ENG115 Business Communications
Module 1 Discussion
DQ1 Interaction & Trends
Discussion Question
Which of the current trends in business communication from the infographic did you find most surprising and why?
Describe the most memorable communication interaction you have ever experienced. For example, this might have been with a teacher, coach, entertainer, friend, speaker, boss, etc. It could have been through text, via phone, in-person, etc. Also, it could have been negative or positive.
Could the method of communication changed your opinion of the communicator – why or why not?
DQ2 Look, Listen, Learn
Discussion Question
Discuss the challenges of gaining a complete and unbiased message from the newscast.
What were the benefits of volume?
What were the benefits of NO volume?
How can what you learned help you communicate more effectively?
ENG115 Business Communications
Module 2 Discussion
DQ1 Communication & Culture
Discussion Question
Identify the country or culture you chose.
Explain what you learned about their communication and why exploring other cultures’ communication is important.
Identify three specific steps you can take to expand your knowledge of diverse communication styles and preferences.
DQ2 Social Networking Know-How
Discussion Question
Is it possible to communicate effectively for business purposes completely through social networking sites – why or why not?
Would any popular platforms – like TikTok – not be effective?
ENG115 Business Communications
Module 3 Discussion
DQ1 Bearer of Bad News
Discussion Question
Think of the last time you gave and received bad news. What were the best and worst parts of each delivery?
Being specific by using examples, explain how each delivery could have been better. Consider yourself as well as the person who was the bearer of bad news to you.
DQ2 Vital Vocabulary
Discussion Question
Find an example of at least one sentence – online, in print, in music, etc. – that uses words extremely effectively. Reply with your sentence and your explanation of why and how the words are used well. Be sure to address both connotation and denotation.
List at least one specific everyday step (i.e. one so easy and natural you will actually do it) to enhance your vocabulary, choose words more wisely, and communicate more effectively.
ENG115 Business Communications
Module 4 Discussion
DQ1 Rave Reviews
Discussion Question
First:
Think of what you consider to be the best product on the market today. Convince your classmates to buy it. For a scaled down version of the effective persuasive structure, address the five following minimum points in your argument. Also, don’t forget to choose words wisely!
*Gain three bonus points for successfully incorporating (and identifying) each of the elements of rhetoric.
Your clear and detailed opinion of the product
Three distinct and different reasons for your opinion
Evidence, by way of research or examples, in support of your reasons
Acknowledgement and response to at least one opposing opinion
Details that enable the audience to take action to purchase
Second:
Compare and contrast, then critique the recommendations of any two (or more) of your classmates and answer explain who was more effectively persuasive – and explain, specifically, why.
DQ2 Convincing Candidates
Discussion Question
Identify your candidate and explain the most convincing and unconvincing elements of the campaign.
What is your opinion on where, why, or how this candidate most effectively and/or ineffectively communicated a political platform?
ENG115 Business Communications
Module 5 Discussion
DQ1 Selling Your Skills
Discussion Question
Whose resume and cover letter are you reviewing?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of this cover letter?
Address at least one specific piece of advice from the Introduction or Lesson materials and identify the specific resource from which the advice came.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of this resume?
Address at least one specific piece of advice from the Introduction or Lesson materials and identify the specific resource from which the advice came.
DQ2 You’re Hired!
Discussion Question
Choose two classmates to “interview” and ask the same two questions to each classmate. Respond to their answers to engage them more deeply in answering your interview question so you have a thorough knowledge of whether or not they would be a good fit. Would you want to work with this person based on their answer?
Once you are satisfied with their responses, hire one of your classmates. Discuss and explain the strengths and weaknesses of each classmate’s response and clarify what specifically led to your hiring decision.
Remember to incorporate what you learned about developing good news and bad news messages into your explanations.
ENG115 Business Communications
Module 6 Discussion
DQ1 Ethical decisions, as explored in this Module’s Lesson, are a part of the daily workday experience. If you stop to consider what is fair and right, you will see there is opportunity to use ethical thought processes around every bend of every decision. Raising your awareness of perspectives in any given situation enables you to recognize the value of thinking ethically. It is consideration of more than one view that leads to more thorough knowledge and, thus, better decisions with less regrets.
