Groups: Process and Practice
by Corey, Marianne Schneider; Corey, Gerald; Corey, Cindy
Read over Chapter 4 pages (121 & 122) \”Responding to a Reporter’s Inquiry \”
Then prepare an email message to the SAS director as the instructions below dictate.
PURPOSE: As the head of enrollment at Fordham University, you were embarrassed about acceptance letters mistakenly sent to students, and you want to make sure this never happens again. You decide to write an email to the director of SAS to start the conversation.
PROCESS: What is the purpose of your message?.Describe your audience. Consider how the organization feels about the mistake and how this might impact their response to your email. Also consider your relationship with the group as your partner, rather than an employee..How will you briefly explain your purpose? Try to summarize the issue in a couple of sentences. .How will you share the responsibility without taking full responsibility or blaming SAS? This is a delicate balance..What next steps will you propose? How will you encourage the director to respond?.What will you use as your subject line?
PRODUCT: Prepare an email message to the SAS director.
Responding to a Reports Inquiry
Name
Institution
Course
Instructor
Date
Responding to a Report’s Inquiry
To the SAS Director
Sub: Seeking a Permanent Solution to the Mistake of Sending Error Message
Dear: Sir/Madam
Recently, Fordham University mistakenly sent acceptance letters to students from various organizations. This has been a grave mistake on our side as the university fraternity that should subsequently be avoided at all costs. It was an embarrassment to the university to send apologies to hundreds of students for receiving unintended letters. Though such mistakes can occur once in a while, it is a major killer of company reputation (Newman, 2013). The university has been receiving feedback from disgruntled students and parents complaining about the inconvenience and emotional disappointments we put them through. We have so far been trying to manage the situation by taking full responsibility for the mistake, sending apologies to the victims, and promising them that we will adequately address the situation to avoid a future repeat.
For this reason, I am writing to you as the leader of the Board of Directors to imitate a formal assessment of the mistake to find its root cause and develop and implement a long-term solution. We feel very embarrassed to have done such a mistake and wish not to repeat it going forward. We also have to move with speed and address the situation and restore our trust and reputation among our clients. To do this, we have to identify loopholes and weaknesses that we have with the system and human resources to find effective ways to remedy the situation (Newman, 2013). We cannot go ahead with such activity without seeking permission from or at least informing your esteemed office.
From my preliminary assessment of the situation, some members of the team involved in the dissemination of the emails were not aware of some of the precautions they must take to avoid mistakes that are associated with such an activity. Some of them could have forgotten or assumed the precautions. Our IT team has also proposed some new programs that can be used to offer more convenience and accuracy in sending emails and avoiding mistakes. Since nothing is conclusive yet, a root cause analysis would be most preferable to assess the situation and provide objective proposals to finding the solution (Newman, 2013).
Such a move will require the contribution of all of us (employees, leaders, and shareholders) as a team to collaborate in achieving a common goal. We have to take responsibility for the mistake at the organizational level and work toward making it better. This is why we have to solicit opinions and ideas from all of us to develop a holistic and effective solution from verified evidence. Any recommended solution from the intervention may require some adjustments and upgrades that might demand a formal go-ahead from the Board of Directors (Newman, 2013).
I request you to see the relevance of giving this concern a priority because we have to send a prompt message to the students and parents we wronged that we are working on the situation and they never see such mistakes again. Your prompt and positive response will be of unmatched value to us and the University’s reputation.
Yours sincerely
Fabian Jeff
The Head of Enrollment
Fordham University
Reference
Newman, A. (2013). Business communication: In person, in print, online. Cengage Learning.