Question

1. Consider the scenario and then answer the questions that follow.

Janet chairs the board of directors for a local charity organization. The organization has recently had to address sexual harassment issues involving the bookkeeper, who has since resigned. However, Janet and the director just received notice that the organization is now being sued regarding the issue. The chair needs to inform the stakeholders about the situation and let them know that they should not speak to anyone about the situation unless the organization’s legal counsel is present. She begins to prepare a message.

Who is the primary audience for Janet’s message? Check all that apply.

a. The board of directors

b. Clients

c. Employees

d. Charitable donors

2. Which is the best purpose statement for Janet’s message?

a.To protect the organization and employees from legal trouble by informing them of what actions are appropriate

b. To inform the organization of the situation

c. To convince the employees to do the right thing and inform them of the details of the situation

3.Janet should ____ after she finishes her first draft of the message.

a. Revise immediately while the information is fresh

b. leave some time before revising

4. After drafting, Janet will revise her message. What types of errors should she look for as she revises for content? Check all that apply.

a. Spelling errors

b. Organization

c. Omitted information

d. Unnecessary information

Answer 1

1. All

The primary audience are those who have some authority of speaking on behalf of the organization i.e. the board of directors and the employees. But for information to flow, the clients and donors also needs to be covered.

2. a. To protect the organization and employees from legal trouble by informing them of what actions are appropriate

Here the primary purpose is to protect the organization and the employees from speaking something unsolicited and to limit their opinion for the rest of the public because that will further increase the trouble. Whatever will be communicated should be from the legal counsel only.

3. a. Revise immediately while the information is fresh, populating a message without revising can be dangerous as far as communicating a crucial message is concerned.

4. All of these errors should be looked for during revision.