Planning a group involves many steps. Once group members are recruited and screened, group leaders can prepare group members by helping them understand what to expect as a group member. This is part of informed consent and sets the stage for how the group will develop. After reviewing the assigned readings:

• Describe the challenges of preparing a potential group member who may be hesitant to attend due to concerns for privacy.
• Describe how group facilitation skills can be used to help new members join a group.

Minor Assignment, 20 points possible

To practice applying the conventions of business letters and using reader-centered communication, write two letters responding to the following scenario:

• A small appliance store offers a Best Price guarantee: if a customer finds the exact product available at another store in their local market for a lower price within 30 days, they will refund the difference. One customer recently bought a blender for $60 at the store. Five weeks later, another store ran an ad in the newspaper advertising a sale price of the same blender for $47.

Claim Letter: As the customer, write a letter to the store manager requesting a refund of the price difference. Note that a copy of the sale ad is enclosed.

Adjustment Letter: As the manager, write an adjustment letter denying the refund request.

Invent reasonable details for this scenario. Consider how you, as the customer, might appeal to the manager to loosen the terms of the Best Price guarantee to your benefit. Consider how you, as the manager, might help the customer to feel acknowledged and valued even as you deliver bad news. Could you offer the customer a token of appreciation to soften the blow?

Review the chapters Professional Communications and Audience Analysis and be careful to include all of the conventional elements of a business letter.

Upload both documents as attached files.