Business Communication

Write a short email announcing an email policy.

The purpose of writing an email is to convey information to someone else or to request information from them. To be effective, the email must be comprehensive, to the point, and accurate (Christensen 2003). The text should be written in such a way that the reader will be able to easily understand what you are telling or asking them. Careless emails in business are sloppy, poorly written, disorganized, littered with jargon, and incomplete (Christensen 2003). Often it is either too long or too short. All these attributes contribute to ineffective business writing.

Whether you are writing a proposal, an email to your department, or an instruction manual for operational policies, there are certain steps you need to follow to create effective email. You need to: organize your material, consider your audience, proofread and edit your text (Jerz 2000). The emphasis on each step may vary, depending on what you are writing, but the steps will be the same.

First, organize your material (Goleman 2007). When writing an email announcing a staff meeting, this may be as simple as collecting your thoughts. On the other hand, you may need to write out a multi-level outline of the material when writing up the results of an inspection. Without an appropriate level of organization, you can't be sure you will include everything or that you will give significance to the most important topics. Omissions or incorrect focus can make your writing less clear (Johnson 2002 ).

Business Communication - 2

Regardless of the style you use when writing, you need to proofread and edit what you have written (Goleman 2007). As you write, or when you edit, be aware of length. Sometimes these can be done together, but it is more effective when they are done in sequence. You edit to fix or change what you wrote in order to make the material better.

When writing an email use enough words to make you’re meaning clear, but don't...