is the source of our problems, and how do we look for a solution when we have a problem, we look for the source.  We need to reevaluate in order to rediscover our priorities because right now we simply cannot afford to work only to consume material things.  In America, we live in a culture where being overworked is a status symbol and it is that need to be busy that is compromising our health, our families, and American society.  Instead of feeling troubled by the hurting economy and letting it consume us, let us realign our priorities with the days when living meant something more than the objects we possess.  Cahn, from TimeBanks USA, describes the movement as being about how we value things rather than how fast we can consume and how much we can accumulate. 

Renew

We need to renew our definition of America and renew our way of life.  “Opposed to the culture of fast food, the sub-movement known as Slow Food seeks to encourage the enjoyment of regional produce, traditional foods, which are often grown organically and to enjoy these foods in the company of others” (Wikipedia).  This concept will likely act as a catalyst for improving all areas of life, including organizational life. 

CNN’s report on the Slow Movement provided a list of organizations who encourage individuals and businesses to save time. They include:

Ÿ  Long Now Foundation, San Francisco, California was established to provide an alternative to a "faster/cheaper" mind set and promote "slower/better" thinking.
Ÿ  Take Back Your Time, a nonprofit group based in Seattle, Washington, is leading a national campaign to address time famine by using conferences and teach-ins to wean people off their need to be busy.
Ÿ  John de Graaf, national coordinator for Take Back Your Time, says the nonprofit group is calling for legislation guaranteeing at least three weeks of paid annual vacation for all workers, paid leave for all new parents and workplace rules limiting the amount of compulsory overtime.

Recover

Graaf says that, “Companies will actually profit more if they don't overwork employees because they will become healthier and more productive, he says. He points to the robust economies of Western European countries, which treat their workers to more vacation time and shorter work weeks than their counterparts in the United States.”

Graaf also says that, “slowing down won't only save lives; it'll save democracy…democracy can’t exist without informed citizens…people need time to pay attention to the news, attend city council meetings and keep elected official accountable.”  His organization is pressing for laws that would allow people to have election days off.

The answer this country is searching for is a reevaluation, and a renewal, and it may find the recovery it so desires.  We tend to look past the simplest solution because it is often the most difficult to swallow, but getting back to our slower days will give us the energy we need to press on and move forward with the changing world.  For suggestions on how to combat “time famine” at home or at work, I would be happy to offer suggestions.                           

Memo Writing Sample 2-Professional Communications

Memorandum

TO:  Jay Baldwin, Instructor

FROM:  Cassandra Tuenge, Student

DATE:  March 31st, 2009

SUBJECT:  Answering Successfully in an Employment Interview

Communicating effectively in an interview is essential and it takes planning, preparation and practice.  A positive attitude complimented by a concrete resume and appropriate appearance may influence how a future employer perceives you, but if you fail to communicate your skills, abilities, experience, perspective and intentions appropriately and confidently through specific, detailed answers you are likely to find yourself back on the job-hunt.  With Idaho at a 6.8% unemployment rate as of February 2009 (US Bureau of Labor Statistics), improving interview skills is essential to a shorter, less painful job-search process.

The 3 P’s of Interviewing

The chances of having a successful employment interview improve when following the 3 P‘s of Interviewing which are as follows:

Ÿ  Plan to do research
Ÿ  Prepare for potential questions
Ÿ  Practice for success

The effectiveness of an interview depends on the ability to communicate ones abilities, experience and intentions appropriately and confidently.

Planning, Preparing and Practicing for Success

You must be prepared to effectively deliver answers that provide detailed descriptions of these professional characteristics in order to improve your chances for success in an employment interview.  As the interviewee you will be answering questions that will give insight into your behavior, elicit opinion, demonstrate experience and reveal background on you.  Interviews, according to “Communicating For Results” by Cheryl Hamilton, are used to determine employee-fit, job motivation, communication skills, and work-related values of potential employees. 

Plan

Plan to research information about the organization you are interviewing for and information about your personal and professional qualities and experience.  In my nearly 20 years of interview experience it can be the most trivial personal questions that become the weak aspect of an interview, so it is not only important to plan to research the job position and company prior to an interview, but it is vital to not overlook the importance of being able to comfortably and confidently discuss your own personal experiences and qualities that may relate to your field. 

