| Course | COM 220 Management Communication |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 3 |
| Paper type | Routine and bad-news message paper |
| Length | About 1,019 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Aspen University |
| Program | Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for COM 220 Module 3
Saying It Straight: A Routine Notice and a Bad-News Letter for Apartment Residents
Student Name
Business Administration Program, Aspen University
COM 220: Management Communication
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Saying It Straight: A Routine Notice and a Bad-News Letter for Apartment Residents
Palm Hollow, a 220-unit community in Harborline Property Management's Tampa portfolio, has two pieces of news for residents. One is welcome: a staffed package room will open next month, ending lost and stolen deliveries. The other is not: rents will rise nine percent at renewal, and the pool will close from June to August for major repairs. The community manager, Rob Delgado, drafted a letter that opened with three paragraphs about Harborline's commitment to residents and mentioned the rent increase in the fourth. Tasha Greene, his regional manager, asked him to start again. This paper explains why and drafts both messages.
Why Bad News Gets Buried
Rosen and Tesser (1970) studied how people pass on information that will affect someone else. In their experiments, participants were more likely to tell a person good news than bad news intended for that person. They called this reluctance the MUM effect, for keeping mum about undesirable messages, and suggested it arises partly from the discomfort of being associated with bad news and concern for the recipient. In organizations, the MUM effect delays bad news, softens it until it is unclear and leaves people to hear it from rumor.
Rob's draft showed the MUM effect at work. By hiding the increase in paragraph four, the letter risked residents missing it or feeling misled when they found it.
Delivering Bad News as a Process
Bies (2013) proposed a framework for delivering bad news in organizations. He described three phases. In preparation, the deliverer gathers facts, anticipates reactions and decides how and when to communicate. In delivery, how the news is communicated matters: people react better when they receive an honest explanation, are treated with dignity and respect and are given a chance to respond. In transition, the deliverer helps people move forward by offering support, answering questions and following up. Bies argued that bad news handled with procedural fairness and interpersonal sensitivity damages trust far less than the same news handled poorly.
The Value of an Explanation
Brockner et al. (1990) studied employees who survived layoffs at their organizations. They found that the clarity and adequacy of the explanation managers gave for the layoffs was related to how survivors reacted, including their commitment to the organization, and that explanations mattered more under some conditions than others. The finding supports giving residents the actual reasons for the rent increase rather than a general reference to "rising costs."
Two Structures
| Routine notice: package room | Bad-news letter: rent and pool | |
|---|---|---|
| Opening | The main point: the package room opens on a date | A brief, honest lead-in, then the news in the second sentence |
| Middle | How it works: hours, notifications, pickup | Reasons with figures; what Harborline is doing to limit the effect |
| Close | Where to find more information | Options, next steps and a named person to contact |
| Tone | Friendly and brief | Direct, respectful, without false cheer |
The Routine Notice
"Starting May 1, Palm Hollow will have a staffed package room in the clubhouse, open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day. When a package arrives for you, you will get a text and an email. Bring your phone or ID to pick it up. Carriers will no longer leave packages at apartment doors. Questions? Stop by the office or reply to this email."
The Bad-News Letter
"Dear Palm Hollow resident, We are writing about two changes that will affect you this year. When your lease renews, your rent will increase by 9%, and the pool will be closed from June 1 to August 31.
The increase reflects two costs we cannot control. Palm Hollow's property taxes rose 22% after this year's county reassessment, and our property insurance premium rose 31%, as it has for most Florida apartment owners. These two costs now make up more than a third of our operating budget. The pool's concrete shell has cracked and must be rebuilt for safety; a patch would not last a season.
We know this is hard news. If you renew for 15 months instead of 12, your increase will be 7% instead of 9%. During the pool closure, residents may use the pool at our Bay Crest community, two miles away.
Your renewal letter will arrive 60 days before your lease ends. If you would like to talk about your options, please contact Rob Delgado, community manager, at the office or at 813-555-0142."
Why the Figures Matter
The draft letter's phrase "rising costs" would have invited residents to assume the increase was simply profit. Giving the actual percentages for taxes and insurance lets residents check them, since county reassessments are public and insurance increases have been widely reported. Specific reasons also show respect, one of the elements of delivery Bies emphasized: they treat residents as people able to understand the company's situation rather than as an audience to be managed.
Deliberate Omissions
Rob's revised draft does not apologize repeatedly, which can sound insincere, and it does not open with praise for the community, which residents would read as softening them up. It does not promise that rents will not rise again, because Harborline cannot know that. And it avoids passive phrasing such as "it has been decided," which hides who made the decision.
