Lannon, Miner & Miner: Memos and Problem Statements

    Lannon's section continues with the trend of usability and quality in the workplace with the introduction of the most common form of information exchange in the workplace: the memorandum. The memo has the advantage over more long-form reports in that there is no extensive research process, and are written in a way that it communicates the important information clearly and in a very concise way. The ideal memo should be very easy to scan and very easy to obtain by all employees in the workplace. Memos are published to address questions such as "what are we doing and how can we improve upon it"; the approach one takes in the memo in regards to criticisms or changing rules must remain reasonable in order to avoid hostility. Over complaining and overcriticizing, as well as not shipping out the memo to everybody, is a surefire way to create a hostile work environment. One could organize the memo as directly addressing your main point followed by the details or data supporting your recommendation, or one could supply this data and end the memo with your recommendation. One of the most common memo types are progress reports, the data in which gives a manager some idea as to how to further allocate funds in the company, when delays may happen, and how to coordinate various interworking groups.
    Miner & Miner's section on Problem Statements is similar in how a memo asks "what are we doing and how do we do it", but is asked from the very beginning. The problem statement, from the grantwriter's perspective, must answer the question of the need for the project and frame it through the lens of the sponsor company's values. To sum it up concisely, "sponsors fund their needs, not yours." Avoid describing an opportunity over a need as well as the use of circular logic; in closing, the problem statement must summarize the problem from the sponsor's perspective, show familiarity with the problem, justify why this problem merits investigation, and specify the consequences of leaving this problem uninvestigated.

I have learned about grant writing in Digital Humanities, and I learned that academics tend to be the ones with the most problems securing these kinds of grants.

Is there any amount of personal perspective allowed in a problem statement for prosperity sake, or must it always be from the sponsor's perspective?

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