Prepare

It is essential to carefully prepare yourself for the type of questions you may receive in an employment interview, but keep in mind the importance of being positive and specific in your answers.  Hamilton offers the following example of “tough” standard questions:

Ÿ  What do you know about our company?  What attracted you to our company?
Ÿ  Describe yourself in three adjectives.
Ÿ  What is the best idea you’ve had in the last three years?
Ÿ    How would your coworkers describe you?  Your supervisor describe you?
Ÿ  Why should we hire you over others applying for this position?

Behavioral questions, which examine how you may react or behave when presented with certain job-related or applicable situations, should be answered using the Hansen’s SAR method as described by Hamilton; state the situation, action and result when answering behavioral questions like the following:

Ÿ  If you had to give a presentation to a group of clients with only two hours notice, how and what would you prepare?
Ÿ  How have you benefited from your mistakes?  Disappointments?
Ÿ  Convince me that you are a person willing and able to take initiative.
Ÿ  Describe one of the proudest moments you’ve experienced in your career so far?

Practice

Rehearsing answers to potential interview questions makes a world of difference to the success of an interview especially in a mock interview setting where you can benefit from feedback.  Cheryl Hamilton offers the following information-seeking questions to aid in mock-interviews with friends, family, coworkers, bosses and/or professors:

Ÿ  Exactly what does your job entail?
Ÿ  What are the educational requirements for this position?
Ÿ  What experience is required or recommended?
Ÿ  What do you like most about the position?  Like least?
Ÿ  What problems could I expect to encounter in a position of this type?

With thorough planning, preparation, and practice it is possible to improve your chances for success in the question-answer portion of an employment interview and in today’s economy you can’t afford to NOT interview to the best of your ability. 

Memo Writing Sample-Professional Communications

Memorandum

TO:  Jay Baldwin, Instructor

FROM:  Cassandra Tuenge, Student

DATE:  February 10th, 2009

SUBJECT:  Creative Destruction versus McDonaldization

The effects of McDonaldization are simply elements of creative destruction.  Creative destruction is “the idea that older structures are destroyed to make way for newer ones that function more effectively” (Schumpeter).  McDonaldization is claimed to create a threat of homogenization, threaten human innovativeness, and dehumanize employees and customers when fast food assembly line, standardized techniques are extended into the service sector.  It is my intention to show that society may find relief from this concern in approaching such a phenomenon as a natural occurrence in evolution rather than a global threat. 

Relief From Concern for spread of McDonaldization

Concern
Ÿ  Lack of innovativeness due to technological control
Ÿ  Global homogenization
Ÿ  Dehumanization of worker and consumer

Relief
Ÿ  Technology does not eliminate need for creativity and instinct.
Ÿ  Peoples cultures experience gains and losses, not destruction.
Ÿ  Inherent human need will never surrender to such organizational oppression.


Finding Relief

There are natural weapons that fight against so-called threatening effects caused by McDonaldization.  Efficiency, predictability and standardized control are qualities that are seen as assets to the success of business although they are not determinates of sustained success.  Resolution and harmony are found in what human beings offer to production and service. 

Innovativeness Despite Standardization

Technology can not dominate over the value of employees or customers.  It cannot replicate essential human characteristics such as instinct, insight, and judgment.  The alleged threat of a lack of innovativeness created through the application of standardized techniques and technological control is not a threat at all.  Alan Robinson, author of Corporate Creativity, asserts that “…standardization does not remove the need for creativity…no matter how standardized a process becomes, the unexpected can and will occur anywhere, and without warning.”  Predictability and calculability can only go so far.  Humans cannot be replace entirely by machines. 

Cultures Survive Global Homogenization

Our unique cultures and social identities will survive globalization.  Cultures may be impacted by their surroundings and the changing world, but they are constructed by people.  People are not mere objects of cultural influences, but subjects who according to Michael Amaladoss, author of Global Homogenization, can sift various influences and reject or integrate them.  As we lose and gain parts of what makes up our culture we remain people, and people make up a culture, culture does not make people.  This is the process of creative destruction. 

Human Need Demands Emancipation

Human nature will conquer dehumanizing work and customer service routine.  People experience burn out, a real form of organizational stress that is alienating.  When the world feels an imbalance between the efficiencies of McDonaldization and human need, it will reject it.  Companies who have assumed such standardized methods of functioning will see a higher turnover in employees and customers alike, forcing them to change.  According to the US Department of Labor, the highest turnover by far is still in the Accommodation and Food Services sector, and it is a rising statistic.  McDonaldization is not flawless and like any product it will be changed to fit the world and its needs, not the other way around. 

The effects of the phenomenon known as McDonaldization will not prevail over human need and the need for humans.  It is simply a part of the process of evolution known as creative destruction.