Academic Writing versus Workplace Writing. The definite purpose, strict format, and use of appropriate language in professional (workplace) writing define the differences between workplace writing and academic writing. The academic writer’s purpose may be to write an assignment, a story, a letter, etc 3/9/ · For many employees, writing at work is nearly as worrisome as public speaking. Maybe your proposals fall flat or you dread penning quarterly reports. Perhaps you sweat over emails, only to have You work for AllStar Business Strategies, a company that offers consulting services across a variety of industries. Your company is continually growing, changing, and becoming increasingly diverse. Your boss, Sandra Smith, has received a number of emails from employees who are concerned about
Professional Writing Basics | Communicating in Businesses and Professions
Effective writing in the workplace is an essential skill. The rules are basically the same for any type of writing, however there are some special issues which arise in the business context. Knowing the elements of good business writing can make or break a career. The key to effective business writing is knowing your audience.
Before you sit down to compose your letter, professional writing in the workplace, memo or report, think about the recipient of your document. What are you trying to say to this person? Organization is crucial. Outlines are an invaluable aid to writing a lengthy report or memo. Remember, time is in short supply for most business professionals. By organizing your professional writing in the workplace beforehand, you can determine what exactly you are trying to say.
Decide what details must be included in the report or memo. Look for graphic elements to add to your presentation, especially if your report contains many boring statistics. Statistics and research bolster your conclusions, especially if they are presented in a visually appealing manner.
With the advent of modern word processing programs such as Microsoft Word and Corel WordPerfect, it is easy to include spread sheets, graphs and colorful clip art to your report, thereby making your work memorable and convincing. After you have decided what the message is that you are trying to convey, work on saying it in concise language.
Be brief, whenever possible. Avoid wordiness and unnecessary large words. Strive for clarity in your writing and avoid vagueness unless there is good reason to be vague. For example: Wordy - It is the responsibility of the recruiting committee to ensure that the goals of the hiring task force have been implemented. Precise - Our recruiting committee must meet the hiring goals of the hiring task force.
Wordy - The hurricane had the effect of a destructive force on the manufacturing plant. Precise - The hurricane destroyed the manufacturing plant. Avoid using vague words when a more precise word will do. Take a tip from the journalists.
Tell the audience what you are going to say, say it using action verbs, then sum up what it is you have said -- and say it in as few words as possible.
White is an attorney with over ten years' experience in major law firms. She is a former instructor at the University of California at Irvine Extension and is a frequent lecturer and writer on legal and business topics including computer law, corporate law, the Internet and effective business communications. Amanda Gorman Delivers Powerful Inaugural Poem, The Hill We Climb. Louise Gluck Awarded Nobel Prize in Literature for Twitter Adds Quote Tweets Feature.
John Green Discusses Revelatory Piece of Writing Advice. Home Book Publishing Grammar Journal Readers Read Writing Contests Writing Prompts Events Tools. Effective Writing For the Workplace by Claire E. White Effective writing in the workplace is an essential skill.
This article addresses some of these basic elements. Know Your Audience The key to effective business writing is knowing your audience. Many errors are due simply to insufficient proofreading of the document.
Corporate lawyers routinely have a secretary read aloud to another person a very long document, while the second person checks for errors in copy. Obviously, you will not always have time for this procedure. However, before you issue a formal report, especially one that will be seen by upper management or will go outside the firm, you must have someone else proofread your document.
Occasionally, the human mind will be too efficient and simply will supply the missing word in a sentence so that you will never notice that it is gone, or will transpose letters to their correct order. It is always easier to find errors in someone else's work. Some errors stem not from lack of proofreading, but from simple grammatical mistakes.
The most common mistakes include misuse of apostrophes, splitting of infinitives although this rule has been revoked by many style manuals, it still drives some people to distraction to see a split infinitive except in creative writing or dialogueusing contractions in formal writing, misuse of commas, incomplete sentences, ending a sentence with a preposition, verbs not agreeing with subjects and pronouns not agreeing with their antecedents.
Invest in some good reference books, including a good grammar book and a good style book, such as The Chicago Manual of Style.
Use them. Effective Use of Passive Voice "Sometimes the passive voice can be a useful tool for avoiding placing blame for an error or for intentionally making a sentence vague.
Effective use of passive voice in business writing is an art. Punch up your writing with active voice! In general, you should use active voice whenever possible in your writing, professional writing in the workplace.
Well, like every other rule in the English language, there is an exception to this one. Sometimes the passive voice can be a useful tool for avoiding placing blame for an error or for making a sentence intentionally vague, professional writing in the workplace.