Discussion Question
First:
Identify and briefly summarize the case study you chose.
Explain your decision by identifying and addressing each of the steps in the ethical decision-making process.
Second:
Evaluate and make suggestions to your peers about their strategies. Did they miss or misuse any of the steps? Is their decision ethical? Why or why not?
DQ2 hile supporting your opinion with the details of your own experience is certainly valuable, an effective message requires more than your own experience. After all, your audience may not know you personally, so why would they trust your experience? Supporting your opinion meaningfully requires evidence.
Discussion Question
How do you decide if a source is reputable?
What are some examples of the kind of evidence that is relevant for effective and ethical communication?
ENG115 Business Communications
Module 7 Discussion
DQ1 One of the most common mistakes in communicating is skimping on detail. This is especially easy to do when your topic is one for which you have a great interest and passion. You can get so excited you tend to forget not everyone in your audience has the same level of knowledge and curiosity as you do for a particular topic. The result is our rushed or clipped explanation full of assumptions and lacking in substance.
Discussion Question
Did whoever taught you the last think you learned provide enough detail? How do you know?
How did the detail – or lack of detail – impact your interest and/or satisfaction in learning this thing?
What does it mean to have good detail? What, in other words, does good detail consist of?
DQ2 Discussion Introduction
In business, we might think of a presentation as an occasion to dread – time taken away from our already packed workday to listen to a person in a suit at the front of a room reading from a PowerPoint; but there is no reason for a presentation to be so cliché and stale.
presentations.
Discussion Question
Describe the best and the worst presentation you have ever seen. It could be a concert, a conference, a classroom lecture – anything.
Tell specifically what made it so good or so bad, and what you learned to enhance your own communication skills.
ENG115 Business Communications
Assignment 1 & 2 Team Project
Team:
In this Module’s Engagement Activity #1 you should have reintroduced yourselves to one another and formed a team.
If you did not form a team by deadline, I would have formed a team for you by now. This may have resulted in being added to a team with others who did not complete the activity, or being added to a team that was already formed.
Either way, you will now notice teams are now formed, with each classmate’s name designating each team’s members – and your space to work! Keep in mind you must pledge and maintain a commitment to your teammates to stick to the plan…
…that you should have made In Engagement Activity #2. Here, your goals were to:
Agree upon your team’s communication and time management plan
Designate who and how you will complete the weekly-step-summaries
Keep in mind, weekly-step-summaries demonstrate the team’s consensus for the steps due in any given week.
If you have not completed Engagement Activity #2, please do so now. Then, you are ready for the steps! And here are your first two:
STEP 1:
1. Review the following three resources for some inspiration on how to solve problems with creative thinking:
12 Tips for Brainstorming More Creative Solutions (Links to an external site.) (article)
15 Ways to Inspire Creativity in Problem Solving (Links to an external site.) (article)
5 Most Unusual Ways People Solved Difficult Problems (Links to an external site.) (video)
2. Reflect on the problems and needs in your own community or in our world, and identify the problem or need you feel most excited to address.
You may want to do some research here, but please be sure to include properly formatted sources if you do. You can use www.citationmachine.net and choose APA.
3. Suggest a unique and creative product or service that solves the problem or fulfills the need you’ve identified. This will be what your “company” provides.
4. Explain how your idea fills that need.
For example, the Snuggy fills the need to stay warm from head to toe while retaining motion – unlike a blanket, which falls and drags when you walk.
STEP 2:
Be sure to answer all four questions.
Considering each teammate’s idea, which idea do you think your team should use?
According to your own vision of that idea, describe the product or service in detail.
What do you think your business should be called?
Use this source for help with naming: How To Create a Great Business Name. (Links to an external site.)
In your mind, who should be your target audience, and why?
ENG115 Business Communications
Assignment 3 Team Project
STEP 3:
Thank you for your work so far! Your next step is to complete an organizational chart, which will help you to prepare your formal business proposal. This partially repeats and confirms what you have done in steps 1 and 2. The addition is a bit of research to flesh out your plan.
