Warm-Up 4 doesn't give you any marks (!), but it is, perhaps, a way for you to see the collective wisdom of the group about two key areas in the In-Tray exam: complaining and apologising. Since you don't get any marks for it, you don't have to do it either - but I'm sure that your contributions will be gratefully received by everyone else, if you do! Let us all know which strategies for complaining and apologising have worked for you in the past.
You publish your Warm-Up 4s as comments to this blog post.
The In-Tray Exam is based on the idea that you work for a temporary agency (like Manpower) and have been sent in to cover the work of one of the people employed by one of the companies on this course. An in-tray is the plastic or metal tray on your desk into which all the paperwork you have to deal with is placed. When you've dealt with it, it's transferred to your 'out-tray' to be sent off or filed.
The exam itself will be posted on the course web site on Friday, 23rd November (via the Module 4 section of the site). It's a .pdf document which you can either download or read directly from the screen. When you read it, you'll notice that there are four writing tasks to complete, but you're given three complete sets of tasks to choose between, one for each of the companies in the course materials.
You don't have to stick to the same company for all four tasks - you can switch from one company to another, or you can stay with the same company all the way through.
You submit your In-Tray Exam to David Richardson as a Word document by e-mail. (If you're using Microsoft Works, rather than Word or an equivalent, remember to save the document as an .rtf - Rich Text Format - document, or David won't be able to open it).
When the exam's been received, David will print it on paper, mark it manually, write a mark and commentary for each task, and, finally, add your In-Tray Exam marks to the marks you've received for your Warm-Ups and Send-Ins. When the total exceeds 60 marks, you've passed, and when the total exceeds 80 marks, you've got a 'VG'. Your marks are reported on LADOK, the Swedish national university computer, more or less the same day the exam's marked.
When everything's finished, David puts your exam, the commentary and a statement of your total marks into an envelope and posts it to whatever address we have for you (if you've recently moved, or haven't given us your address, please let us know your current address as soon as possible). He'll also send you a mail straightaway with your final result.
At the end of the final mail is a link to the on-line course evaluation. This is totally anonymous - and, besides, you've already got your mark, so you can say what you like! Feedback from you is very valuable to us (even if you don't get any direct benefit from it!) and all of us on the course team greatly appreciate hearing what you've thought of the course.
Good luck with the exam! The due date is 16th December… but, as usual, we'll be understanding if you're a little late.
The difficulties with complaining and apologising are in my point of view the use and choice of written language.
ReplyDeleteWhen you complain there is a risk that you act in affect and therefore write in a way which is not appropriate. Written threats and foul language are two of many things that you often can find in unprofessional letters. These phenomena are not appropriate in business letters. One other thing that is difficult whilst complaining is the thin line between success and failure. If you complain in a harsh manor you will most probably fail, resulting in loss of compensation. On the other hand if you are too soft you may also lose compensation. A letter of complaint is a balancing act.
It is in my point of view it is easier to write an apologetic letter that a letter of complaint. I felt more confident when I was writing the letter apologising to the person who had hurt his ankle in send in 2, rather than the complaining letter regarding the tourist who had destroyed parts of the chalets. When you are apologising you know exactly how much you are willing to sacrifice in "goodwill" and it is therefore easier. When you complain like in send in 2, you really have to take the counterpart into account. I you are too tough you may find yourself in a problematic situation which may be settled in court.
My language tips are to use formal but not to formal language. A letter should be clear and easily understood by its´ recipient. You always have to take the recipient into account. There is no point in writing to a client in the same way you would write to a solicitor.
I have no experience in writing apologetic or letters of complaint than the tasks we have had in this course so I have no personal experiences to share.
If the company intents to conduct further business with the recipient, a letter of complaint requires a language style, that doesn't discourage the recipient to do further business with the company. Hence, the written language mustn'd be too rough.
ReplyDeleteIn a letter of apology, the company should acknowledge its fault rather than to find excuses. Offering a compensation may be adequate in some cases.
From my own experience, I find it easier to write a letter of apology. I've done this before as a response to a client's complaint. I've been working as a corporate account officer in a bank. Handling customer complaints either by phone or by letter, is something I have to be prepared for. Fortunately, it doesn't happen that often.
What do you think are the best? / Do you have any good language tips?
