Merits and Demerits of written communication

Communication through words may be in written or oral. Written

communication entails transmission of messages in full reality. It is the way
to transmit messages in writing for the proper implementation of
organizational functions. It may be texture mainly in pictures, drafts,
graphs, reports, policies, rules, orders, instructions, or agreements etc.

Written communication guarantees that same message is being forwarded to

everyone concerned, or all concerned should have same information. It
provides a long-standing communication record for future. Written
instructions are essential to the Important and complex actions. Written
communication should be active, can be understandable, concise and
comprehensive to be true. The main merits and demerits of written
communication are as follows:-

Merits of written communication-

1. It is accurate and correct: Written communication is usually carried

out with utmost understanding and care. Individual consciousness is
required with the act of writing. He reveals his thoughts seriously and
tries to organize them. Because, written communication is an open
message to verification, and its authenticity can be easily challenged,
the message carrier is required to be accurate and factual. Therefore,
greater accuracy and precision in written communication is
emphasized.
2. It can be repeatedly referenced: The recipient of written
communication can be time on other message again. According his
needs he can read the message again and again, until he thinks the
message he understood well. Also, if we compare it with verbal
communication, the risk of losing any part of the message is little in
written communication. Even not understanding the message properly,
the receiver does not request for its recurrence. This is because; the
reader fears that the sender can assume that the recipient does not
have an ability to understand his points. It is also possible that some
significant part of the message can be mixed through the end.
3. This is a permanent record: Written communication of the
organization becomes a permanent record and can be useful for future
reference. Old orders and decisions to the latest decision could serve
as examples. Create new policies based on last year's report, and is
considered beneficial to the set current goal.
4. This is an acceptable legal document: Written communication is
acceptable as a legal document. Therefore, in traditional management
systems written communication has been discouraged. But officials in
 modern management systems that even though some messages may
have transmitted orally, but they certainly should be confirmed in
writing later.
5. It facilitates placement of responsibilities: If communications are
being preserved in writing it makes easier the allocation of
responsibility through organization. If any mistake as a result of verbal
communication succeeds, it's hard to find that who is the actual faulty;
the sender or the recipient. It is also possible that the fault may be
instead of the sender or recipients have occurred in transmission or
receipt. Manager sometime think that the employee pays more
attention or trust on written message or orders rather than oral
transmission of message.
6. Its reach is extremely broad: In communication media the written
communication is developing in a comprehensive and entertaining
way. If the geographical location of communicators is too far away
from each other, the written communication can be called a useful,
inexpensive and efficient method to communicate along with the
authenticity of the information.

Demerits of Written communication-

1. Written communication stands a mountain of paper returns in the

premises of organization. In large offices, it is a common sight. Since
the documents as written communication is essential be kept for long,
in which adoption of many complex processes are involves. Despite all,
many valuable documents are lost very often. The managers have to
take care of a big part of many highly sensitive documents, which
wastes a lot of time, labor and cost.
2. The written communication can be texture as a drafts, graphs, reports,
policies, rules, orders, instructions, agreements, etc. which may be
ineffective in the case of weak expression, even though the
communicator is highly efficient in his work . Therefore, the employee
must be qualified in expression as well as efficiency, which are
admitted by the modern organization.
3. Written communication is unable due to lack of immediate response.
Both encoding and transmission of messages take time, which may be
too long. So it is a time consuming process.
4. Written communication is an expensive process. The expenditure on
stationery and the cost affects by the number of people involved in
typing it and sending reports or letters, etc.