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In this situation you are a summer intern working for Steve Gordon in the Lane Council of Governments (LCOG) in Eugene, Oregon in 1987. LCOG has been hired by the city of Eugene to conduct a special study and to oversee the work of various consultants and specialists in helping the City of Eugene plan what to do. Since you've been taking a management communication course, Steve has asked you for a memo recommending a communication strategy for announcing the results of consulting biologist Esther Lev's results of a survey of wetlands in west Eugene. There have been lots of rumors about what she found earlier (in 1986) and about the impact of this situation on developers' property values in the city's industrial development zone. There's also a lot of confusion about what definitions should be applied to wetlands: different agencies use different criteria for this crucial designation.
To prepare for this assignment, you need to be familiar with the basic background of the discovery of wetlands in west Eugene in 1987 and the brief history of west Eugene wetlands. In addition, this assignment is based on concepts explained in Chapter 3, "You and Your Audiences: Managing Relationships," from Business and Managerial Communication: New Perspectives (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992).
You need to be familiar with the concepts of "uncertainty" (the difference between someone's present knowledge, beliefs, or feelings and those needed for action or agreement in a particular situation) and "stakeholders" (people who, for varying reasons, have an interest or "stake" in the outcome of a particular situation). See Chapter 3 for further explanation.
After becoming familiar with the basic situation, look at the list of potential stakeholders and choose four of them that you perceive to have basically different stakes or interests in the discovery of wetlands. If possible, identify some that have conflicting stakes.
Identify the individual or group, describe each person or group's interests or stakes, and each person or group's principal uncertainty at the start of this case.
Consult the timeline if you are not sure at what point a group would be likely to become aware of his own or his group's stake in the situation.
Develop your strategy planner, following the general guideline for a strategy planner ADD LINK from page 98 of Business and Managerial Communication: New Perspectives.
Turn the ideas in your planner into a memo to Steve Gordon, LCOG Planner and Manager, West Eugene Special Area Study. Your memo is due on the historical date May 1, 1987. Be sure to back up your recommendations with reasons and anticipate outcomes of your approach.
In April of 1987, Esther Lev, a consulting biologist, finished a survey and inventory of four industrial sites in west Eugene, looking for wetlands. She found wet prairie wetlands in significant proportions on all four sites. The Lane Council of Governments (LCOG) had commissioned this study within the Eugene-Springfield Urban Growth Boundary after it received a $3800 grant from the Land Conservation and Development Commission. Now the LCOG wants to communicate these findings with other agencies whose missions involve them in overseeing various aspects of this area--planning, storm water control, and so on. Communication is important because of the present confusion about the official definition of wetlands (INSERT LINK). One possibility is a workshop and field trip. One staff member thinks that the owners of the four properties should be invited as well. Devise a communication plan, indicating the social/political process you intend to pursue for working with
the landowners
the City of Eugene
the City of Springfield
LCOG staff
Division of State Lands personnel dealing with Lane County
US Environmental Protection Agency
US Fish and Wildlife Service
US Corps of Engineers
owners of wetlands outside the urban growth boundaries
any other stakeholders you consider important to bring in at this time (Eugene/Springfield Metro Partnership Director John Lively, for example)
Your communication strategy should indicate a comprehensive purpose, a persuasive approach, an analysis of your audiences' uncertainties, specific content organized to achieve your purpose, and criteria for judging the outcome. Issues to keep in mind as you prepare your strategy might include:
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