The Basics
Briefly describe your product/service by identifying:
The name of your product/service
The need it fulfills
How it differs from any product or service already in existence
Three specific benefits of your product/service
Your tagline/motto/slogan
The Research
Industry: Does anything like your idea exist anywhere in the world? If so, what are some of the keys to its success that you can borrow?
Target Market: What kind of person will use your product/service? i.e. age, gender, interests.
Location: Where will you locate your business and why?
Competitors: Do you have any competition? If so, how will you achieve your fair share of business? If you do not have competitors, what is one specific issue or obstacle you may encounter and what research can you find to support your idea for overcoming it?
ENG115 Business Communications
Assignment 4 Team Project
STEP 4:
Create two lists: one should consist of what you believe to be the strengths of your product or service and the second should consist of the potential weaknesses.
Here is a step you can split up! Each team member only needs to list one strength and one weakness. You will then have, through your collaboration, an entire list!
Then, answer these two questions:
How can you emphasize your strengths in your promotion and marketing? Address each one individually.
How can you respond to your weaknesses to minimize them in the eyes of your audience? Address each one individually.
This step will prepare the team to pose more relevant questions in the Audience Analysis assignment due in the next Module. For this assignment, you will be using your classmates – those not on your team – as a test group.
So, once you have completed your lists of strengths and weaknesses, work together to decide on your best plan for minimizing weaknesses and maximizing strengths, choosing from each teammate’s answers. The end result should be a master list of product/service characteristics that set you apart in a positive way and issues you may encounter along with the plans to overcome those issues.
By highlighting the strengths of your idea, and by anticipating obstacles and preparing responses in advance, you can present your business plan more convincingly to your classmates. But you will also have the advantage of their responses and reactions to further shape your master list moving forward.
ENG115 Business Communications
Assignment 5 Team Project
STEP 5:Team: this project step coordinates closely with the Engagement Activity in this Module. Your time management must be on point this week. In fact, the purpose of the quick turnaround is to immerse you in the often demanding and fast-paced environment of a real-life business.
There are four parts to this step. You must use parts one and two in the Audience Analysis activity; therefore, you must complete these first two parts prior to the Audience Analysis discussion’s initial reply deadline, which is Tuesday at 11:59pm.
Parts three and four depend on the results of the Audience Analysis discussion; therefore, the Audience Analysis closes Thursday at 11:59pm, to give you time to complete these parts by the usual project step deadline, which is Sunday at 11:59pm.
The four parts include:
Pre-Audience Analysis Team Meeting Chart collaboration
Individual logo design
Post-Audience Analysis Team Meeting Chart collaboration
Preview presentation collaboration
Use the Audience Analysis Team Meeting Chart Download Audience Analysis Team Meeting Chartto organize your thoughts. Add the blank chart as a reply (not attachment) in this team thread and use the Edit button to contribute.
Here is a breakdown of what to accomplish in each of these four parts, when to have it done, and how many points each is worth:
Part 1 (+4)
Pre-Audience-Analysis Team Meeting Chart collaboration
In Module 2, you completed Step 4 of your team project where you collaborated to create a master list of your product/service’s advantages and issues.
For this step, use that master list to identify two questions you would like to ask your audience in order to get to know their needs, wants, thoughts, objections, etc. For instance, do they share your enthusiasm? Do they have issues other than those you identified? Is there a price they would not pay? Do they have ethical objections to your product or service?
Getting to know your audience will help you more effectively communicate your product or service to them. Here is what to do to complete Part 1 successfully:
Each team member should list two questions.
Review each other’s questions to be sure:
They are not the same as another team member’s
They are useful in meeting your goal
Add everyone’s questions to the Team Meeting Chart
Go to Part 2.
Part 2 (+4)
Individual logo design
In this step, you will design a tentative logo for your product. You might perform an internet search to find examples, but please review the blog post, Logo Design: Everything You Need to Know (Links to an external site.), for an ideas and understanding. Additionally, take advantage of the resources available on 12+ Free Logo Design Makers 2020: a Cool Logo in Few Seconds (Links to an external site.). You will also learn about why logos are so important for your business.
