By Glenn B. Fatzinger |Member
Today's workers are overwhelmed with information, so effective employees must write short, clear, concise correspondence in plain English to capture the attention of very busy people.
Business communication has improved greatly in the past 100 years since the advent of the typewriter. From the Corona (America's first portable typewriter in 1906) to today's high-tech laptop (see photo), early typewriters forced the use of correct spelling, punctuation, layout, and orderliness, and enhanced a mechanical orientation of users. The overall result was permanent and accurate business records.
How has teaching business writing and speaking changed in the past 15 years since I began teaching the subject at Marymount University in Arlington, VA? In the mid-1990s, hard-copy memos and letters still dominated office correspondence. Hard-copy letters are still used today for more formal business communication, although email now dominates business communication. I still teach fundamentals of business writing concepts using hard-copy correspondence because the key concepts also apply to email.
I use a 3X3 systems writing process described in Mary Ellen Guffey's Business Communication, Process and Product, a book that can be used for both writing and business presentations. Phase 1 of the process requires analyzing the audience as the first step, then anticipating the audience's reaction, and finally adapting the message to the audience. Phase 2 involves researching background information and organizing it into an outline (bad organization is a major writing problem), and composing a draft message. Phase 3 involves revising the message for clarity and correctness, proofreading it, and evaluating it for effectiveness.
Has email improved business writing in recent years? Email has its advantages and disadvantages. It has improved the quality of business communication and customer service and reduced business costs. David Shenk's book, Data Smog, highlights some of the disadvantages: email is growing at a rate of 60 percent annually, but 40 percent of email is of low or no value. White-collar workers are drowning in information from the ease of email communication; they send over 200 email messages a day, according to a Pitney-Bowes Inc. and Institute for the Future report.
Today's challenge is how to reduce and effectively use information, so I must teach future employees to write to the point in plain English and manage large amounts of information. In addition to teaching concepts of good writing, I also focus on teaching attractive formatting and layout because of the information overload problem. Well-written documents are more likely to be read and improve your image in the workplace.
Both email and hard-copy routing memos should have four parts: a precise subject line that summarizes the message, an opening that immediately reveals the main idea, a body that briefly explains one topic in detail using well-organized bullets or lists, and a closing with action information that has dates and deadlines or a summary of the information discussed in the body.
Today, I also emphasize the importance of good team presentation skills more than I did 15 years ago. The feedback from business leaders indicates that employees must be able to give short presentations, often in teams, to colleagues, supervisors, and subordinates if they are to advance in their careers.
My Marymount students must give two 20-minute PowerPoint team presentations (one ethics case and one corporate business case), and the class formally critiques each presentation based on the criteria of covering the content of the case as well as the delivery technique of each team member.
Marymount business students are expected to enter the business world as effective communicators. As Jack E. Appleman, president of SG Communication stated, “For thousands of workers who find themselves faced with new assignments, more responsibilities, and too little time to worry about communication skills, the ability to write and communicate in a clear and concise fashion is essential. Employees need to deliver information quickly and accurately to a wide array of audiences. That's what separates good companies from great companies.”
My job is to ensure that our Marymount graduates are equipped with effective business writing and oral presentation skills to function in those great companies.
