Writing in a professional and corporate environment is very different to writing casually or any other type of writing, in that there are specific purposes for which the writing is done and this creates certain protocols that must be followed for effective business writing.
The most basic of these protocols or guidelines is grammar and spelling. It is one of the most horrible experiences in a corporate environment when you receive an email or memorandum from someone with instructions or information pertaining to your job and the person has completely destroyed the English language in terms of spelling and grammar. This makes you appear extremely unprofessional and makes the recipient wonder how it is that you are in the position if you cannot satisfy the most basic of requirements for effective writing which is to spell properly and formulate your syntax in the correct way. This is especially true if you make this mistake regularly, mostly because it makes you appear extremely incompetent and it could have been prevented by simply using a spellchecker in a word processing program.
Effective business writing can only be achieved if the writing serves its purpose. To do this, the writing has to be concise, straight-forward and clear. The following serves as an example:
“Today it was decided that because so many people have decided that due to the economic climate and the way it is affecting so many of us and our families that we will no longer be able to carry on doing our jobs and working the long hours…”
This is clearly tedious and time-consuming to write and to read, and in business we simply do not have the time for it and this is not effective business communication. It would have served everyone better if the person had written:
“The labor union has initiated a strike today in lieu of the current economic situation.”
This clearly states the important information and does it in one brief sentence, conveying exactly the information for which the memo was written and does so without including any unnecessary introductions and miscellany. The above example also illustrates the importance of the active and passive styles of writing, which has implications in terms of attributing ownership or responsibility as well as aiding the direct and concise style needed for effective business communication. The first example stated that “it was decided…” without saying who did the deciding. In business communication, more often than not it is important to state who it is that performed the action or made the decision in question. Thus the second example is also a good example of the active style, as it firstly says who it is that did the action and then goes on to state what action or decisions were made by this person or group.
The target audience is also an important factor in effective business writing. They could be your seniors, colleagues, or clients which could be external or internal in nature. In all of these situations it is particularly important to take into consideration who the audience is and whether they have any specific cultural or ethnic requirements.
Effective business writing is not difficult to acquire, and with these basic considerations in place your business writing will be professional and inviting.
More Business Communication Articles
Learn more about Speech & Communication
Watch Speech Videos
