Unit-3 Business Communication
Meaning of Written Communication:
Written Communication’ means the sending of messages, orders or
instructions in writing through letters, circulars, manuals, reports, telegrams,
office memos, bulletins, etc.
It is a formal method of communication and is less flexible. A written
document preserved properly becomes a permanent record for future
reference.
Written communication, to be effective, should be clear, complete, concise,
correct, and courteous.
WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
Advantages of Written Communication:
The advantages of Written Communication are stated below:
1. It is suitable for long distance communication and repetitive standing
orders.
2. It creates permanent record of evidence. It can be used for future
reference.
3. It gives the receiver sufficient time to think, act and react.
4. It can be used as legal document.
5. It can be sent to many persons at a time.
6. It is suitable for sending statistical data, chart, diagram, pictures, etc.
7. Order, allocation of work, job distribution, etc. in written form reduce
ambiguity and help in fixation of responsibility.
8. Uniformity in work procedure can be maintained through written
communication.
9. It is easy to send unpleasant or bad news through written communication.
10. A good written communication can create goodwill and promote
business.
Limitations or Disadvantages of Written Communication:
Followings are the limitations or disadvantages of Written
Communication:
1. It is time-consuming. Composing a message in writing takes much time.
Writing letters, typing orders, notices, etc. and sending to appropriate
destination require time. Feedback process also is not instant.
2. It is expensive and not so much easy to write instantly.
3. Written communication has no scope for immediate clarification if not
understood properly.
4. Being written in nature it is less flexible and cannot be changed easily.
5. It is not effective in the case of emergency.
Purpose of Writing
Purpose is the reason why we write, and we write for many different purposes. There are
many ways to achieve your writing purpose: choose a form, choose the correct language,
choose the style, organization, and kinds of evidence.
Following could be some of the purposes;
• Are you trying to sound more personal or authoritative?
• Are you wanting to entertain or inform?
• Are you relating to your audience or keeping the audience distant?
• Do you want to sound formal or informal?
There are many purposes to writing. The most popular are to inform, to entertain,
to explain, or to persuade. However, there are many more including to express
feelings, explore an idea, evaluate, mediate, problem solve, or argue for or against
an idea.
Writers often combine purposes in a single piece of writing.
Principles of effective writing
Written English is more challenging since words and sentences alone have to be able to convey the
meaning.
These principles of good writing should help you practice the art. Work on each of them regularly
and you will get good at writing.
1. Grammatically correct: Grammatical errors are an unpardonable sin! Grammar, in writing, is
like the straight walls that gives the piece/sentence its beautiful, erect structure. With the basic
structure gone wrong, the intention and feelings behind your words don’t matter.
2. Active voice: Makes communication clear and direct. Using passive voice confuses the reader
and he realises midway through the sentence what you are really talking about. Active voice, apart
from making the meaning clear, also helps forms less wordy sentences.
3. Concise: Nothing kills written communication like long winding sentences. William Zinsser, in
his book, On Writing Well – which is my Bible on writing skills – talks about simplicity and clutter.
He says that one needs to edit and re-edit one’s work to ruthlessly strike out every single word that
does no service to your thought or language. We do tend to use a lot of unnecessary words and
have a lot of scope for making our writing more concise and clear.
4. Structure: A clear beginning, middle and an endStructure is the like the floors that lead you
logically to each floor of thought. And also tells you where it’s leading you to. It is more
challenging to understand the chain of thought in written communication than when it is expressed
verbally. Hence, it is our duty to stay on track to be able to guide our readers better.
5. Choice of words: Simple or complicated? The words that you use determine your style. Your
writing could be easy on the reader or have lot of long, hard words just for embellishment,
hampering the readers‘ comprehension. What is more important is to be able to use the right words
that convey the exact meaning. Words can convey positive, negative, strong or weak messages
depending on what you choose to express yourself. Hence, building your vocabulary is important.
6. Audience: The most important element of your writing! Unless you are writing your personal
journal, you need to constantly keep your audience in mind. Whether you are writing for a bunch
of 5 yr olds or for science scholars – the style will differ. You can’t treat all audience equally.
7. Punctuation: Yes, it still matters! Thanks to all forms of instant chat, we seem to have forgotten
that commas and semi-colons exist for a reason. But when you communicate formally or are writing
meaningful prose, you cannot afford to ignore this important principle of writing. “Let’s eat,
grandpa” and “let’s eat grandpa” is the huge difference that punctuation can make, or the lack of
it.
Careful proof reading is critical for the effective outcome of your message
8. Proofread: Always Twice Check, as many times as it is required to get it perfect.After you finish
writing, read and re-read and check for typos and grammar errors. Check for concision and cut out
every single word that doesn’t add meaning or obscures it. And check for meaning – does it convey
exactly what you want and has no scope for miscommunication.
Clarity In Writing
• The needs, expectations, fears and attitudes of the audience or readers to whom the message is
intended should be identified.
• Clarify doubts or confusions to avoid unclear messages
• Structure thoughts in accordance with the structure of the language.
• Format of sentences, paragraphs and composition should follow the rules of English and
grammar.
• Principles of unity and coherence should be followed while binding words into sentences,
sentences into paragraphs and paragraphs into essays.
• Familiar words should be used and jargons should be avoided.
• Simple sentences should be used and complex sentences should be avoided.
• Message must be conveyed clearly and quickly without leading to misunderstanding.
E-Mail
• Email is a service which allows us to send the message in electronic mode over the internet. It
offers an efficient, inexpensive and real time mean of distributing information among people.
• Each user of email is assigned a unique name for his email account. This name is known as E-
mail address. Different users can send and receive messages according to the e-mail address.
• E-mail is generally of the form username@domainname
• Example – naman@axiscolleges.in
Advantages of an Email
• Reliable
• Convenience
• Speed
• Inexpensive
• Printable
• Global
Structure of an Email
• From: Email address of the sender.
• To: Email address of the receiver.
• CC: Email address of those to whom the same message is to be sent.
• Subject: Reflect the main content of the message.
• Salutation: Greeting as a matter of courtesy.
• Body: The message is divided into suitable paragraphs.
• Leave taking: Courteous expression denoting the end of the message.
• Attachments: Attached files with email.
• Signature Line: Your name and designation; the organisation to which you belong; your
phone or fax number.
SMS
• Short Message Service (SMS), is the facility to send and receive text messages to and from
mobile telephones.
• The text may be in the form of words or numbers or an alphanumeric combinations.
• A Business SMS is a short text message that companies send to promote their products,
inform about discounts, give coupons, or share important updates and news with their
community.
Benefits of SMS
• Has global coverage
• Motivates a quick reaction
• It creates a high level of engagement
• Works great for local businesses
Types of Business SMS
Transactional
• This type allows e-commerce stores to confirm orders.
• For postal services, it is a way to provide tracking and delivery information.
Promotional
• Helps in marketing efforts, serves as a platform for sending proposals, discounts,
and coupons.
• This type also serves to share relevant news or to invite to webinars, conferences,
and other events.