Here is what to do to complete Part 2 successfully:
Each team member should create a logo.
Go to your Audience Analysis Engagement Activity and join in by sharing your two questions and your logo!
Part 1 and 2 Due Date: Tuesday 11:59pm.
Part 3 (+8)
Post-Audience-Analysis Team Meeting Chart collaboration
Your Audience Analysis would have helped you gain knowledge and insight into your audience. Work together to choose a logo; and complete the last two columns of your Team Meeting Chart by analyzing and summarizing your audience’s responses to each question, then identifying a suggestion for how to change your business based on what you learned.
Here is what to do to complete Part 3 successfully:
Collaborate to decide which logo to use – or which logos to combine for a collaborative redesign.
Complete the remaining columns on the Audience Analysis Team Meeting Chart.
Task your current team summarizer to ensure everyone’s questions, summaries, and recommendations are included on a single chart.
Share the final version in your team thread.
Part 3 Due Date: Wednesday 11:59pm.
Part 4 (+4)
Preview presentation collaboration
In this Module, we discussed good, bad, and neutral messages. You likely received a little of each from your audience. Collaborate to develop a presentation to preview the changes made to your business plan based on the audience’s feedback. Be sure to address good, bad, and neutral news elements in incorporating the audience’s positive and negative feedback into your presentation.
The presentation could be a PowerPoint, Prezi, Publisher document (like a brochure or poster), or Infographic. The choice is yours. Also, you do not need one presentation per teammate. Instead, work together to decide what you want to present and how, and then divvy up the work among you.
Because each of you will have different content based on the previous steps, and because the presentation medium is your choice, there is no formal rubric for your presentation. However, if you choose PowerPoint, this PowerPoint Guidelines Download PowerPoint Guidelinesresource and Worst PowerPoint Presentation Ever Download Worst PowerPoint Presentation Ever, will provide you with insight into effective communication through design.
The presentation will be used in an upcoming team step to develop a commercial for your business. So be as complete as you can!
ENG115 Business Communications
Assignment 6 Team Project
STEP 6:
Team:
When we communicate, as we have explored throughout our semester, we are not always as effective as we would have hoped. However, with open-minded reflection and ethical awareness of our audience’s reactions, we will know when we need change. Understanding conflict resolution then helps us decide what to change and how.
But in addition to changing, taking responsibility for miscommunication helps build our reputation as a trustworthy communicator. So, we must be prepared to present our process – realizing, correcting, and creating a plan to improve – in order to assure our audience we will do our best to avoid miscommunicating twice!
We are at the halfway mark, which is a perfect time to reflect on your team progress so far. In this step you must identify the most prevalent issue of communication breakdown your team has experienced since Module 1, and design a conflict resolution plan to ensure more successful communication as you move forward.
Remember: miscommunication or ineffective communication does count as a conflict because the potentially negative outcomes – from a loss of productivity to a loss of profit – are extensive.
Each of you should identify the issue you feel has weakened your team’s communication in the previous project steps, and create a presentation to share your thoughts and modified communication plan. However, keep in mind gaining multiple perspectives should be part of resolving conflict effectively, so you will need to include a clearly dedicated section of your presentation for gaining your team members’ feedback.
You will then hold a virtual meeting using Canvas Conferences to present to one another and collaborate to decide on a plan for resolving the issues each of your team members has brought up. Be sure to choose the option to record your Canvas Conference, so participation is clear. Following your team meeting, have your designated summarizer synthesize the main ideas from the presentations as well as the new communication plan in your team thread. See Using Conferences as a Student: Canvas Tutorial WorkshopLinks to an external site. for help.
Finally, this week is an opportunity to catch up on past steps. During your meeting, you may also include a slide or slides to revisit any two previous project steps and discuss these with your team to regain points. This will also strengthen the project through reflection and increased contribution of diverse perspectives. Be sure to label your slide clearly with the specific step(s) you are revisiting so your grade can be reviewed and amended.
