| Course | WMBA 6695 Communication for Leaders and Managers |
|---|---|
| Week | Week 3 |
| Paper type | Informative memo |
| Length | About 660 words, 4 pages |
| Format | Memo, APA 7 citations |
| School | Walden University |
| Program | Master of Business Administration (MBA) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for WMBA 6695 Week 3
Memorandum
To: All plant and route employees, Ridgeline Uniform Services, Columbus
From: Service Operations Manager and Plant Manager
Date: August 18, 2027
Re: Second shift starts at 3:00 p.m. from Monday, September 13; trucks unload until 3:30 p.m.
What Is Changing
From Monday, September 13, the second shift on the wash floor will start at 3:00 p.m. instead of 2:00 p.m. and end at 11:30 p.m. instead of 10:30 p.m. Route trucks returning to the plant can unload soiled goods at the dock until 3:30 p.m., an hour later than now.
Why
Most routes now finish after 2:30 p.m., and soiled goods from late trucks have been sitting until the next morning. Starting second shift an hour later means those goods are washed the same day, so customers get them back a day sooner.
What You Need to Do
Second-shift wash crew: report at 3:00 p.m. starting September 13. Your hours and pay rate do not change, only the start and end times. If the new hours do not work for you because of child care or another job, let your supervisor know no later than August 27 so we can look at a swap with first shift.
Route drivers: you may unload until 3:30 p.m. starting September 13. After 3:30 p.m., use the overnight cage as you do now.
Route and production supervisors: post the new times on the shift boards by September 1, and confirm with each person on your team that they have seen this memo.
Second-shift employees who ride the city bus home: the route that stops on Industrial Parkway runs past midnight on weeknights, so the later end time still connects. Check the posted schedule by the time clock before September 13.
What Is Not Changing
First shift hours stay the same, 5:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Route start times and customer delivery days do not change. The break schedule moves with the shift, so breaks fall at the same points in the shift as before. Badge access, parking and the dock entrance are unchanged. Holiday pay, overtime rules and the attendance policy also stay exactly as they are; only the clock times move.
Questions
Ask your supervisor first. For anything about pay or schedules, contact Human Resources at extension 214.
Why the Memo Is Written This Way (course note, not posted)
This memo was written for a reader who receives it forwarded, inside a text thread or printed on a shift board, without any covering note. Three choices follow from that.
The subject line was written last and tested on its own. An earlier version read "Shift schedule update," which tells a forwarded reader only that something changed. The final version states the change, the date and the one consequence for drivers, so a driver who sees only that line on a phone knows what to do. Kruger et al. (2005) found that writers overestimate how well their messages communicate because they read them with their own knowledge filled in; testing the subject line alone was a way of removing that knowledge.
The order puts the news first and the reason second, and the reason is one short paragraph. Lewis (1999) found that during planned change, organizations relied heavily on one-way information sharing, and that how the information was framed shaped how employees responded. A long justification before the change would have made the memo read as an argument rather than an announcement.
The section on what is not changing addresses the questions most likely to follow. Bordia et al. (2004) found that uncertainty during organizational change concerns not only the change itself but how it affects people's own jobs, and that it was linked to lower well-being and trust. Naming the things that stay the same, especially pay, first-shift hours and the bus, answers the job-level questions before they are asked. Since the memo went to the shift boards, supervisors report fewer questions than after any schedule change last year; most of the questions they did receive were about the shift swap, which the memo invited.
References
Bordia, P., Hobman, E., Jones, E., Gallois, C., & Callan, V. J. (2004). Uncertainty during organizational change: Types, consequences, and management strategies. Journal of Business and Psychology, 18(4), 507-532. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOBU.0000028449.99127.f7
Kruger, J., Epley, N., Parker, J., & Ng, Z.-W. (2005). Egocentrism over e-mail: Can we communicate as well as we think? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89(6), 925-936. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.89.6.925
Lewis, L. K. (1999). Disseminating information and soliciting input during planned organizational change. Management Communication Quarterly, 13(1), 43-75. https://doi.org/10.1177/0893318999131002
What the WMBA 6695 Week 3 instructions ask for
The third week asks for an informative memo announcing a routine change, such as a policy update, a schedule shift or a system cutover. The memo must survive being forwarded, so the subject line states the change and its date rather than a topic, and the first two sentences deliver the news before any reasoning. Detail should be limited to what readers need in order to act, grouped by role if different people must do different things. A short section on what is not changing heads off the questions that follow any announcement. Many sections also ask for a brief note explaining the drafting choices with support from the readings. Memo format with a header block is standard, and the announcement itself usually fits on one page.
Inside the WMBA 6695 Week 3 example
The memo is addressed to all plant and route employees from the service operations manager and plant manager, with a subject line naming the new start time, the date and the later unloading cutoff. The first section states both changes in two sentences. A one-paragraph reason explains that late trucks' goods can now be washed the same day. The action section speaks to four groups in turn: second-shift crew, drivers, supervisors and employees who ride the city bus. The "what is not changing" section covers first-shift hours, route start times, breaks, badge access and pay rules. A drafting note explains the subject line test with Kruger and colleagues, the news-first order with Lewis and the stability section with Bordia and colleagues on job-level uncertainty. Three margin notes mark the method.
WMBA 6695 Week 3 rubric: what earns full marks
The first thing a grader checks is whether the memo works when read alone. A subject line that names a topic, such as "schedule update," fails that check, and so does a memo that opens with organizational priorities before the news. Credit follows for detail filtered by need: every item should be something a reader must know to act correctly, with background moved out. The section on what stays the same is treated as evidence of audience thinking and often separates strong memos from adequate ones. Role-based instructions show the writer pictured each group of readers. In the drafting note, readings should justify a specific choice. Accurate dates, consistent times and plain wording are part of the grade because a routine memo that contains an error creates the confusion it was meant to prevent.
Common WMBA 6695 Week 3 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Write the body first and the subject line last, then read the subject line alone and ask whether a stranger would know what changed and when. Put the change and its date in the first two sentences. List actions by role, and for each item ask whether a reader could do the right thing without it; if so, cut it. Then imagine the questions people will ask the next morning and answer the ones about what stays the same. Memos lose marks for long introductions, for reasons that outweigh the news and for missing dates. Check every date against a calendar, including weekdays. If you need a model informative memo for a change at your own workplace, describe the change, the date and who is affected.
Get a WMBA 6695 Week 3 example written to your instructions
Send the Week 3 prompt, the rubric and whatever scenario or memo template the section published, and a finished one page memo comes back in 24 to 48 hours, nothing charged on a first request. Where a section supplies a fictional company, its own names and dates go into the sample instead of generic ones.
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WMBA 6695 Week 3 questions, answered
Where can I find a free WMBA 6695 Week 3 sample paper?
Read the complete shift-change memo, including its note on drafting choices, further down this page; nothing is behind a form.
What change does the WMBA 6695 Week 3 memo announce?
Second shift on the wash floor starts at 3:00 p.m. instead of 2:00 p.m. from Monday, September 13, and trucks may unload until 3:30 p.m.
Why does the subject line carry the whole change?
Because a forwarded memo often arrives with nothing else visible, so the subject line alone has to tell readers what changed and when.
What does the "what is not changing" section cover?
First-shift hours, route start times, the break pattern, badge access, parking, the dock entrance, holiday pay, overtime rules and attendance policy.
Which readings support the drafting note?
Kruger and colleagues on writers' overconfidence, Lewis on communicating planned change and Bordia and colleagues on job-level uncertainty.