TO:
Senior Engineers
FROM:
Predesignated Parking Assignments for
Employees and Customers
DATE: February 25, 1991
In reference to the many complaints concerning the misappropriation of assigned parking
areas, the executive committee on designated versus nondesignated parking assignment has
submitted a proposal to the Employee Enrichment Committee. To briefly summarize the
proposal, the Executive Committee has incorporated the best features of the current designated
system along with the significant advantages of nondesignated systems. It has been the
committee's sincerest endeavor to achieve the consolidation of the objectives of convenience,
efficiency, and optimum utilization of the garage.
Consequently, the following modifications and enhancements are the primary
characteristics of the proposal at this time. The foremost recommendation is that those designated
spaces assigned to office personnel whose duties are not contingent on their leaving the office be
continued as designated spaces subsequent to the implementation of this system. The majority of
our employee designated spaces are assigned to individuals who are parking briefly throughout
the work day as they attend meetings and appointments outside the facility. Our ultimate
challenge is to provide assistance to these individuals yet initiate a procedure that effectively
utilizes the parking area. The committee's rationale is that a disproportionate number of spaces
are vacant on a daily basis, subsequently leading to our revised procedure recommending that this
dilemma is to be addressed dually. This dual approach is contingent on the elimination of
designated areas for transient personnel and implementation of a contingency plan for shorter
term parking at our facility.
The shorter term configuration under consideration involves developing a system whereby
individuals are to be provided the most convenient spaces in the parking facility for two hour
periods only. Accordingly, shorter term parking areas are provided with the understanding that
those individuals whose arrival precedes the arrival of individuals arriving later are to be given
the parking area of choice.
Customers are also to be accorded the privileges of the two-hour areas contingent on their
business not exceeding the appropriate time limits. Peachtree Street facilities are available for
business that is projected to exceed the limits described.
TO:
Senior Engineers
DATE:
February 25, 1991
SUBJECT: What To Do About Parking
Have you or your customers faced problems recently with parking? The Executive
Committee has decided to change our parking system in the following ways:
A.
Employees who do not leave the building for appointments during the day keep
their assigned parking spaces.
B.
Employees whose jobs require that they be in and out of the building have two
choices:
1.
Floors 1-3 will be set aside for two-hour parking. These spaces are close
to the street and the elevators for those quick trips our employees often
make.
2.
Floors 8-10 will provide regular full-day parking.
Note: All parking for category B employees is offered on a first come-first
served basis.
C.
Your customers who have brief (two hour) business are invited to use the
convenient parking on Floors 1-3. All other customer parking will remain
at Peachtree Street.
We hope this will help you. The Employee Enrichment Committee has approved the
plan. It goes into effect if the Management Council approves it.
Corporatese is the word disease. It is contagious. Not long after young employees
join a large organization, they catch this disease that causes them to use big,
bureaucratic words when short simple words would work just as well. For example,
they may use "utilize" instead of "use".
Rule #1: Never use a large word if a small one will work as well.
Exercise 6: Change these corporate words to plain English.
Minimize
___________________
facility
___________________
in conjunction ___________________
consistent
___________________
endeavor
___________________
requirements
___________________
emphasized
___________________
contingent on
___________________
substantial
___________________
provided
___________________
facilitates
___________________
necessary
___________________
assortment
___________________
operational
___________________
variation
___________________
modifications
___________________
develop
___________________
alternatives
___________________
approximately ___________________
assistance
___________________
incorporate
___________________
encourage
___________________
obtain
___________________
indication
___________________
determination ___________________
operation
___________________
Exercise 9. How would you say it?
Rewrite the following sentences so that they are easy to understand.