For the content of your presentation, please use the following six steps to design a conflict resolution plan that will address your communication breakdown. Additionally, review this week’s resources on the different presentation media you can use, and choose one you believe works best.
Clarify the issue:
Identify and explain how well you believe your team has been communicating.
Describe, in detail, the most detrimental example of communication breakdown the team has experienced so far. What went wrong, where, why, and how?
Identify the common goal:
Explain the requirement or expectations for the week(s) in which the communication breakdown occurred.
Identify and explain whether or not the team has stuck to the original communication plan set in Module 1.
Analyze the perspectives of your teammates in this communication breakdown.
What were their reasons for not being able to meet the goal?
Why do you believe the original communication plan did not work in this instance?
Brainstorm solutions that consider these perspectives as well as your own.
Identify what you did, if anything, to correct this incident of ineffective communication.
If you did nothing, explain why not. If you did attempt a correction, explain what you did and what happened – i.e. did it work?
Regardless of whether your correction worked or not, describe at least two possible solutions that could have corrected this communication breakdown and why this change would lead to more effective communication.
Identify, in your opinion, the best of those two solutions and explain why you believe it is the best choice.
To prevent this communication breakdown as you move forward to Module 7, create a brief formal list of rules based on the solution you identified.
How and why is the solution you came up with using the six conflict resolution steps stronger than the actions you actually took in reality?
ENG115 Business Communications
Assignment 7 Team Project
Weekly Assignment: Team Project Step 7
STEP 7:
Team: this step has two parts. Please be sure to address each one completely. Additionally, please be mindful of your new communication plan, which you would have completed in STEP 6 based on the resolution plan created for any instances of communication conflict you experienced in the preceding Modules.
The two parts include:
Persuasive email
Commercial video
You will complete each of these parts separately, but then collaborate to decide which ones to use going forward and why. Be sure your discussion is clear and your summarizer replies with the team’s decisions. Here is a breakdown of what to accomplish in each of the two parts.
Part 1 (+5)
Persuasive Email
Create an email to preview your business/product idea to an investor. Be sure to use the persuasive characteristics explored in this Module’s Introduction and Lesson. Also, the email must be use proper format and include relevant content. Read/Review these three resources prior to starting your message.
How to Format a Professional Email Message (Links to an external site.)
How to Write a Formal Email (Links to an external site.)
How to Write an Email to an Investor (Links to an external site.)
Share your email as a reply to your team thread; then, in your collaboration with your teammates to decide on the best email to use, explain:
How your email demonstrates effective formatting
Why email is a good choice for the message you’ve written
Part 2 (+5)
Commercial Video
This is a fun part, so let your creativity take over! In this step you will each create a promotional video for your product or service. Keep in mind that your video is the “commercial” for your product or service. Remember to employ the characteristics of effective persuasion you learned about in this Module’s Introduction and Lesson. Think about how you can convince the audience they need your product or service by showing how it benefits them.
View/Review these two resources before you begin:
8 Steps to Creating a Promotional Video (Links to an external site.)
Promo Videos: What Really Matters (with Examples) (Links to an external site.)
If you are familiar with a video maker, such as on YouTube, you may use it. If not, try using one or more of the resources from 8 Free Resources For You to Make an Online Video Easily (Links to an external site.). Share your video or the link to your video as a reply to this team thread. As you decide which video to use going forward, discuss which team member’s video – or which parts of each video – are the most effective and persuasive representations of your business and why.
ENG115 Business Communications
Assignment 8 Team Project
STEP 8:
Team: congratulations! Your email from Step 7 has persuaded your investor to fund your business project! To follow up, Step 8 engages in you in four parts. You will complete these four parts as individuals, but then collaborate to determine what or which elements of each team member’s contribution you will use moving forward.
The four parts include:
Letter
Memo
Voicemail
Reflective Comparison
As you construct your messages, be sure to consult the notes from past Modules, including Module 3, which focused on the characteristics of effective good news and neutral messages. There are also resources listed in each part below to help you accomplish each task successfully.
