Michael K Mandel

Interests

Teaching

Business communication, consulting, nonprofit management and governance, institutional development, organizations and teams, experiential learning and practical application of research

Courses

Scholarly Contributions

Books

• Boyer, C., Brodersen, C., Chertudi, M., Hills, C., Mandel, M., Marchesseault, K., Michaels, M., & Sauers, D. (2022). Cracking the Code: Successful Strategies for Business Writing, 3rd edition. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt.
• Mandel, M. K., Hills, C. L., Michaels, M., Marchesseault, K. S., Chertudi, M. A., Brodersen, C. M., Boyer, C. F., & Sauers, D. L. (2022). Stand Out, 2nd edition. Kendall Hunt.
• Sauers, D., Michaels, M., Boyer, C., Brodersen, C., Chertudi, M., Hills, C., Mandel, M., & Marchesseault, K. (2020). The Secret Handshake: Effective Communication Strategies for the Workplace, 3rd Ed.. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt.
• Boyer, C., Brodersen, C., Chertudi, M., Hills, C., Mandel, M., Marchesseault, K., Michaels, M., & Sauers, D. (2017). Cracking the Code: Successful Strategies for Business Writing. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt.
• Mandel, M., Boyer, C., Brodersen, C., Chertudi, M., Hills, C., Marchesseault, K., Michaels, M., & Sauers, D. (2017). Cracking the Code: Successful Strategies for Business Writing. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt.
• Sauers, D., Michaels, M., Boyer, C., Brodersen, C., Chertudi, M., Hills, C., Mandel, M., & Marchesseault, K. (2017). The Secret Handshake: Effective Communication Strategies for the Workplace, 2nd Ed.. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt.

Presentations

• Mandel, M. K., Michaels, M., & Brodersen, C. M. (2016, October). Delivering Business Communication Value Outside the Classroom. Association for Business Communication Annual Conference. Albuquerque, NM: Association for Business Communication.
  More info

  There is simply not enough in-class instruction time in one – or even two – semesters to cover the gamut of business communication knowledge and skills that our students need to be as competitive as possible in the job market. We have therefore established a series of optional value-added workshops and activities that students may attend to bring their writing and presentation skills to a higher level of competitive excellence.Our group panel will begin by briefly walking attendees through our current curriculum for our 200- and 300-level course sequence. From there, we will demonstrate our development process and implementation strategies for three value-added activities: PowerPoint Workshops, Visual Design Playgrounds, and Grammar Games. We will show examples and lead attendees through sample activities to demonstrate the experience that our students receive.PowerPoint WorkshopsPowerPoint Workshops are delivered once per semester by a team of outstanding Lead/Technical Preceptors. These Preceptors excelled when they took BCOM 314 and are selected for this role due to their proficiency in technical aspects of business communication. Early each semester, they deliver an approximately 45-minute lecture, open to the full cohort of more than 425 300-level students. The lecture covers PowerPoint basics, such as the use of high-resolution photos and videos, the importance of readable font sizes, and how to create hyperlinks for slide trackers and index slides.The Lead/Technical Preceptors then spend significant time answering questions and demonstrating key concepts. This peer-to-peer model of instruction offers an important perspective to currently enrolled students about the proficiencies needed to succeed in a business communication course and beyond. The workshop is usually scheduled just before most students’ first major graded presentation of the semester, giving those who attend a leg up over those who do not. Visual Design PlaygroundsThough Millennials are often characterized by their preferences for rapid information sharing and minimalist aesthetics, their document and slide designs rarely reflect these values. In the age of democratized media, crowdsourcing, and global reach, a student’s ability to convey their message in a meaningful, impactful way likely requires an engaging visual element – one worthy of likes, tweets, and re-posts. So why do we see so many excruciatingly long paragraphs in papers and bulleted lists in slide decks? We set out to answer these questions by asking students to share their thoughts, if any, about the relationships between data, information, and visual appeal. Responses suggest that they know good design when they see it; however, they lack the tools and models necessary to apply these concepts to their own work. This part of our presentation describes how we used a $1,500 innovation grant to create an asynchronous visual design playground for students and faculty. Given our relatively modest budget, we sought creative, engaging methods to advance students’ basic design skills. Our objective was threefold: help students develop their own business-place friendly aesthetic, inspire curiosity about how information can be shared, and provide tools and tips for immediate application.Grammar GamesTo track business writing competencies, our students take a pre, practice, and final writing assessment in their junior year business communication course. Based on data collected to identify key challenges, deficits in grammar and punctuation consistently emerge as a problem area.In an effort to backfill mastery of grammar and punctuation rules, we created Grammar Games as an optional one-hour workshop on six Fridays during the semester (there are no major classes held on Fridays in our college, leaving students with time for work and co- and extra-curricular activities). Here, students learn punctuation, mechanics, and usage rules by competing in teams for “fabulous prizes”. Grammar Games is branded through engaging, sometimes irreverent messaging and outrageous in-game examples.Throughout the series, we pay close attention to the comma; other lessons include proper usage of the semicolon, the colon, and dash. We also give consideration to voice, parallelism, concision, and precision – elements vital to successful business presentations and written deliverables. Is your favorite grammar rule a staple in our line up? Join us and find out!As a small but agile program within a much larger business college, we feel the urgency of bringing our students to a competitive level of excellence. While we cover the most critical skills and proficiencies of business communication in our 200- and 300-level courses, we have found that there are still gaps to fill that are best filled outside of the classroom. Through a student-led PowerPoint Workshop, a series of innovative Visual Design Playgrounds, and the sometimes irreverent Grammar Games, we add significant value to our students’ business communication education experience.

Other Teaching Materials

• Sauers, D. L., Michaels, M., Mandel, M. K., Chertudi, M. A., Boyer, C. F., & Brodersen, C. (2014. Business Communication Basics Certificate. Academic Partners.
  More info

  An online certificate developed in partnership with Academic Partners to provide basic business communication training in CBT format for global audiences. Certificate covers communication foundations, professional writing, and business presentation training.