PLANNING BUSINESS MESSAGES 3 Step Writing Process Planning business messages (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) analyze the

e situation : define your purpose and develop an audience profile Gather Information : determine audience needs and obtain the information necessary to satisfy those needs. Select the right Medium Organize the information define your main idea, limit your scope, select a direct or an indirect approach, and outline your content. Write Adapt to your audience be sensitive to your audience with a you attitude, politeness, positive emphasis and bias free language. Build a strong relationship with your audience by establishing your credibility and projecting your companys image. Control your style with a conversational tone, plain English and appropriate voice. (ii) Compose your message choose strong words that will help you create effective sentences and coherent paragraphs. Complete Revise the message evaluate content and review readability; then edit and rewrite for conciseness and clarity. (ii) Produce the Message use effective design elements and suitable layout for a clean , professional appearance.

(i)

(i)

(iii) (iv)

Proofread the Message review for errors in layout, spelling and mechanics. Distribute the Message deliver your message using the chosen medium; make sure all documents and all relevant files are distributed successfully.

PLANNING STAGE 1. Analyze your situation Your general purpose might be to inform, to persuade, or to collaborate. Your specific purpose identifies what you hope to accomplish with your message and what your audience should do or think after receiving your message. Exp : is your goal simply to update your audience on an event OR do you want them to take an immediate action? State your specific purpose as precisely as possible exp (i) (ii) (iii) identifying which audience members should respond, how they should respond, when they should respond. To decide whether you should continue with your (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) will anything change as a result of this message is this message realistic is it acceptable to my organization is the right person delivering this message is it being delivered at the right time.

message, ask your self these questions :

2. Developing an Audience Profile : Ask your self some key questions about your audience (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) who are they how many people do you need to reach how much do they already know about the subject what is their probable reaction to your message

3. Gathering Information How ? (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) consider other viewpoints reading reports and other company documents talking with supervisors, colleagues, or customers asking your audience for input

if youre given a vague request, ask questions to clarify it before you plan a response. Include any additional information that might be helpful, even though the requester didnt specifically ask for it. (i) Providing Required Information Test the completeness of your message by making sure it answers all the important questions; who, what, when, where, why and how. Exp : Dear Ms Hill, I just got back from a great vacation in Hawaii. However, this morning I discovered that my favourite black leather shoes are missing. Since I wore them in Hawaii, I assume I left them at the Hawaii Sands Hotel. Please check the items in your lost and found and let me know whether you have the missing shoes.

- the letter fails to tell Hill everything she needs to know. The what could be improved by including a detailed description of the missing shoes (size, brand etc), when the writer stayed in the hotel, where (which room), how to return the shoes. (ii) (iii) (iv) be sure the information is accurate and the commitments you make can be kept. Ethics should guide your decisions when determining how much detail to include in your message. Try to figure out what points will especially interest your audience; then give those points the most attention. Rely on common sense if you dont know enough about your audience to know exactly what will interest them. 4. Selecting the Right Medium (i) Oral Media Exp : Speeches, presentations, meetings Best used when a. you want immediate feedback from the audience. b. accept c. d. e. f. g. You need no permanent record You can assemble your audience conveniently and economically You want to encourage interaction to solve a problem or reach a group decision. You want to read the audiences body language or hear the tone of their response. Your message has an emotional component. Your message is straightforward and easy to

(ii)

Written Media Memos, letters, reports Best used when : a. you need no immediate feedback b. your message is detailed, complex, requires careful planning. c. You need a permanent, verifiable record. d. Your audience is large and geographically dispersed. e. You want to minimize the distortion that can occur when messages pass orally from person to person. f. Immediate interaction with the audience is either unimportant or undesirable. g. Your message has limited emotional components.