Part 1 (+5)
Thank You Letter
Using proper letter format, draft a letter to thank your investors for their funding commitment. Be sure to clarify how you will use the money and identify how you will keep them in the loop with a consistent plan for communicating your spending updates and outcomes.
Before beginning your letter, please Read/Review the following resource to understand proper format and content. Be sure to use all seven parts in your draft. You can also use the second “generator” resource to help you develop your letter if you are struggling.
Seven Basic Parts of a Business Letter (Links to an external site.)
Letter Generator (Links to an external site.)
Part 2 (+5)
Memo
Unlike other forms of business communication, a memo is internal. Construct an informative memo to share the good news about your investor with your teammates. Also, be sure to include what you believe the team’s next steps should be.
Read/Review this resource prior to starting your memo.
How to Write a Business Memo (Links to an external site.)
Part 3 (+5)
Voicemail
Using Mighty Call’s Seven Best Business Voicemail Greetings (Links to an external site.) for guidance, each team member should record a general voicemail greeting for your business line and share it here as a reply to your team thread.
You may use a recording program with which you are familiar, or use whichever of the following free and simple resources applies to you. Remember to ensure you background is noise free!
How to Record your Voice on a Windows Computer (Links to an external site.)
How to Record Sound on a Mac the Easy Way (Links to an external site.)
Part 4 (+5)
Reflective Comparison
In this final part of Step 8 you will reflect on how the various forms of communication – email, letter, memo, and voicemail – differ. What are the pros and cons of each, and what constitutes effective communication regardless of form? This reflection should guide your collaboration regarding which of your teammate’s efforts – or what parts of each teammate’s efforts – you will choose to move forward and why.
ENG115 Business Communications
Assignment 9 Team Project
STEP 9:
First:
Locate an article in a publication relevant to the product or service you have created and evaluate it for reliability using the handout for Evaluating Sources in the Module 6 Lesson. Before you begin, review How to Write an Article Review – Tips and Explanation (Links to an external site.), for an understanding the purpose, structure, and content of this communication form.
Then, using the APA Template Download APA Templatefor proper format, write an article review for your fellow teammates consisting of the following elements. Be sure to include a proper title page, abstract, and full reference for your article as per the template.
You should delete all template directions when you are done.
Introduction
The title and author of the article you are reviewing
The relevance of the article to your business
A summary list of the major topics covered in the article to be discussed in your review
Body
A well-organized presentation of each of the article’s main points followed by your opinion on the strengths, weaknesses, and relevance of those points. Be sure to address and respond to each point one at a time rather than lumping them altogether.
A brief explanation of how you evaluated the article to determine it as a relevant and reliable source (Use the Source Evaluation handout from this Module’s Lesson.).
Conclusion
Summary of your rationale for reviewing and how what you learned from the article can be applied to improve your product/service
Your recommended next steps for putting the information to use
Second:
Read each of your teammates’ article reviews and collaborate to:
Discuss and decide which aspects of each article presents the best choice for enhancing your team’s business product or service – and explain why.
Identify any potential ethical dilemmas that may arise from implementing these ideas.
ENG115 Business Communications
Assignment 10 Team Project
STEP 10:
Not only does a strategic plan help you identify goals and the actions necessary for reaching those goals, but it also helps effectively communicate the process and progress of your idea to others. The strategic plan further enables you to check your progress to ensure you regularly identify your weaknesses in time to correct them, making your business – and your skills – consistently better. Be sure to read through the strategic plan description in its entirety before you begin, so as not to miss any requirements of this step.
First:
Based on the feedback you received from sharing your business ideas with your classmates to complete the Audience Analysis in Module 3 as well as your article review discussion and decisions in Step 9, each member of your team should separately complete the following tasks:
Identify the best suggestion for your company’s new goal.
Complete the strategic plan table below.
The new goal could be a related product; an improvement to the existing idea; a different method of promotion; a proposed participation in a community or national event; collaboration with another business; or a plan to act on any other ideas inspired by the team’s earlier discussions, the class’s input during Audience Analysis, or your research articles from Step 9. These are just examples; the choice is yours.
