Week 3: Discussion Question 2

    A negative message addressed to a superior would be a very formal letter.  It would address the technical details of what went wrong, and why, and what is being done to resolve, or mitigate, the problem.  The message would also include what can be done in the future to ensure this does not happen again; and, if the resources are already available, how changes are being made to ensure this does not happen again.  Finally, if possible, the message should contain minimal amount of finger pointing and blame shifting.
    A negative message to a colleague or fellow student would be an informal letter.  It would tend to provide less of the intricate details of the problem, but instead focus on a high level overview.  The message would also contain suggestions for what can, or should, be done in the future to prevent, or mitigate, this sort of problem.  Finally, the letter would be more likely to point the blame, in contrast to a letter to a superior, at the guilty party.


© Erik Smith 2005
Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License