ReplyDeleteWhen writing a letter of complaint you need to think of why you are writing the letter and what do you want with it. You need to be detailed about what it is that you want to complain about and clear with what kind of compensation you want. It is therefore a good thing to write down a list with what you want to complain about (this list is only for yourself to make sure you got everything covered). The language in a letter of a complaint should be formal and clever so that the person who reads the letter takes you seriously. Be straight with what you want and with what you think went wrong but do not be rude and do not be too personal.
Before you start to write a letter of apologising you need to make sure that you know what actually happened so that you have a good insight into the situation. The most important part of the letter is when you are saying that you are sorry and this is really important, you need to make sure that you actually are saying the words “we are sorry”, “we are apologising” or equivalent. You also need to assure the one you apologising to that what happened was a mistake and that it will never happen again. Response to everything they complain about so that they don’t think that you are ignoring any of their statements, you want them to know that you are taking their letter seriously. But be careful with using the word I, use the word we and talk for the whole company. Do not admit to that your company did something wrong but admit that the company done a mistake, a mistake is easier to be forgiven for. The language must be formal but not too stiff, you need to show that you genuinely care about what happened. Finish the letter with writing how you will compensate them for the inconvenience they suffered.
/Jessica Jansson
When someone writes a letter of complaint or apology it is very difficult to find a good way to express all what you feel without being so emotional. In my case, I have not had a lot of personal experience in writing this kind of letters. But when I had to write the tasks, I focused on how it should be and I tried to do my best. What I do know is that expressing emotions is the worst thing you can do when you write a formal letter. It doesn't matter if complaint or apology.
ReplyDeleteSome hits, strategy and personal experiences of how to write a letter of complaint.
You have to start from the beginning. This is the social context. People have a lot problems and they don't really care if you also have some. What they don't want is to solve them too. I know that when you write a letter of complaint you're directly adding one more problem to the addressee. Because of this, you have to avoid being emotional. Instead of this, you have to show that the problem you're fighting for is fair. Because when something is fair, you empathize more with that person than when you just tell about your feelings. You have to think that they receive a lot of letters. The more fair your letter and cause is, the better.
From my point of view, the strategy of a letter (and any text) is based on these three principles: coherence, consistency and cohesion.
I don't have a personal experience of writing a letter of complaint in my life.
Some hits, strategy and personal experiences of how to write a letter of apology.
When you write a letter of apology, you have firstly to empathize with the addressee. You know that if they have problems is because you (or your company) have not acted in the right way. But you also have to think if what they apply for you now is fair taking into account the seriousness of the problem. In order to gain more money because of ''personal damage produced by the company'', many people demand a company for just little problems occured. That is why firstly you should accept your responsability (or your company's) and then to be opened to negotiate the conditions established.
As I have said before, any text should be base on these three principles: coherence, consistency and cohesion,
And I don't have personal experience of writing a letter of apology in my life.
Anastasiya Romanova
ReplyDeleteI think that the most difficult parts of business writing are complaints and apologies. Complaints and apologies are very emotionally charged. It is necessary to refuse negative emotions and disclose facts politely. Excessive emotionality can damage relations between people. Therefore complaints and apologies must be polite and show only facts, using business vocabulary.
When a person apologizes, he must admit his mistakes and express sympathy for an injured person. If the situation, described by the injured person, has some contradictions, the apologetic person must indicate this politely without using emotions.
When a person complains, he should write about the facts of damage, using business vocabulary and rules of politeness. It would be useful to provide additional materials, confirming the words by the complainant. Completing the letter, the person must write that his company hopes that the incident will not affect cooperation. This phrase will make it clear that the company (or the person), which caused the damage, have the possibility of establishing relations.
I had not had any experience of apologizing and complaining in English before the moment, when I was doing Warm-Up 2. I think that this task is very useful for me, and I have gained the good experience in writing complaint and apology!
My spontaneous thoughts concerning complaint or apology letter, is to keep it simple and show the person in question, in an honest way that you are upset or sorry. But at the same time keep it on a business level. I personally feelt that it was difficult to write a letter of complaint in a way without being rude. A letter is very difficult to write for a letter, because it can be interpreted in several ways. In a conversation, face to face, you can see facial expressions and body language. It can help to minimize the risk of misunderstandings and things will be said in a more sympathetic way. So it was really good to learn how to write letters in a way that can not be misinterpreted and become a tool. I also think that it will be different when it occurs in the real world and when you are involved in a different way. I have learned a lot of new things, which I will take with me for future jobs.
ReplyDelete/ Cornelia Nilsson Ekman