Choosing the Channel
The routine notice goes by email and a poster in the mail room, since it is simple and welcome. The bad-news letter goes by mail and email on the same day, so no resident hears about it first from a neighbor, and community staff are briefed the day before so they can answer questions when residents call or walk in.
Transition
Following Bies, Rob will hold two evening sessions in the clubhouse for residents with questions and will call residents whose leases end in the next two months.
Conclusion
Rosen and Tesser explain why the first draft buried the news, Bies shows that delivering bad news is a process that continues after the letter and Brockner and colleagues support explaining the real reasons. Stating the news early, giving figures and offering options treats residents as adults who deserve the truth.
References
Bies, R. J. (2013). The delivery of bad news in organizations: A framework for analysis. Journal of Management, 39(1), 136-162. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206312461053
Brockner, J., DeWitt, R. L., Grover, S., & Reed, T. (1990). When it is especially important to explain why: Factors affecting the relationship between managers' explanations of a layoff and survivors' reactions to the layoff. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 26(5), 389-407. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1031(90)90065-T
Rosen, S., & Tesser, A. (1970). On reluctance to communicate undesirable information: The MUM effect. Sociometry, 33(3), 253-263. https://doi.org/10.2307/2786156
Reading the COM 220 Module 3 assignment instructions
In COM 220, Module 3 usually asks students to write routine and bad-news messages and explain the strategy behind them. Your course's Module 3 page sets the specifics; this example uses a composite apartment community. Explain how routine and bad-news messages differ in structure. Explain why bad news is often delayed or softened, and why that harms trust. Draft a routine message. Draft a bad-news message that states the news clearly, explains the reasons and helps the reader with next steps. Explain your choices using research, including what the bad-news message deliberately leaves out. Cite sources in APA 7 form.
How the COM 220 Module 3 example is put together
Palm Hollow is opening a staffed package room next month, which residents will welcome. Rents will rise 9% at renewal because property taxes and insurance rose sharply, and the pool will close from June to August while its cracked shell is rebuilt. Rosen and Tesser's Sociometry article reported that people were less likely to communicate undesirable information than desirable information to the person it affected. Bies's Journal of Management article set out a framework for delivering bad news that attends to how the news is prepared, communicated and followed up. Brockner, DeWitt, Grover and Reed's Journal of Experimental Social Psychology study found that the clarity of managers' explanations affected how employees who survived a layoff reacted. The routine notice opens with the main point. The bad-news letter states the increase and closure in the second sentence, explains the cost figures, describes what residents can do and names a person to contact.
Where the marks sit in the COM 220 Module 3 rubric
Message papers in this course earn credit when the drafted messages work and the explanation shows why. This example drafts both messages in full, structures each for its purpose and uses Rosen and Tesser to explain why the bad news must not be buried, Bies to plan the whole process and Brockner and colleagues to justify a clear explanation. The structure table makes the reasoning visible. Plain language, a named contact and concrete next steps show attention to what residents will actually do with the letter.
COM 220 Module 3 help: mistakes that cost marks
Bad-news papers often bury the news under so much cushioning that readers miss it or feel manipulated. State the news early and clearly. Another weakness is giving no reason, or a vague one; explain the actual causes in terms readers can check. Offer what help you can and tell readers what to do next. Keep routine messages short, with the main point first. Write in plain language and test the message on someone outside the situation. Finally, plan how you will follow up, since bad news rarely ends with one letter. Brief the staff who will field questions before the message goes out, so the first resident who calls hears a clear answer.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Aspen University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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COM 220 Module 3 questions, answered
What does COM 220 Module 3 usually ask for?
Aspen's COM 220 usually asks students to write routine and bad-news messages in this module and explain the strategy behind them. Read your classroom prompt.
What is the MUM effect?
Rosen and Tesser's term for people's reluctance to pass on bad news to the person it affects, which can delay or soften important messages.
How should bad news be delivered?
Bies described bad news delivery as a process of preparation, delivery and transition, in which fair procedures, honest explanations and dignity shape how people react.
Where can I find a free COM 220 Module 3 sample paper?
The example above drafts a routine notice and a bad-news letter about a rent increase and pool closure for apartment residents.
Do explanations help when news is bad?
Brockner and colleagues found that clear explanations of a layoff affected how surviving employees reacted, supporting honest explanations of bad outcomes.