Assignment:
Assessment task
Workplace communication issues
Effective communication throughout a workplace is an essential ingredient to align people's efforts towards achieving organisational goals. Yet it seems that ‘communication problems' are continually mentioned as one of the main difficulties for most organisations. Your boss, the CEO of ABC Company, has asked you to prepare a report investigating the question: Why and how should managers master the corporate communication function? In so doing she expects you to examine the following four subfunctions within the function:
1. Identity, image, and reputation
Working in groups of four, each student will write on one of these four corporate communication subfunctions. (Please note: depending on final student numbers there may be groups of three or five. In the case of a group of three students write on three of the four issues. In the case of a group of five a fifth communication issue will be made available).
Please follow these guidelines to complete the assessment:
The assessment task comprises two parts:
1. one group-based report comprising 1500 words per individual per section (representing 60% of the final grade); and
2. group-based activities focussing on: (i) the completion of a team contract with accompanying timeline schedule; (ii) the organisation, structure and editing of the actual report; (iii) a group-based presentation reflecting on key elements of the corporate communication function (representing 40% of the final grade).
Please note:
1. Details of the marking criteria and mark distribution will be available on the Blackboard.
2. At the beginning of Week 7 you will be assigned to your group. Each group is expected to produce a team contract with accompanying timeline schedule: establishing team procedures, identifying expectations, and specifying the consequences for failing to follow these procedures and fulfil these expectations.
Since the basic purpose of this team contract is to accelerate your team's development, to increase individual accountability for team tasks, and to reduce the possibility for team conflict, make your contract as specific as possible. Specify:
• each task in as much detail as possible
• each step in a procedure or process, in as much detailed as possible
• the exact person(s) responsible for each specific task, and
• the exact time and exact place for completion or submission of each task.
Please note: Writing a group report requires effective organisation, time management and communication skills. Students often find report writing on their own challenging, and group writing can be even more intimidating. Guidelines for approaching a group report - for structuring the report and dividing the workload, who will write what sections and take responsibility for editing, proofreading, publishing - are provided under Assessment Tasks and Submissions. Without guidelines, one or two students in a group often end up writing the group report, and this can create workload issues, and resentment when marks are distributed.
3. Each student in your group needs to select ONE of the four corporate communication functions.
4. Start your web-based research with a search of popular business publications, even trade journals, professional journals and current affairs journals, for any information about workplace communication issues. Finally, use academic research to support your findings in relation to your selected theme.
5. Each student needs to find 8-10 secondary sources for their particular section. Please note that you are expected to use a minimum of four (4) refereed academic journals. You will be shown how to tell if a journal is peer-reviewed/refereed. Do not include more than 10 references per student.
6. You are encouraged to write a first draft of this report at least one week prior to the due date to ensure adequate time for revision.
7. Instructions on the group presentation are available under Assessment Tasks and Submissions (Task 4).
PRIOS/CDT brief for Assessment 4:
a. Purpose: To conduct web-based research into four subfunctions within the corporate communication function.
b. Reader: The CEO of ABC Company (your boss).
c. Information: Based on secondary research.
d. Organisation: Direct order approach.
e. Style: Formal. Be sure to proofread carefully to ensure that there are no sentence-level errors such as spelling mistakes, wrong word choice, incorrect punctuation, etc.
f. Channel choice: Written document and oral presentation.
g. Document design: Report format.