Business Communication is all about presenting your ideas clearly and effectively. Ideas can be the importance of effective writing skills and data presentation skills.
Business writing skills are coveted not just by individuals who communicate with one another through written words every day, but also by companies who
employ them. Organisations recognise the importance of effective written communication for building their image
in the eyes of their customers, improving their brand in the marketplace. Increasing their productivity and highlighting their culture.
- Business Writing
- Practicing Business Writing
- Providing Data in Relevant Formats
Session 1: Business Writing
Session Objectives
By the end of this session, you will be able to:
- Identify the need for effective business writing
- Understand the characteristics and phases of effective writing
- Understand the types of written workplace communication
- Appreciate and use five C's effective writing
- Understand the guidelines for writing e-mails
- Identify how to make business writing effective
Importance of Writing in the Business World
In today's workplace, the ability to write well-or the lack there of-can have a direct effect on your ability to:
- Secure new positions
- Earn promotions
- Lead teams
- Manage projects
- Gain the interest of your network contacts
- Communicate across cultural boundaries
In professional environments, it is not acceptable to communicate electronically any less effectively than you would in writing or in print. Rather, quality and clarity are at a premium in written communications-even the ones being transmitted electronically-because they have become the main method by which professionals do their daily business. The words yo write to one person may be passed along to countless others, or used to relay information, make critical decision and build business relationships.
- Purpose
Understanding the purpose of writing helps you to create the desired business document. It also helps you analyse the urgency of completing you work in time. For example, you have to prepare a business report for the upcoming sales meeting. For this, you need to find outwith whom the data/information will be shared and by when you should complete your report so that you can review your work and avoid errors.
For example, a written communication's purpose might be to:
- Document the ideas that came out of a business meeting
- Summarise your department's achievements for a sales meeting
- Instruct a new teammate on how to log into the database system
- Convince your senior manager to approve the purchase of new computers for your team
- Market your premium Web service to your company's social media followers
- Finalise a renewal agreement with a long-time customer
- Audience
Just as it's important to know why you're writing something before you start writing it, it's equally important to understand who you're writing it for.
This time, reflect on the audience who might be receiving each message:
- Document the ideas that came out of a business meeting
- Summarise your department's achievements for a sales meeting
- Instruct a new teammate on how to log into the database system
- Format
Presentation of your work is very important. You might be required to share your report as an excel file, a word document or even a power point presentation. Apart from this, predefined formats are used in organisations to maintain consistency and a standard structure in documents. Take pride in creating well-structured, well-formatted writing - think of it as an opportunity to stand out from others!
Based on the business requirements, different types of business documents are created. Therefore, the documents should be clear, concise and simple with short sentences. We will be discussing these in the next topic. You just need to know why you're writing, who you're writing to, and then how to craft a straightforward, polite message that is appropriately informational, instructional or inspirational, and takes advantage of the medium in which you choose to deliver it. Now let us understand the three phases of writing.
Phases of Writing
The following figure shows the phases of writing.
Many of your written communications may require only a few minutes to plan, develop and edit. More time is required to ensure that you've made your point clearly and that content supports your desired outcome.
Regardless of the size and scope of your written communication, before you start writing it, you should always think about what you want it to achieve and how you can best go about accomplishing that goal.
During this first phase of written business communication, you perfom the following tasks:
- Define your reading audience
- Identify the purpose, goal or desired outcome of your communication.
- Gather your content
Phases 2:Compose a Clear Communication
Phase 2, composing a clear communication, is all about the "how"
During this phase of written business communication, you perfom the following tasks:
- Write a rough draft
- Organise the flow
- Incorporate supporting stories or visuals
Phases 3:Revise Your Work
You've finished your planning and you've created a clear, convincing piece of writing. And while it's probably tempting to just send it off right now, there's still room for improvement.
Revising your work is all about taking something good and making it that much better. During this last phase of written business communication, you perform the following final tasks.
- Make your message concise and powerful
- Check your grammar and spelling
- Double-check the easily overlooked mistakes
Types of Written Workplace Communication
As discussed earlier effective writing is an important skill in business communication. Below mentioned are the various types of written workplace communication. Each has its own importance and is used for a specific purpose.
- Reports
- Letters
- E-mails
- Memos
- Minutes
- Proposals
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