Case Study – E-mail Skills

1. Message Strategies: Making Routine Requests (LO-2) After five years of work in the human resources department at Cell Genesys (a company that is developing cancer treatment drugs), you were laid off in a round of cost-cutting moves that rippled through the biotech industry in recent years. The good news is that you found stable employment in the grocery distribution industry. The bad news is that in the three years since you left Cell Genesys, you have truly missed working in the exciting biotechnology field and having the opportunity to be a part of something as important as helping people recover from life-threatening diseases. You know that careers in biotech are uncertain, but you have a few dollars in the bank now, so you’re more willing to accept the risk of being laid off at some point in the future.

Your task – Draft an e-mail to Calvin Morris, your old boss at Cell Genesys, reminding him of the time you worked together and asking him to write a letter of recommendation for you.

Analyze the Situation
Verify that the purpose is to request a recommendation letter from a former boss.

Gather Information
Read the case above to gather some basic information. Note the timeline involved – you worked at Cell Genesys for five years and have worked the past three years in the grocery distribution industry.

Your job at Cell Genesys was in its human resources office

You were laid off during a cost-cutting effort

Select the Right Medium
While a letter format may give you a more appropriate level of formality, you know that after the staff reductions, Calvin’s workload increased tremendously, so you are choosing a brief e-mail message to make your request. You know that Calvin always checked his e-mail messages as the first thing he did in the morning, so you are counting on that to get his attention early in his day before he becomes too busy.

Organize the information
Messages like the one you are going to send to Calvin are common and expected, so you should use the direct approach in drafting your message.

Adapt to Your Audience
Show sensitivity to Calvin’s needs with a “you” attitude, politeness, positive emphasis, and bias-free language.

Compose the Message
Write with a respectful and businesslike style while still using plain English and appropriate voice.
Don’t include a lot of idle chit-chat trying to recap the last three years of your life in the grocery distribution industry – Calvin is not interested in that. Keep your message focused on its purpose.

Revise the Message
Evaluate the content and review it for readability. To do that, your first draft should be done as a Word document so that you can check the readability statistics. Remember that good business messages use sentences that average 14 to 20 words. Remember that good business messages contain less than seven per cent passive voice content. Remember that good business message have single topic paragraphs that average three-to-five sentences. Remember that good business messages are written on a grade level that matches the reading ability of your audience. Avoid unnecessary details. Check to see if you have kept the use of the passive voice sentences to fewer than seven per cent. Make certain each word you use is necessary for the message to be clear, concise and compelling. Don’t forget what your purpose is in writing this message.