Cristina Marban

TECM 5550

Short Progress Report Memo

(Internal Messages)

Points
Earned

Points
Possible

Format

Use correct memo short-progress report

document format (header, to, from, the
date, subject line, enclosure, copy, etc.).
The document should be 1-2 pages long.
Include attachments that should be
labeled and referenced in the report, if you
need to include many graphs.

20

Organization

Include clear transitional phrases across

the sections of the report (first, next,
finally, etc).
State a clear topic sentence for each
paragraph.
Include appropriate sections: opening
header, summary, introduction, details,
conclusion, and attachments.
State your accomplishments first, then the
problems youve encountered in the
project.

30

Content

Include a clear main idea for the reader.

Use adequate supporting details and
present them in a coherent sequence.
State accurate information, figures, or
analysis.
Include a list of the attachments at the end
of the memo.

35

Style

Use clear and concise language.

Use active voice, or passive voice, or both
appropriately.
Include short sentences, but diverse in
length and structure.
Include short paragraphs, but diverse in
length.

10

Grammar

Use correct punctuation, spelling, and

syntax.

Total Score

100

Comments

Cristina Marban
TECM 5550
Scenario:
Malcolm Capaldi is the manager of an engineering company. He has e-mailed each
engineer to send him a short progress report written as a memo on what they have been working
on their latest project. As one of the engineers, you have to communicate your short progress
report via a 1to 2 page memo to Malcolm Capaldi, explaining the progress youve made like
what you have accomplished, and what problems youve encountered in the project.

Justification:
I am teaching a Technical Writing Training Course. My students are 14 entry-level
engineers. I am teaching them how to write a proper memo that communicates a short progress
report to me about a project they are working on at their workplace. Usually, engineers have to
write short progress reports in memo format because their boss needs to know what their
progress is in a project they are working on. This assignment will teach the students the proper
format of a memo and how to write a clear and concise memo progress report.
The analytic rubric I designed on Microsoft Word to grade the engineers short progress
report memo is based on the first rubric we used in class to grade the bad news memo A. Also, I
separated the whole score (100 points) into five components. Next, I listed the information I am
looking for in each component in bullet point format so the engineers will understand how to
write the short progress report in memo format. Also, I tried to create parallelism throughout
each component of the analytic assessment instrument by starting each bullet point with the
words: use, include, state, etc. Furthermore, the format section is 20 points because the
way the engineers have to format the memo is important and they also have to write the report in
the correct order because they will have to send short progress reports in memo format to their
bosses and colleagues at work when they are working on different projects. The organization
section is worth 30 points because I want to see if the engineers organize their purpose,
introduction, summary, body paragraphs, conclusion, and add attachments at the end if they need
to in the proper manner. In addition, I want to know if they can state their ideas in a clear and
precise manner. Also, I want to make sure that the engineers include clear and appropriate
transitional phrases and topic sentences for each section of the report so the report will be
cohesively organized. Moreover, the content section is worth 35 points because I want to see and
evaluate if the students know what content they need to include in the report. For example, I
want to see if they include their main idea at the beginning of the memo report, if they state what
they have accomplished first, then affirm the problems they are having in the project they are
working on. Most of all, I want to see if the content they write is correct. The style section is
worth 10 points because people write in their own voice and I just want to see if the engineers
use language in clear and concise manner, structure sentences correctly, and use passive voice
and active voice properly. Additionally, the grammar section is worth 5 points because I do not

Cristina Marban
TECM 5550
think it is as important as the content, organization, format, and style section since what I want to
evaluate the most is how they write the short progress report in memo format. Finally, I included
a comments section as the last column in the grading rubric because I might want to give the
engineers more thorough feedback, or tell them specifically what I liked about their memo
progress report.