(iii)

Electronic Media E-mail, telephones, videotape, fax, voice mail, websites. Best used when : a. you need speed b. c. d. youre physically separated from your audience time zones differ you must reach a dispersed audience

personally. 5. Organizing your Information Exp : General Nutrition Corporation has been doing business with Computer ?Time since I was hired 6 years ago. Your building was smaller then, and it was located on the corner of Federal Avenue and 2nd N.W. Jared Mallory, our controller, was one of your first customers. I still remember the day. It was the biggest check Id ever written. Of course, over the years, Ive gotten used to larger purchases. 5

Our department now has 15 employees. As accountants, we need to have our computers working so that we can do our jobs. The CD-RW drive we brought for my assistant, Suzanne, has been a problem. Weve taken it for repairs three times in three months to the authorized service center, and Suzanne is very careful with the machines and hasnt abused it. She does like playing interactive adventure games on lunch breaks. Anyway, it still doesnt work right, and shes tired of hauling it back and forth. Were all putting in longer hours because it is our busy season, and none of us has a lot of spare time. This is the first time were returned anything to your store, and I hope youll agree that we deserve a better deal. 4 common mistakes above : (i) taking too long to get to the point No intro to topic Main point faulty CD-RW only in third paragraph. Purpose only in the last paragraph ie requesting an adjustment. Solution : make the subject and purpose clear and get to the point without wasting the readers time. (ii) including irrelevant material CT used to be smaller or it was in a different location 15 employees; assistant likes playing computer games in the afternoon Solution : Include only information that is related to the subject and purpose (iii) getting ideas mixed up Saunders tries to make points 6

her company has money to spend its an old customer it has purchased numerous items at Computer Time the CD-RW drive doesnt work Saunders wants an adjustment However, the ideas are mixed up and located in the wrong places. Solution: group similar ideas and present them in a logical way: one idea leading to the next.

(iv)

leaving out necessary information No mention of the make, model, price, date of purchase, specific problems, the repairs covered by the warranty. No mention of what she wants them to do send a new replacement of the same model or different model or refund the money. Solution : include all the information necessary for the audience to respond as the writer wishes. Most disorganized communication suffers from problems with clarity, relevance, grouping and completeness. Good organization helps your audience understands your message, accept your message and saves both their time and the writers time. How? Audience doesnt have to read and reread to make sense of the writing. For the writer, the writing process is quicker. Helps you to divide portions of writing assignment among co-workers. The audience is also able to make better decisions based on the information.

To organize a message Define your main idea. Make specific statement about the topic. Limit the scope adjust space and detail allocated to major points Choose the direct or indirect approach anticipate audiences reaction to the message. If the reaction is going to be positive, use the direct approach. If the reaction is going to be negative, use the indirect approach. Direct Approach The direct approach anticipates no resistance to its message--for instance, "you've been hired," "your order is being shipped today," or even "the project will be done in one week." In this case, organizing your message is simple. If you're using the direct approach, this introduction is simply a straightforward statement of the main point of the message. For instance, if you are writing a letter to confirm an order, simply begin by stating, "We have received your order for part #23-B-4439 and are shipping it today." Then the rest of the letter can provide details like shipping time, cost, etc. Whenever possible, use the direct approach. Most readers are in a hurry and want the main point up front. And if there's no reason for them to respond negatively, there's no reason to delay that main point. Keep in mind that the direct approach applies equally to letters, memos, and e-mail messages.

 Indirect Approach Sometimes, your letter, memo, or e-mail message contains "bad news" of some type--a rejection of a request for funding, a report that a project won't be completed on time, a notice that an order hasn't been shipped yet. In that case, you may need to adopt an indirect approach, one that strategically delays the bad news until your reader has been prepared to accept or deal with it in a positive way. Think of situations in which you've had to communicate bad news orally--that someone has broken his or her arm at work, for instance. You generally don't go to that person's family and simply blurt out that their loved one has been hurt. You usually begin with something to soften the bad news a bit. For example, you might begin by assuring them that their loved one is okay or is being taken care of. Then you might go on to explain the injury and what has been done and so forth. postpone the bad news and to win trust. Here are some examples. "I agree that the Smith account is important" (even though the memo eventually informs the reader that it won't be completed until next week). "Thank-you for your recent interest in the book-keeping position" (even though the letter eventually informs the reader that the company has decided to offer the job to another applicant). That bit of reassurance in this case is called the buffer--material designed to

"Your order is being shipped today" (even though the rest of the letter might go on to discuss the fact that the price has increased since the order was placed). Now be careful with buffers. What you don't want to do is create the impression that you're stalling, or attempting to hide the negative message. If there is bad news to communicate, you have to be honest in communicating it and you need to get to it in a way that doesn't waste your reader's time. However, a well-placed paragraph, sentence, or just a phrase can go a long way toward softening the blow and helping readers realize that even though the news is bad, you still have their best interests in mind. Group your points. Construct an outline and visualize the relationship between the ideas and the supporting material.

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