LEARNING MODULE SURIGAO STATE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

Learning Module

in

GE - Purposive Communication

Prepared by:

Kristopher M. Ngilangil, LPT, MA

Assistant Professor II

Adopted by:

Merdolyn B. Canda-Lloren, MAEd

Subject Teacher

GE – Purposive Communication Page 1

LEARNING MODULE SURIGAO STATE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

Module 7

TOPIC: Module 7 – COMMUNICATION FOR WORK PURPOSES

7.1 Basics of Writing

7.2 Memorandum
7.3 Types of Short Reports

TIME FRAME: 6 hrs.

INTRODUCTION:

Having graduated from senior high school, some of you might be doing some part-time
jobs while enrolled as college freshmen. Even if you are full-time students, the topics in this
module will still be helpful since you will be working in no time at all.

The materials are business and technical documents, such as minutes,

memorandums, and request, as well as shorts reports, like progress, incident, and project
proposal. These materials are used in all fields – healthcare, education, business and trade,
law, media, and science and technology.

INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES: In this lesson, the students will lead to:

1. Create clear, coherent, and effective communication material for the workplace;
2. Distinguish the types of reports or letters;
3. Produce documents with formats required in various workplaces.

PRE – ASSESSMENT: Answer the questions below or supply the statement in your own
words.

How important are writing skills to an What is the main use or purpose of a
employee? memo?

GE – Purposive Communication Page 2

LEARNING MODULE SURIGAO STATE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Let’s CommuniCate

BASICS OF WRITING

Writing is an essential skill. All job call for writing, from application letters to memos, emails,
tweets, text, blogs, websites, proposals, and reports among or between employees,
managers, stakeholders, clients, and agencies. Writing keeps business moving (Searles,
2014; Kolin, 2015).
1. Purpose. On-the-job writings are usually done for at least one of the three reasons:
(a) to create/build a record,
(b) to request or provide information, and
(c) to persuade.
2. Reader/Audience. Ask yourself these questions:
a. Who am I writing? An individual or a group of Person?
b. What do they know about this topic?
c. What are their job titles and areas of interest?

Flow of Communication

Upward Communication

The written materials are

sent by subordinates to their
superiors. Upward
communication can convey
varied types of messages:

a. What subordinates
are doing: "We will
have that job done by https://www.bing.com/images/search?view
closing time."
b. b. Unsolved work
problem: "We are still figuring out how the old furniture will fit in our new office.”
c. Suggestions for improvement: "I think we should ask opinion of an interior designer.”
d. How subordinates feel about each other and the job: “I think Eve, our new secretary, is
having problems with her responsibilities."
e. Reply to an inquiry from a supervisor.

GE – Purposive Communication Page 3

LEARNING MODULE SURIGAO STATE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

Lateral (Horizontal) Communication

The materials are sent to people who are of equal level or status; that between members of
the same division or department of an organization. This communication serves the following
purposes:
a. Task coordination: “Let’s get together to define the responsibility of each of us and
set our work schedule."
b. Problem-solving: "Traffic woes are here to stay, and they affected our attendance and
punctuality. Let us see how we can solve this problem."
c. Sharing information: "The inquirer Academy is offering its 2018 first workshop. Those
who are interested may email Inquirer Academy @inquireracademy.com."
d. Building rapport: "Thank you for going out of your way and helping us finish the project
on time. For this let's have lunch together."

Downward Communication.
This is the kind of communication sent by superiors to their subordinates. Downward
communication is very important because giving instructions is inevitable. Examples are:
a. Job instructions: "Submit all receipts for items above P100.00 you paid in cash."
b. b. Job rational: "We are very particular not only about attendance but also about
punctuality. “
c. Feedback: "Your suggestion regarding stocking up on supplies before payday saved
us from making short orders for sold-out items.”

Outward Communication.
This is intended for workers outside the workplace. An example is a letter to the comptroller
of a company regarding financial matters. 3. Tone. Tone express your attitude toward a
person or thing (whether you agree or disagree, like or dislike, bias or accept.)

Focusing on the reader ("Reader-oriented" or "You-Attitude").

You the writer, should think of the reader-his needs, his wants, his expectations. You have to
make them feel that you are writing to them as individuals.
a. Poor: "We now have a Walk-up Window, open to serve you from 9am to 4pm
every Wednesday.”
b. Better (Focus on "you"): "You can now take care of your banking needs at our new
walk-up Window, open to serve you from 9 am to 4 pm every Wednesday.”

