Unit 3 of English 301 featured assignments directed towards the improvement of business/professional communication through both mail and email. The focus of 3.1 was that of writing with the “you attitude” in the form of providing recommendations for the improvement of an emailed request from a student to their professor. This assignment was directly followed by the writing of business letters in which I was to play on both sides of the ball by formulating a complaint letter and responding to said complaint letter. The assignment for 3.2 was my rough draft of the 12-15 page formal report to the Okanagan Humane Society on suggested implementations for improving their awareness-raising techniques.
Throughout the course of this unit, two challenges were encountered in my writing. The first came from the business letters in 3.1 and more specifically, the complaint letter. As somebody who has worked in customer service over the course of the last three years, I do my best to take the perspective of those who are serving/assisting me during my guest experiences. I hardly ever take it personally if a waitress forgets to bring something, if food is added into my dish that I asked to be removed, or if somebody is just too busy to pay close attention to me at the moment. For these reasons, I find that I very rarely have “negative” experiences in which I find myself complaining about. As such, there was more time spent attempting to recall any such negative experience, than what was spent physically writing the letter.
My second challenge in this Unit came throughout the course of writing the rough draft. Writing has always been one of my greatest strengths throughout the course of grade school as well as University, however, this strength was more so geared towards creative writing. When I can sit down and let my mind run free, pages, and pages of essays flow easily. It was slightly more challenging to sit down and write out this formal report while ensuring there was natural flow throughout the paper. This challenge was particularly prevalent in the introduction of the essay as the information is very by the book and specific. Once the essay progressed to the later stages, which focused more on my own suggestions and my creative mind took over, the flow of the essay came significantly more naturally.
The research and organization aspects of the report thankfully, were carried out with relative ease. This is thanks in part to my close relationship with the President of the Okanagan Humane Society, as well as my current knowledge and understanding of how the charity works. Developing recommendations was slightly more challenging, though not in a significant manner, as there certainly was some creativity required to come up with methods that aren’t already being implemented by the society, or in the process of being implemented.
Ultimately, this project was eye-opening from a business writing standpoint as it shifted my focus from what I am capable of accomplishing as a creative writer, to what I need to incorporate into my writing to be successful in a business setting.