1.
Scintillate, scintillate, diminutive luminous mass.
2.
Members of an avian species of identical plumage congregate.
3.
Surveillance should precede salation.
4.
Pulchritude possesses solely cutaneous profundity.
5.
It is fruitless to become lachrymose over lacteal fluid that is inadvertently flowing and hence
forfeited.
6.
Freedom from incrustation of grime is preceded in paramount only by rectitude.
7.
It is fatuous to attempt to indoctrinate a superannuated canine with innovative maneuvers.
8.
All articles that coruscate with resplendence are not truly auriferous.
9.
Finicalness on the part of mendicants is interdicted.
10. A plethora of those with culinary expertise vitiates the potable substance produced by decocting
certain comestibles.
11. Eleemosynary deeds have their incipience intramurally.
12. Male cadavers are incapable of yielding testimony.
13. Individuals domincillating in vitreous edifices would be well advised to refrain from catapulting
petrous projectiles.
14. Neophyte's serendipity.
15. Exclusive dedication to chores without interludes of hedonistic diversion renders John stuporific.
16. A repeatedly overturning lithic conglomerate amasses no bryophytes.
17. Presentation of the ultimate cachinnation is equivalent to presentation of the optimal
cachinnation.
18. Ligneous and hypabyssal missiles have destructive potential of myosseous structure but
appellations will not.
Readers digest and keep reading short sentences. Usually, you lose readers with
many long sentences.
But keep in mind that too much of anything can be tiresome. You don't want all,
short sentences. What are some guidelines for short versus long sentences?
Long/Short Sentence Guidelines
1.
A short sentence is one of 10 or fewer words.
2.
Your average sentence length should never exceed 18 words. Strive for an
average of 15.
3.
Your longest sentence should contain twice the number of words of your
shortest sentence.
TABLE Fog Index
Fog
Index
Reading Level
By Grade
By Magazine
17
College graduate
16
College senior
(No popular
15
College junior
magazine this
14
College sophomore
difficult)
Danger Line
13
College freshman
Safe
12
High-school senior
Atlantic Monthly
Reading
11
High-school junior
Wall Street Journal
10
High-school sophomore
9
High-school freshman
Reader's Digest
8
Eighth grade
Ladies Home Journal
7
Seventh grade
True Confessions
6
Sixth grade
People, TV Guide
The Fog Index enables you to judge your writing yourself. The index shows you if you
are too wordy, boring, or weighty. It brings to your attention sentences and words that
are just too long for readers to tolerate.
Some software packages call this a Readability Scale. Others give you printouts telling
you how wordy you are. The goal they seek is the same: Make writing clear and
concise.
The average sentence length for business should not exceed fifteen words. Cutting
long words improves readability also.
Note: This is a variation of the Gunning-Mueller Fog Index from the Gunning-Mueller
Clear Writing Institute of California. The table on p. 11 is drawn from The
Technique of Clear Writing.
Example:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
When you choose a materials suppler for your Jonesville, Georgia plant, you will be making a
decision that will impact the success of Sure-Flo for decades.
The savings Mycon Corporation can offer you, and our unparalleled reliability, will give us an
advantage over our competitor. But Mycon has committed to much more than that. We are
offering to Sure-Flo all of our company's resources to help make the Jonesville plant achieve the
highest levels of productivity and quality in the Sure-Flo system. How we will achieve this for you
both now and for decades to come is defined in the proposal that follows:
SUMMARY OF BENEFITS TO SURE-FLO
PRODUCTIVITY
Mycon can increase production levels by decreasing marterial shortages,
maintenance time, and equipment problems. This section of the proposal
defines how Mycon minimizes these common production problems so you
can maintain optimum productivity.
QUALITY
RELIABILITY
Mycon can help Sure-Flo achieve your high quality standards. High quality
control can mean fewer rejects and better equipment performance. Start
with the best materials, and your product will be better than ever.
Mycon is the unchallenged leader in its capacity to meet your building
needs both now and in the future. Whether your business changes -expands -- diversifies, Mycon will be there with ample capacity.
Our huge inventory lowers your risk to changes in availability of any one
material. This will also reduce the impact on pricing any shortage may have
on our customers. Smaller competitors simply cannot provide the balanced
supply of our 20 distribution points.