Choosing Positive and Pleasant Ideas

a. Negative: "She is a fault finder." Positive: "She is concerned with details."
b. Negative: "The glass is half-empty." Positive: "The glass is half-full."

Focusing on What to Be done to solve the Problem, Not to Be Done

a. Negative: “It is impossible to open an account for you today. "
b. Positive: "As soon as your signature card reaches us today, we can gladly open
an account for you."

Using the Passive Form of the Verb to Soften the Impact of Unpleasant, Negative, or
Controversial News
a. Poor: "Today, the union leader declared a general strikes."
b. Better: "A general strikes was declared today."

GE – Purposive Communication Page 4

LEARNING MODULE SURIGAO STATE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

MINUTES OF THE MEETING

Minutes are a summary of what happened at a meeting. Which are considered official,
permanent records, are regarded as legal documents (Kolin, 2015; Dagdag, Ranin, Roxas,
Perez, & Bularan, 2011). Minutes may be formal or informal depending on the type of
meeting.
1. Day, time, and place of the meeting 2. Name of the group holding the meeting
3. Name of presiding officer or chair
4. Names of present and absent members
5. Approval or amendment of minutes of the previous meeting
6. For each major point, what was done is indicated.
a. What was discussed, suggested, or proposed
b. What was decided and the votes, including abstentions
c. What was continued or tabled for further study or for another meeting
d. What time the meeting was officially closed
7. Secretary's signature

GUIDELINES IN PREPARING THE MINUTES

As official company document and evidence in court litigations, minutes of meetings shoukd
be prepared with care.
1. All motions and resolutions are recorded, and proponents are identified by name.
2. Seconded motions are also noted and recorded although the ones who seconded them
need not be identified.
3. Results of seconded motions must be recorded and, whether approved or rejected, should
be indicated in the minutes.
4. Headings are used to mark report sections. Titles should be all capital letters.
5. Minutes of the previous meeting should also be taken
6. Do not report /write verbatim (word for word) what are said. Summarize Readers are more
interested in results.
7. Lengthy discussions, debates, and reports given should be summarized.
8. The past tense is used.

MEMORANDUM (MEMO)
Memo, short for memorandum, is of Latin origin,
which means "something to be remembered." It is usually
short, direct to the point, clearly stating what must be
done. They provide data for various functions, such as
the following (Kolin, 2015)
1. Making announcement;
2. Giving instructions;
3. Clarifying a policy, procedure, or issue;
4. Changing a policy or procedure;
5. Alerting staff to a problem;
6. Sending recommendations;
7. Providing legal records;
8. Calling a meeting; and
9. Reminding employees of corporate history, policy,
and procedure

GE – Purposive Communication Page 5

LEARNING MODULE SURIGAO STATE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

MEMO PROTOCOL
Just like any other business correspondence, the memo carries the company name and
image. It should, therefore, follow the company’s accepted ways in which in-house
communication is formatted, organized, written, and routed. Be guided by these four
guidelines (Wikipedia A Memorandum, 2018):
1. Be timely. Do not wait for the day of the event before your announcement.
2. Be professional. Although a memo is an in-house correspondence, it should still be well
crafted, factually accurate, and free grammar lapses and faulty writing machines.
3. Be tactful. Politeness and diplomacy are important qualities of any business
correspondence.
4. Send memo to the right person. In business, a memo is typically for internal communication;
hence, it could also be considered as an upward communication through which any
complaints, issues, opinions, views and suggestion are sent.

MEMO FORMAT AND PARTS

Memos vary in format and the way they are sent. Whatever the format, they should have the
standard parts. The memo has basically two parts: HEADER or Identifying information and
the MESSAGE, aside from the word MEMO or MEMORANDUM on top of the paper (Searles,
2014; Kolin, 2015).

1. Header, which includes four parts, as shown in the box:

(If a memo is sent in the body of the email, you do not need to include the header parts; they
are automatically included in the email’s heading.)

2. Message, which follows the Orientation-Information- Action format.

a. Orientation (Opening paragraph): What is your purpose or reason for writing?
b. Information: What do you want to tell or convey to the reader?
c. Action: What step or course of action do you intend to take?

LETTER OF REQUEST

Business letters are typically used for external communication-message from one
company to another, from a company to a client or to a suppler. Although email is now often
used, countless letters are still written for various reasons. One of them is the letter of request.
When you ask for clarification or for favors (Kolin, 2015). Kolin gives you the following guideline
in writing a request letter.