Sometimes you will be called upon to write a memo or other report describing a corporate disaster that occurred because someone made a mistake. Passive voice can be used to describe the mistake without directly placing blame, especially if the recipient of the memo happens to be a your superior in the company; and b the person who made the error which led to the disaster. In this situation it would be tactless, to say the least, to use active voice boldly to describe how your boss erred -- not to mention the deleterious effect it could have upon your career.
Tactful honesty is a skill greatly admired in corporate America. Use it when needed, but use it sparingly. For example, instead of the memo saying: "Because J. Smith forgot to include the correct budget projections with the bid, professional writing in the workplace lost the client," try "The correct budget was inadvertently left out of the client packet, which led to the loss of the client, professional writing in the workplace.
It is unclear who left out the crucial enclosure, professional writing in the workplace. Your boss knows very well who is at fault, and will appreciate your not blaring the obvious to the entire company. Of course, this does leave the door open for you to be blamed for the catastrophe. Careful wording of who had responsibility for the client pitch will alleviate this problem.
Passive voice, in general, should be avoided in business writing. However, professional writing in the workplace, there are times when judicious use of passive voice can increase the tact and diplomacy of your writing. Gender-Neutral Writing "[C]ommunication is best achieved by writing in the preferred style professional writing in the workplace the recipient of your document -- especially if the recipient has anything to do with professional writing in the workplace chances of promotion.
Under the traditional rules, the word "he" included both the female and male genders when referring to an individual's actions. In today's society, most women take offense at this reference, professional writing in the workplace.
For a time, writers used "she" in their writing, sometimes alternating with "he". This is confusing to the reader to say the least, and is offensive to many men. The best way to deal with this problem is to eliminate the pronoun altogether whenever possible: "Everyone should open the report to page 1. The theory is that it is better to be grammatically incorrect than to risk offending half of the population.
Actually, "their" has been used for several hundred years to refer to a singular antecedent of indeterminate gender by famous authors including Jane Austen, C. Lewis, Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare. Some scholars advocate the use of neologisms such as "hir" a combination of his and her. The issue is a hot one in some academic circles, professional writing in the workplace.
Unless your boss holds a doctorate in English however, it is unlikely that he or she is aware of this controversy and simply will think that you cannot distinguish between singular and plural pronouns. Therefore, professional writing in the workplace, steer clear of "their" in this context. With the exception of certain industries, most corporations are formal places and grammatical errors will be seen simply as that -- not as an example of your tactfulness regarding a gender issue.
If you must, use "he or she", which is correct, if somewhat annoying when used many times in the same article. This is no longer acceptable. Write "Dear Sir or Madam", or better yet, use the title of the unkown addressee.
If you know only the initial and last name of the addressee, address the letter as "Dear J. Recent Trends in Business Writing Professional writing in the workplace recent articles describe a relaxation of formality in America's workplace, in everything from dress to writing styles. These articles urge professionals and workers to use simple words in company correspondence and to dispense with formality.
While it is true that formality in the workplace has relaxed somewhat in the past ten years, a word of caution is in order.
First, many of these articles are not written by business professionals. Although some industries have relaxed formality in dress and in writing styles, many have not -- especially those in the financial, banking and legal worlds.
The region of the country in which your company is located must also be considered. For example, attire which might be considered appropriate in a computer design firm in Silicon Valley might not be at all appropriate in a large bank in Chicago professional writing in the workplace New York.
The same rule applies to writing styles. The best approach is to obtain writing samples written by the CEO and other top officers of your company. Are they formal in style? The tone of a company is set by the person or persons at the top of the company. You should tailor your writing style to match this style, just as you would tailor your dress to the style of the company for which you work.
Some firms pride themselves on the fact that their employees do not wear suits - computer companies and companies in the graphic arts often follow this creed. Others, such as those in the financial services industry, pride themselves on the fact that they have not relaxed any formality requirements even though the world around them has changed.
The best rule is to follow the style of your company's upper-echelon leaders. If they use a formal style for inter-office memos, you should too.
Professional Writing Skills • Part 1 • Lesson 1
, time: 28:54Professionalism in the Workplace - How to Conduct Yourself on the Job
Academic Writing versus Workplace Writing. The definite purpose, strict format, and use of appropriate language in professional (workplace) writing define the differences between workplace writing and academic writing. The academic writer’s purpose may be to write an assignment, a story, a letter, etc You work for AllStar Business Strategies, a company that offers consulting services across a variety of industries. Your company is continually growing, changing, and becoming increasingly diverse. Your boss, Sandra Smith, has received a number of emails from employees who are concerned about The Importance of Writing in the Workplace. Writing well is one of those skills that can help you rise above in your career, no matter what you do. When done well, strong writing almost falls into the background as your information is seamlessly delivered to your audience
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