DO PUT SUMMARIES IN A LIST FORM FOLLOWING A BRIEF
INTRODUCTION.

DON'T HAVE MORE THAN FIVE SECTIONS OR KEY POINTS IN
YOUR LIST.

DO PHRASE SUMMARIES AS BENEFIT STATEMENTS.

DONT DESCRIBE FEATURES OR SPECIFICATIONS IN THE
SUMMARY.

DO MAKE THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PERSONAL AND TARGETED
TO THE CUSTOMER.

DONT GET SO CAUGHT UP IN YOUR INFORMATION THAT YOU
FORGET TO APPEAL TO THE REAL HUMAN BEING READING THE
SUMMARY.

DO SPEND MORE TIME MAKING THIS PAGE EYE-CATCHING THAN
ANY OTHER PAGE.

YOU NEVER HAVE A SECOND CHANCE TO MAKE A GOOD FIRST
IMPRESSION.
 WHITE SPACE
_____
Wide margins: top, bottom, sides
_____
Extra indentation
_____
Short sentences
_____
Short paragraphs
_____
Double space or 1-1/2 space
 BREAK THE PAGE
_____
Headings, subheadings
_____
Bullet statements
 PRINT
_____
Variety in print
_____
Use of BOLD
 PUNCTUATION BREAKS
_____
Dashes, colons, etc.
_____
Bullets
 GRAPHICS
_____
Uncluttered
_____
One idea to a page
_____
Color
 OTHER
IMPACT ON BUSINESS
Groupware has profound impact on business. It is commonly considered the "future
of corporate computing".
FACILITATION OF
GROUP INTERACTION
CAUSE FOR
REENGINEERING
CHANGE IN
BUSINESS
PROCEDURES
Business hasneed forcost effectiveness andefficiency subsequent push for groups and team work.
Principle that ideas and knowledge of many are better
than those of just the individuals;
Groupware makes it easier for groups to work together
and thus achieve this desired efficiency.
Groupware leads to change in Organizational Structure flattening of traditional pyramid hierarchy;
This is common trend in business in general but
Groupware adds to this phenomenon;
Dispersion of power due to greater access of information
allows power to spread out In organization -- lead to
flattening of hierarchy.
"Information is power"- spread of info leads to control
being pushed down in organizational structure.
Firms must be ready to deal with these changes.
Greater automation of procedures -- manual files converted to
databases in software, accessible to all.
Evaluation of work in terms of group contribution over
individual;
More information = more responsibility -- need to be rewarded
for good and face up to colleagues when bad Develop new
ways to deal with information -- can't deal with all of it (phone
calls, memos, letters);
Groupware allows for "sifting" through of information.
Impact of Groupware has been tremendous on business. This impact has been seen
not only through changes in business procedures but also in fundamental changes
within the organization. The Implementation of Groupware can have many sensitive
issues including information overload and uneasiness with top management with the
necessary changes. But the changes to Groupware can ultimately lead to improved
efficiency. Furthermore, with the push in the business world towards teams and
groupwork plus the reality of computer networking, Groupware is a powerful and
advanced tool that has high positive value for firms.
IMPLEMENTATION
BUSINESS
ORGANIZATION
Whole firms or perhaps individual departments see Groupware
successfully implemented in other business units and decide to
also use Groupware. However, need to have specific business
problems to solve.
Important to use Groupware in efficient manner so as to save
time and not waste it.
Example: Dell computer engineers designing PCs used Lotus
Notes successfully to keep track of various projects. Other
departments followed in gaining use to Groupware but ended
up wasting time by sharing Information riot relevant to
business needs.
PEOPLE
Training required during/after any major change; needed
to make optimal use. Resources need to be sufficient to
provide for commitment.
Groupware can provide some actual hands-on training.
* Lotus estimates that for every $1 spent on software, $3
spent on consultants, training, or other software for optimal
use
Top level support needed in order for implementation to
succeed.
Need to be willing to re-engineer processes and
reorganize the organizational structure;
Must be supportive in helping employees adapt and
accept changes
Groupware challenges conventional communication - more
informal than traditional memos.
Confidence must exist for ideas to be extracted, even if not
completely thought out or off-the-wall
INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
Good IT structure needed with staff support;
PC use with network capabilities and connections;
Security issues need to be addressed as to who can access
what information.
A relatively new application of Information Technology is Groupware, an
innovative and advanced form of communication within a business. Groupware is a
sophisticated messaging system based on networking technology and includes
software to help with business activities such as scheduling and workflow. A primary
purpose of Groupware Is to help teams work together. In addition, Groupware is an
influential tool that is changing the way business is done.
FOUR MAIN CATEGORIES:
BASIC
System combines a sophisticated messaging system with a giant
database containing work records and memos.
Benefits:
allows more people access to information which
leads to a greater ease in the dispersion of information and can
also result in quicker solutions to problems.
Example:
WORKFLOW
Allows for redesign and streamlining of business processes;
Provides greater assistance to the paper-clogged bureaucracies by
reducing paperwork and time to execute business functions.
Results in more efficient work processes overall without delays.
Example:
MEETING
Banker's Trust - tremendously reduced time needed
to answer clients' queries
Allows participants in face-to-face videoconference gatherings to
"talk" simultaneously by typing on PC keyboards.
Allows for groups to pass on more information in a shorter amount
of time; Provides not only quicker decisions, but better decisions.
Example:
SCHEDULING
Lotus Notes
Boeing found it could shorten time needed to
complete projects by as much as 90%
Uses a network to coordinate colleagues' electronic datebooks and
figure out possible and convenient times to meet.
Provides significant advantage because leads to more efficient time
use which can be dedicated to solving problems instead of trying to
find meeting time.
Also prevents costly scheduling errors which is common when
trying to get many tasks done at once.