GE – Purposive Communication Page 6

LEARNING MODULE SURIGAO STATE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

1. Direct address your letter to the right person.

2. State who you are and your work title and why you are writing.
(Example: an employee who needs information for a report, an article, a
speech, or who asks for donations)
“I am Julian J. Montesano assistant researcher of the Marketing Department of
SGG University of San Pablo City. I am writing a report on “E-commerce Strategies for Laguna
de Bay. My colleagues have talked highly of your firm. Creative Marketing Associates.”

3. Indicate your reason for requesting the information (in this case, requesting their help). If
applicable, you may cite the one who suggested that you write and ask for help.
“With your vast experience in developing websites and apps to promote regional business and
tourism, I would be much indebted if you answer these three questions that are vital to my
research.”

4. State your questions briefly and clearly. You may list and number them. Make your
request questions clear and easy to answer, so no further exchange of questions and
answers is necessary.
a. What have been the most effective e-commerce strategies you have used for regional
marketplace?
b. How can Chamber of Commerce and various local government units help generate
Web traffic to a regional marketplace website for the Laguna de Bay area?
c. Which other regional areas do you consider having similar marketing goals and
challenges as Laguna de Bay?

5. Indicate exactly when you need information, but allow sufficient time.
“My report is due in May 2018. May I request that your answers be sent next
month, so I can include them? You may send your responses, or any questions you may have,
to my email address listed above.”

6. Officer forwards a copy of your report, article, or paper in gratitude for the anticipated help.
“Your answers to these questions would make my report authoritative and useful. I
would feel honored to cite you and Creative Marketing Associates in my work. I will be glad to
send you a copy of my finished report.”

7. Thank the reader for helping

“Many thanks for any help you may extend to me.”

SHORT REPORT
A short report, which may be either oral or written in the report form of a memo or a
letter attached to an email or simply sent in the body of an email, consists of significant
information of a particular topic that is meant to inform a reader. (Kolin, 2015, p. 554)

TYPES OF SHORT REPORT

GE – Purposive Communication Page 7

LEARNING MODULE SURIGAO STATE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

Short reports abound, but this chapter will just dwell on progress report, incident report,
and project proposal.

PROGRESS REPORT

A progress report, whose purpose is to ensure the successful completion of the task
or project within the specified time, informs the reader (who is usually in the management
sector of the organization) about the status of an on-going project or task—how much had
been done, is being done, and will be done by a particular date. (Kolin, 2015; Smith-
Worthington Jefferson, 2011).

The report generally includes these components (Searles, 2014; Kolin, 2016)

1. Introduction: This is the background of the project where the project is identified, its
objectives are reviewed, and reader is informed about any development since the
previous progress report.
2. Work completed: It is the summary of accomplishment to date, which is organized
chronologically if the report covers one major task, or by classification of task if it deals
with more than one related project.
3. Work remaining: It gives a summary of all uncompleted tasks, emphasizing what is
expected to be accomplished first.
4. Problems: This part, which identifies any delays, cost overruns, or any other
unanticipated difficulties, may be omitted if all is well or no problem causes any harmful
effect.
5. Conclusions: This part summarizes the status of the project and provides
recommendations to solve major problems.

INCIDENT REPORT

An incident report, which deals with the

unexpected that, brings harm to people and
property, like fire, vehicular accidents, physical
injury, law-enforcement offense, environmental
danger, machine breakdown, is written either by
the person involved in the incident or by a person
in charge of the area where it took place to explain
the circumstances behind the troublesome
occurrence.

In writing this report, be sure to include the following information (Searle, 2014)
1. Names and job titles of all the persons involved, including onlookers;
2. Type of incident and step-by-step narrative description of incident;
3. Exact location and cause of the incident;
4. Date and exact time of each major development;
5. Clear identification of any equipment or machinery involved;

GE – Purposive Communication Page 8

LEARNING MODULE SURIGAO STATE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

6. Detailed description of any medical intervention required, including names of

ambulance services and personnel, nurses, physicians, hospital or clinics;
7. Reliable statements ( quotations or paraphrases) from persons involved; and
8. Outcome of the incident.

To avoid liabilities, it is important to use qualifiers, such as “maybe, perhaps, it seems that,
it appears that, possibly, “and some others that insinuate only probabilities but not actualities.
Guard yourself against doing following (Searle, 2014):
1. Do not report comments and observations of witnesses because these are not verified
facts and usually very exaggerated;
2. Do not report exact words uttered by people who are very angry, distraught, or not
bewildered;
3. Do not comment on issues not related to the incident; and
4. In your recommendations, avoid blaming or focusing on incompetence; instead,
encourage the adoption of measures to avoid a repeat of the incident.

