Everything that you write has a goal and an audience. Your message and the way that you write that message will change depending on the audience and your goal. This is why it is important to carefully plan messages before writing them. When you plan your message, you ask yourself questions about your audience, your goal, and the situation.

Imagine that you just received the following e-mail from the CEO of the organization that you work for:

Team,

Thank you for your hard work and dedication as we have navigated the difficulties of this past year. As you know, the vast majority of our team has been working from home for many months now. This has not been without its challenges, but there have also been some distinct benefits to our remote work arrangements.

As the situation in the world looks to be improving, we are now considering whether or not to bring the team back to the office or continue to allow working from home. I am very much interested in your feedback. What’s working with the current arrangement? What’s not working? If given the choice, would you want to come back to the office or continue working from home?

Please reply to this message with your feedback.

Thanks for all that you do!

[CEO Signature Block]

Using the template provided, answer the following questions to help you think through how you would respond to the CEO’s e-mail. (Note that you are not actually writing a response to the e-mail. The goal of this assignment is to answer the questions below to help you think through how you would respond.)

• Who is your audience?
• What is your goal in this e-mail?
• What are the pros and cons of working from home?
• What are the pros and cons of working in the office?
• What are 2 reasons for your choice (to work from home or work in the office)?
• What writing choices will you use to get your point across to your audience? (For example, some choices to consider might include: What greeting would you use to begin your e-mail? Do you think using numbering or bullet points to organize your e-mail would help? How will you close your e-mail?)