*** Use the Plan Key to understand the table headings and the type of information to be communicated in each column.
COMPANY STRATEGIC PLAN
What is your New Goal?
Action Step
Accountability
Resources
Timeline
Benchmark
Plan Key
New Goal: this is the new direction you have decided on – the big picture. As noted, it might be a new product, an extension of the current product/service, new promotion, etc. For help deciding, use the feedback gained from your classmates in the audience survey, or based on steps of the plan you missed during our semester.
Action Step: each step should be one specific action in the to-do list necessary to reach the new goal you’ve identified.
Accountability: this identifies who will be responsible for completing each individual step. It may be a person or it may be a job title. For instance, if one of your action steps is to make a community connection you might identify your Director of Community Outreach for this task – if you have one; otherwise, perhaps your new goal is to create this position! Do not use the same person or job description to be accountable for every step, as it is more effective to assign steps to several people for the value and benefit of their diverse talents and perspectives and to demonstrate your business’s commitment to the whole team.
Resources: this is anything you may need to complete the step successfully including money, supplies, manpower, a consultant, construction, etc.
Timeline: this specifies how long it will take to complete the step. This is important, as setting a deadline keeps you on schedule and ensures you achieve success in all three steps, especially if completion of one relies on prior completion of another. You might be very specific by naming a day and month or a little more general by naming a specific length of time – i.e. two weeks.
Benchmark: this is your measure of success. This is a specific achievement that lets you know whether or not each step has been successful, and to what degree. It might be a dollar amount, a customer amount, specific ratings, a recognized industry award, a tangible outcome like the opening of a new location, or something else. The benchmark should be directly related to the step as well as to the overall goal since, together, the steps should help you reach the new goal.
Second:
Together as a team, choose at least one idea from each teammate’s plan to create a unified strategic plan that represents the thoughts of the team as a whole.
Third:
Once the team choses and perfects the plan, discuss how the team strategy you have identified and planned out is SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely.
STEP 12 Jumpstart: (+5)
This week you will begin building a website to promote your product or service. THE WEBSITE IS NOT DUE THIS WEEK; however, you ARE required to complete tasks 1-5 this week to prevent procrastination and ensure enough time to design your best work.
Keep in mind you can and should divvy up Step 12. But be VERY clear about what team member tackles each goal.
I hope so much you’ll have fun with this!
First, each of you should make a list of items, pages, or content you believe your website should contain. Don’t forget to consider the work you did for our past steps!
Second, you should explore the websites of other businesses similar to your own to get ideas about what your competitors have included. Identify a link for at least two websites you really like.
Third, you should review your teammates’ lists and reach a consensus on what to include on your website, creating a new list that incorporates the best of everyone’s ideas.
Fourth, you should review several free website hosts and collectively choose the one you like best. Here are some free and easy resources for you to review:
The 21 Best Free Website Builders of 2020: Their Pros & Cons (Links to an external site.)
Fifth, each of you should designate each team member’s responsibilities from the list you made for task 4. All team members should be working on the SAME WEBSITE. Be sure whichever one of you starts the design adds the emails of the other team members to the editors’ list to grant access to your website.
The completed website will be due in Module 7, when you will share it with the whole class! You may also want to identify a schedule in this step, so you can be sure each team member stays on track to meet the final deadline.
ENG115 Business Communications
Assignment 11 Team Project
STEP 11:
Team: this step has two parts. You should complete each separately, though you only need to collaborate on the first. The second part should be added to your cover letter or resumé, which you revised and submitted in Module 5, but share it here so you can compare, contrast, and discuss your individual representations of the skills gained through your teamwork. Please read over this entire step carefully in order to complete each of the parts in its entirety.
The two parts include:
Business Card
Bio Page
Part 1 (+5)
You are almost ready to unveil your business to the world. Inevitably, potential customers will ask about your business and be excited to find and use your product or service when they are ready. Your business card is your introduction to that product or service and, in your absence, it can also be someone’s first impression of you.
