A clearly written e-mail could win you new clients or seal a lucrative deal for your company. An ambiguous e-mail with an attached proposal containing spelling and grammar errors could threaten your prospects and give your company’s competitor an advantage. Writing with clarity and correct grammar are two examples of why fundamental writing skills are important at all levels in a professional setting.
This week, you have read how style, tone, format, and clarity of message make effective e-mails, faxes, and memos. Now it’s time to put those principles into practice, examining and expanding on why they are so important.
To prepare for this Assignment:
Chapter 4, pages 116-148 on memo writing guidelines, and “A Writer’s Brief Guide to Paragraphs, Sentences, and Words” in the course text. Think about how the format, style, and organization of memos help communicate information in a professional setting and why proper use is so essential.
Consider the advice you would give to someone in your professional setting who is unfamiliar with why effective professional writing is so important.
Review the article “Email Etiquette -or- Never Having to Say You’re Sorry – Part I” located in the Learning Resources. Consider the challenges to both sending and receiving e-mail referenced in this article.
Determine which keys to professional writing are a challenge for you and which seem effortless. Why that is and why would that effect how you communicate professionally?
Think about communications in different cultures and parts of the world. Why might these factors affect the way you create a written communication?
By Day 7
Submit a 1- to 2-page memo that explains WHY effective professional writing is an important skill to have. Be sure to directly address and fully develop the following:
Cultural contexts
Characteristics and examples of effective and ineffective messages
Ethical issues you may encounter when communicating with others
Cite two examples from the reading to support your ideas.