PROJECT PROPOSAL

A proposal, a document designed to convince or persuade someone follow or accept

a specific course of action, is written to propose: (a) change of process or policy, (b) solution
to a problem, (c) purchase of a product or service, (d) pursuit of an activity, or (e) research
(Sims,2003; Murcherson,2013)

Responding to an RFP (request for a proposal) of a solicited proposal is easier than

writing an unsolicited once because in the solicited, the problem has already been identified;
hence; there is no need to convince anyone of its existence (Kolin, 2015).

GUIDELINES IN WRITING A PROPOSAL

1. Summarize the situation or problem that the proposal is addressing. If unsolicited, the
proposal must convince the reader that there really is an important unmet need.

2. Provide a detailed explanation of how the proposal will correct the problem. (This is the
“project description.”)

3. Confirm the feasibility of the proposal and the expected benefits of completing it, along
with the possible negative consequences of not doing it.

4. Convincingly refute any probable objection

5. Establish the writer’s credentials and qualifications for the project

6. Identify any necessary resources, equipment, or support.

7. Provide a reliable timetable for completion of the project.

8. Provide an honest, itemized estimate of the costs. Deliberately understanding the timeline
or the budget is not only unethical but also deceitful, which can gain legal liability.

9. Close with a strong conclusion that will motivate the reader to accept proposal. A convincing
cost-benefit analysis is helpful.

GE – Purposive Communication Page 9

LEARNING MODULE SURIGAO STATE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

SOLICITED INTERNALPROPOSAL

The primary purpose of an internal proposal is to offer

realistic, constructive plans to help the management run the
business efficiently and effective.

A. Revise the following messages by focusing on the reader. Write the revised sentence
on the underline provided.

Emphasize the “you-attitude” or “reader-oriented” perspective.

• I am delighted to announce that we are extending our store hours to make your
shopping more convenient.
________________________________________________________________

• We now have a Walk-up Window, open from 9 am to 4 pm to take care of your

banking needs. (Focus on the benefit the customer will get.)
________________________________________________________________

Emphasize the positive fact.

• Only members are eligible for the discount. (Focus on WHAT the customer
should do to be entitled to the discount.)
________________________________________________________________

• We cannot process your claim because the necessary forms have not been
submitted. (Focus on WHAT should be done now, not on what was not done.)

_______________________________________________________________

Use the passive voice of the verb to lessen the negative effect.

• Dr. Juancho Santos, the Health Secretary, rescinded the new drug – testing
policy.
________________________________________________________________

• The payroll clerk failed to include my June contribution in the computation, (Focus
on the MISTAKE; forget the one who erred.)
________________________________________________________________

A. You are a secretary in an office. The normal working hours are AM – 8:00 to 12:00,
PM- 2:00 – 5:00. But during summer, the working hours become AM – 7:30 10 11:00:
PM – 1:00 – 3:00. Since summer starts next week, write a memo to all employees

GE – Purposive Communication Page 10

LEARNING MODULE SURIGAO STATE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

announcing this summer work schedule. To be correctly written, your memo

should contain the required parts and information.

Write the memo in a short bond paper.

Criteria:
Clarity of content – 15 pts.
Mechanics – 15 pts.
30 pts.

SELF- EVALUATION: To assess your leaning in this module, supply the statements below,

What motivated a writer to propose a What data should be contained in an

project? incident report?

POST TEST: Match Column A and B, write on the blank before each number the letter of
the corresponding idea in Column B.

A B
__ 1. meeting A. people of same level
__ 2. letter B. subordinate to superior
__ 3. short report C. internal communication
__ 4. lateral communication D. request
__ 5. memorandum E. superior to subordinate
__ 6. upward communication F. progress
__ 7. downward communication G. external communication
__ 8. solicited H. minutes
__ 9. business communication I. FFP
__ 10. incident report J. explain troublesome occurrence

REFERENCES

1. Bernales, R. et al. (2018). Purposive Communication in Local and Global Contexts.

(pp.30-38)
2. Padilla, M. et.al (2018). Communicate & Connect! Purposive Communication. Mutya
Publishing House, Inc., Manila, Philippines
3. Uychoco, MT, & Santos, ML (2018). Communication for Society: Purposive
Communication.1st Ed.

GE – Purposive Communication Page 11