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Writing Workshop

After an embarrassing sign incident at the restaurant you own, you decide to offer employees a six-week fundamental writing skills workshop.

A local business communication instructor, who has experience teaching writing skills at Treleaven Community College, will facilitate the sessions.

To encourage employees to attend these optional sessions, write a memo that explains why you're offering the workshop and why employees should participate.

Audience

Remember that your employees have other responsibilities. They may be students with classes and homework assignments, or they may have a spouse and children, or they may work another job. As you write your memo, consider that your employees may not feel the workshop is personally worthwhile, but even if it is, it may be difficult to attend.

Purpose

You want to convince your employees to sign up for the workshop. The workshop is optional. If you make the workshop mandatory, you are no longer persuading your employees—you're giving them an order. The challenge of the assignment is to find a way persuade your employees to willingly participate.

Structure

Your memo will include both information and persuasion. The information should answer key questions such as start and end dates, how long the sessions run, etc. Because those are the first questions that occur to your employees, they should be answered first. Your persuasion should then follow. When deciding what to include in your persuasion, consider incentives that your employees find valuable.

Style

When writing to employees, choose a style that matches your managerial style. Some managers communicate with employees very formally, while others communicate informally. The key is to be an effective communicator.