An effective business card should communicate the relevant contact information, but should also capture the mission, vision, and purpose of your business. If it is not clear what product or service you provide, your business card has missed the mark.
In this step. Each of you should create a business card for your product/service and share it with your teammates. You should already have all the information you need, including a business name, logo, tagline, and even a website address. Be sure to also add the telephone, email, your name, and job title and then check out this article by the Shopify Blog, 10 Free Business Card Makers with Customizable Templates (Links to an external site.), for design tips and links to some excellent business card generators that will make completing this step a snap.
Share your business card as a reply to this team thread and collaborate to discuss which design – or which aspect of several designs – you believe represents your business most effectively by clearly communicating who you are, what you do, and how to get in touch.
Part 2 (+5)
“Soft skills” is a term used to describe skills potential employees do not gain as a direct result of education or experience, but rather that they intentionally set out to nurture within themselves through reflection and revision of their thoughts and actions. The soft skills include communication, organization, teamwork, punctuality, critical thinking, social skills, creativity, interpersonal communication, adaptability, and congeniality – all of the skills you should and will have gained through participation in your team project in this class.
This is both important and useful, as a whopping 93% of employers identified soft skills either as “essential” or “very important” in making hiring decisions (Hard Facts About Soft Skills…, 2016).
In Module 5 you created your cover letter and resume. In this team step you will create a bio page to add to those career documents. To do this, consider the soft skills listed above. Write a brief summary paragraph identifying how you gained each of these skills, describing the relevant team step and its corresponding actions as evidence.
Reply to share your bio here. You should also add a bio page to your website, with each team member’s bio included on the page.
ENG115 Business Communications
Assignment 12 Team Project
STEP 12:
Team:
Kudos to you! You’ve made it to the end of your team project! Since Module 1, you have been working in teams: some of you have been collaborating effectively – others, not so much. However, this is not a bad thing, as in real life, facing obstacles is not a question of “if” but of “when.”
In fact, in real life, you will always encounter obstacles. And working with a team is a necessary but stressful example of one instance when obstacles are bound to be prevalent due to diverse personalities, knowledge, and motivation.
Your teamwork in this class offered a simulation that enabled you to test out strategies and responses to different obstacles in a neutral environment that would not result in negative career consequences. This better prepares you for smoothing out the bumps in future – and real life – projects.
Now is the time to reveal the fruits of your labor: the website! In this final step, take the time to add the finishing touches to your business website, including the bio page from Step 10. You also have two more pieces to include if you have not already done so. See below.
In addition, use this checklist to ensure your website includes each of the following basics. The Step(s) in which you completed it is in parentheses for your convenience.
The name of your product/service, the logo, the slogan, and complete contact information (Steps 1-4 and Step 11)
Basic details about your product/service; answer who, what, when, where, why, and how? Be sure to also include customer costs (Steps 1-4)
Specific benefits of your product/service (Step 3)
A description of at least one audience concern and the change you have made to your product/service based on this concern (Step 4)
Information on why your product/service is better than your competitors’ (Steps 1-7)
Your investor news (Step 7-8)
Research from your article reviews (Step 9) and your strategic plan (Step 10)
A place for audience questions, comments, etc.
Images, working links, and proper proofreading on all website pages.
You should also work together this week to complete and add the following two elements to your website:
Your mission statement for your product/service
You would have addressed the parts you need to write a mission statement in Steps 1-4. Use this resource to help: Mission Statements & Vision Statements (Links to an external site.)
Be sure your mission and vision include the big picture reason(s) why using your product/service is a must by considering your contribution to the community or world based on our ethics discussion
At least two unique ideas for how you will let people know about your product or service
For example: a special promotion, a connection to a community event, a demo video, an offer for free samples, etc.
When you are done, remember to PUBLISH your website and then share the live link with the rest of the class in the designated thread in Module 7. If your team communication was effective throughout the semester, your website will represent this well. And you will be rewarded for it. Please reply to the website thread with your vote for the team with the best communication of their business product or service based on their website. You may not vote for your own team. The team with the most votes will receive a 10-point extra-credit bonus. Also, a tie will be honored.
