Best Practices in Business Writing and Communication ADRIAN MEDINA MARCH 1, 2014
Transcript
1. Best Practices in Business Writing and Communication A D R
IA N ME DINA MA R CH 1 , 20 1 4
2. Introduction and Agenda Communication is the transmission of
information and meaning from one individual or group to another
(Guffey & Loewy, 2011, p. 13). Communication is a highly
important skill to possess for employees. Organizations want the
best communicators so the organizations message will be properly
conveyed. To be able to properly communicate effectively, we will
look at the following practices to becoming a better in business
writing and communication. Effective and ethical business
communication Professionalism in the workplace
3. Introduction and Agenda cont. Intercultural Communication
Business professional writing tips Digital media and electronic
messaging Positive and negative messages Business presentations
Reports, Plans and Proposals for Business
4. Effective and Ethical Communication
5. The Four Communication Channels Oral Written Electronic
Nonverbal Each of these channels has certain characteristics that
can either help or hinder communication, depending on the
circumstances, the message, and the sender and audience (Bowman,
2004, p. 1). Do not worry it is not the end of the world.
6. The Four Communication Channels advantages/disadvantages
Oral Immediate interaction and discussion among individuals.
Inefficient in that there is no way to store information and
retrieve it for later use. Written Can cross barriers of time and
provides that permanent record. Is a slow channel of communication
and clarity is very important. Electronic Very fast, convenient,
cost effective. Can have a great record for historical data. Uses
both synchronous and asynchronous messaging and cause problems if
both parties are not available. Nonverbal Is able to communicate
feelings, status and other emotional messages. Cultural differences
can be a concern when it comes to eye contact or body
language.
7. Ethical Communication Ethical communication enhances human
worth and dignity by fostering t r u t h f u l n e s s , f a i r n
e s s , r e s p o n s i b i l i t y, p e r s o n a l i n t e g r i
t y, a n d r e s p e c t f o r s e l f a n d o t h e r ( M c G r a
w - H i l l , 20 0 0 , p a r a . 7 ) . Honesty is of the up most
importance. Understand and respect others that are communicating.
Do not allow communication that degrades others. Everyone must be
held accountable for their communication efforts. Have policies
that promote and encourage ethics. Ethics training is essential to
learn and maintain ethics in the organization. Have leadership that
exemplifies ethics. Give credit where credit is due.
8. Workplace Professionalism
9. Professionalism in Workplace The definition of
professionalism indicates that each person perform their tasks with
genuine earnest and honesty (JWilliamsStaffing , 2013, para. 1).
There are many ways to show professionalism in the workplace. This
list will help employees and employers know how to be successful in
being professional. Treat everyone with respect. Stick to your
commitments. Admit to your mistakes. Take on leadership roles when
they are presented. Separate work and home life. Honesty is the
best policy.
10. Professionalism in Workplace cont. There are many
characteristics that can hurt professionalism in the workplace A
negative attitude can destroy everything. It will undermine
everything that the organization has worked for. Tardiness and poor
attendance hurts others when they have to pick up your slack.
Inappropriate body language can speak louder than words.
Professionalism must be established at the top and it must flow
down. The same goes for a positive attitude. Positive communication
is a good way to keep up the attitude in the organization.
11. Intercultural Communication Understanding other cultures
can be difficult. The key is to study and do your home work and
take an interest in the cultures you are doing business with. Here
are some pieces to remember when doing business around the world.
Know the customs and the culture. Show respect. Speak clearly and
write clearly. Must be able to adapt to meet the needs of all the
organizations involved. Ethnocentrism cannot be avoided, but to be
developing more balanced understandings is to recognize that we do
not understand, that we are falsely assuming something that is not
the case and is out of context (Barger, 2008, para. 22).
12. Business Writing Tips 3 As: Analyze, Anticipate, Adapt.
Decide the direction. Profile the audience. Establish techniques.
Prewriting Writing Research the topic. Establish a rough draft.
Compose the writing. Revising Proofread, proofread, proofr ead.
Evaluate the writing. Cutout unnecessary pieces.
13. Business Writing Tips cont. The audience is the most
important. Without them there is not a purpose for writing at all.
The audience must be thought of and they must be engaged by the
writer. Be sure to be inclusive. Addressing everyone keeps everyone
engaged. Do not waste time. Be informative and concise. Set a tone
that is easy to follow and that is consistent throughout your
writing. Stay on track, do not deviate from the topic. Makes
stories and examples relevant.
14. Electronic messaging and digital media
15. Electronic messaging Electronic messaging allows for faster
and more efficient way of communicating. It is becoming the
standard in business in the way to correspond with different
organizations. There are many reasons to use electronic messaging.
Speed. Messages are now immediate. Record keeping. Still provide a
record the way hard copies do. Lower cost than any other type of
messaging. Can be formal and informal. Simple and complex. Easier
to share among larger groups. Multi purpose use in communicating
with people and organizations.
16. Digital Media Social Media is a staple in doing business.
Everyone is using it and organizations are using it to get their
name out there and in the minds of people. Facebook has made
interaction between businesses much easier. They have also included
the customers and have brought a new dynamic in doing business.
Adding YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin, Wikipedia, and flickr into the
mix creates a network of never -ending possibilities.
17. Positive and negative messages Positive messages are often
the easiest to write because the audience is expected to be fairly
receptive of the presented information. Negative messages are
usually difficult to write because the audience is being told
exactly what they dont want to hear (Writing Center, 2000, para.
2). There is a happy and sad, a ying and yang type of interaction
that is present that many have seen in life. Where these typically
represent a balance in life in business it is the same. There must
be balance, but the positive is more appealing in
communication.
