Chapter 04 – Using Social Media and Creating Other Leadership Correspondence
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Chapter 4 – Using Social Media and Creating Other Leadership
Correspondence
Teaching Notes
Chapter 4 introduces students to the typical types of short documents and discusses the
effective use of social media in a professional environment. It covers how to decide
which medium is appropriate. The applications in Chapter 4 provide opportunities for the
students to practice creating effective subject lines for e-mails, writing a challenging e-
mail, and creating a twitter plan. In this chapter, they will learn how to do the following:
• Select the most effective written communication medium.
Most students today have extensive experience with various social media spheres, so they
will probably feel comfortable with this topic, although they may balk at the idea of
thinking about social media strategically or establishing some discipline in using it in a
professional setting. Samples of social media posts taken from students in the class can be
Chapter 04 – Using Social Media and Creating Other Leadership Correspondence
Application 4.1: E-mail Subject Line Application
Approaches to Teaching
This assignment will work effectively as an individual homework or in-class assignment.
Example Responses to the Assignment
The following provides some example responses to the application with comments to the
instructor about what to emphasize in the responses. Responses will vary, but the
following are acceptable.
1. You are working on the budget for next year, and members of your department met
last week to discuss all the changes. You need each of them to provide you with their
2. To streamline processing of expense reports, your accounting office has adopted new
software that will enable employees to scan in receipts. The new software also
streamlines the categorization of expenses and totals each category automatically.
Employees should have their reimbursements more quickly, and you will save hours
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3. Your company recently adopted and rolled out a new benefits plan. After the roll-out,
you received word that there is one new addition that was not included in your
4. You are the head of the Information Technology Division, and your company will be
implementing a new Enterprise Resource Planning system company-wide over the
coming weekend. Bringing the system online will entail a significant effort by your
team together with the consultants, and you will need to shut down the system at 5:00
p.m. Friday to get started. Since many people in your company work until 6:00 or
Application 4.2: Case Study—PetroCo Refinery
The Case – Refinery Managers Face Budget Challenges
This assignment calls on the students to be very sensitive to their audience while being
very clear in what they say to ensure they obtain the information they need without
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Approaches to Teaching
This assignment provides an excellent opportunity to review the basics of writing an
effective internal e-mail. The students should be encouraged to think carefully about the
organizational context and their audience, considering how best to motivate them to
Example Response to the Assignment
The following is an example of an acceptable student response:
To: Site Services Managers
Subject: Boosting Refinery Performance Meeting
As part of our on-going commitment to maintaining ABC’s outstanding refinery
performance, the Budget Committee will be holding a meeting on Thursday, September 3,
2009 at 2:00 p.m., in Room 220. We would like for you to attend so that we can work
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We will be able to keep the meeting shorter if we all do the following beforehand:
1. Review the budget for your department
2. Prepare a list of budget items that you consider absolutely necessary
3. Generate a list of budget areas that you would consider reducing.
Application 4.3: Creating a Twitter Plan
This sample Twitter plan can be shared in class; it is, in essence, a contract between the
employee and the company that ensures that this social media channel will be used in a way
that benefits them both. This is only one example; many more such examples can be found
on the internet.
1. My Twitter Check-In Times
2. My Daily Five
Based on my organization’s goal to provide knowledge leadership in our industry, I will
focus my Daily Five on tweeting interesting stories, articles, images, and the like
regarding my particular job. I will, however, include one Tweet about myself and what
I’m doing. I’ll use a diverse mixture of the following:
• Images and Videos – my favorites in the industry, and sometimes something
funny (though I’ll check with my social media team to ensure they’re appropriate
first).
Chapter 04 – Using Social Media and Creating Other Leadership Correspondence
4. My Schedule
5. How I Will Follow Back
Since I won’t want to follow everyone who follows me, I have set up my Twitter account
6. My Spontaneous Tweets
I will strive to include at least two spontaneous Tweets every day, though I will not