18. Positive Messages Should have a direct approach. Used in
all types of communication. Uplifting to person or group. Can be
motivating. Positive messages are the easiest to write. They will
have a clear statement and have a sense of gratitude and
appreciation. The message should conclude with courteous and a
request for action if needed.
19. Negative Messages Should have an indirect approach Need to
be empathetic. Must contain a reason. Need to be explained very
clearly. Negative messages can be difficult especially when it is
firing someone. Buffers must typically be used when presenting bad
news. Empathy is important and must be sincere. People want to know
why when bad news arises so clear answers must be given when they
can. Always close in a pleasant way.
20. Business Presentations
21. Business Presentation Gathering all the information is
done. Writing everything out is complete. Now everything must be
brought together in a format that will make sense to the audience.
According to Guffey and Loewy (2011) there are eight steps when it
comes to making a powerful presentation and they are explained
below. Start with the text. This is the foundation of the
presentation. The words must be clear and concise. This must be
completed first before concerning yourself with anything else.
Select background and fonts. Starting with a template is the
easiest way to begin. This will allow for consistent font styles
and backgrounds. Choose a font that is easy to read and do not use
more than two fonts in your presentation. Ensure the colors are
contrasting so everything stands out applicably.
22. Business Presentation cont. Choose images that help
communicate your message. A picture is a worth a thousand words, is
how the old saying goes. Pictures need to compliment what is going
on with the text. Clip art images are a great and easy way to add
pictures to a presentation. Always check for copyright issues when
using pictures from other sources. Photographs are the preferred
type of images in a presentation. Create graphics. Like pictures a
graphic can speak volumes. Charts and SmartArt are great graphics
when you are trying to get a specific point across. The graphics
need to be even more concise than the words that are put down in
the presentation. Use the handouts more for the greater detail than
the presentation itself, this way it does not get so cluttered. Add
special effects. Animations will help keep your audience focused on
the discussion. Having bullets appear one at a time gives the
audience time to take notes and discuss the bullet topic.
23. Business Presentation cont. Create hyperlinks to
approximate the Web browsing experience. This will make your
presentation more interactive. It does not have to be to a website,
another presentation, a spreadsheet or any other type of file or
media. It provides a different level that is engaging. Engage your
audience by asking for interaction. Asking questions is great for
interaction, but taking a step further with polling questions is
even more engaging. Using handheld devices that use PowerPoint
add-in program to rate the audiences responses and put the results
in a chart for the audience to see. Move your presentation to the
Internet. Posting your presentation online allows others to access
it anytime they need to for reference. This ease of access is
growing with more organizations all the time. This is the best way
for Web conferencing especially when there are international
borders to cross. Chart Title 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Series 1 Series 2
Series 3
24. Reports, Plans and Proposals
25. Reports There are formal and informal business reports.
Each have the advantages and disadvantages. It is knowing when to
use the right one at and for the right time. Formal Reports
Executive audience. More specific and direct, provide facts and
data. Not as routine, more formal language. Informal Reports Quick
retrieval of information, no set structure. More routine and
typically internal. Communication can come in different
formats.
26. Plans Business plan is a formal statement that lays out the
business goals of an organization. They provide reasons why the
goals are attainable. It also spells out how goals are going to be
reached. There is typically background information about the
organization. It is not just for new businesses, but also for
changes in such things as branding, customer service, or overall
organization change. Plans can be externally or internally
depending on what the plan is geared towards. There is really no
set structure and is dependent on what the desired outcome is and
who it involves.
27. Proposals Proposals can be for several types of scenarios.
Proposals can be used for providing services, the sale of a product
or to solve a problem. Proposals can be informal or formal
depending on the audience. A successful proposal will consist of a
checklist when being written. They will contain several pieces to
include: Title page Introduction Plan and schedule Authorization
Appendix (Guffey & Loewy, 2011)
28. Conclusion Effective Business Writing and Communication
consists of: Communication Channels Oral Written Electronic
Nonverbal There are ethical communication standards that enhance
the people and the organization that will make it better. Keeping a
professional environment keeps things safe and comfortable keeping
the negativity down. Intercultural communication allows for people
to understand and communicate effectively with others from other
countries.
29. Conclusion cont. Prewriting, writing and revising are the
three steps to effective writing for business communication.
Electronic messaging and digital media are becoming the staple of
all businesses. They provide another means of getting the name of
the organization out for customers, share and stakeholders.
Positive and negative messages are always going to exist. The key
is to keep the negative messages down as much as possible.
Presentations are the tools used to communicate to a group a topic
that needs better clarification. Presentations need to be presented
in a format that the audience can understand. A lot of time and
effort need to go into them Reports, plans and proposals are all
specific to a topic. They provide the necessary information to
complete a task.
30. Questions?
31. References Barger, K. (2008). Ethnocentrism. Retrieved from
http://www.iupui.edu/~anthkb/ethnocen.htm Bowman, J.P. (2004).
Business communication: Managing information and relationships.
Retrieved from http://homepages.wmich.edu/~bowman/mir.html Guffey,
M., & Loewy, D. (2011). Business communication: Process and
product (7th Ed.). Independence, KY: Cengage Learning.
JWilliamsStaffing. (2013). Professionalism in the workplace.
Retrieved from
http://www.jwilliamsstaffing.com/job-tips/professionalism-in-theworkplace/
McGraw-Hill. (2000). Ethical communication in small groups.
Retrieved from
http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/comm/group/students/ethics.htm
Writing Center. (2000). Writing in the disciplines: Business.
Retrieved from
http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb/business/message.html