Module 3- Written communication

Meaning and definition:

Communication that takes place through written symbols, hand written or printed
form is called as written communication.
Example: Memos, letters, bulletins, circulars, magazines, handbooks etc.
It is generally an interaction through written words.
It is the most popular among the other types of communication in business
communication.
“Written communication is defined as clear expression of ideas in writing which
includes grammar, organization and structure”.
Written communication is a permanent record and can be referred to at
convenience. It can be repeatedly read, re-read and modified to our satisfaction.
There is not much loss of message. There is no possibility of missing any part of
knowledge. It is accepted as a legal document. Even oral messages are confirmed
through writing at a later date. There is no possibility of contravening a written
order through misunderstanding. Written message can be reached by anybody
through out the word. Besides it is the cheapest method of communication. Written
communication, if written with care.
Characteristics of written communication:
 Sender and receiver not present at same time: Unlike oral
communication there is no need for the sender and receiver to be available
at the same time because the sender can send a message based on his
convenience and the receiver can view and respond to the sender’s message
as per his time availability.
 Time factor: Written communication consumes a lot of time when
compared to oral communication as the sender has to think and visualize
what matter is to be written to the receiver. The writer is more careful,
focused and particular about the information that is to be disseminated.
 Exercised for documentation: Written communication is generally
preferred as a mode of record keeping for essential and important
documents to be maintained in the business sector as well as day to day
life. Therefore it has more value or weightage when compared to oral
 communication. It is having more legal weightage and cannot be changed
or mended or falsification of information is not possible.
 Circulating information: Whenever any information has to be provided
across the different levels of management i.e from top level to bottom level
or vice-versa written communication is preferred as the information to be
conveyed cannot be filtered when it passes across different levels of
hierarchy.
 Most formal in nature: Written communication is considered as the most
formal method of communication because it is more often structured,
organized and concise in nature. It is also regarded as the professional way
of communicating among business professionals.
 Creative activity: It is regarded as a creative activity because it requires
thinking a lot in-order to attract the people or customers in business. Take
the profession of a catalogue designer, story writer, content writer etc all
these jobs require attractive writing skills for success.
Types of written communication:
External written communication: letters, reports, graphs, charts, e-mail, fax,
notice, advertisement, newspapers, Invitation, forms, questionnaire.
Internal written communication: Memo, reports, graphs, charts, minutes, e-
mail, notice, forms, questionnaire.
Difference between oral and written communication:
On the basis of Written communication Oral communication

Expression In written form In oral form

length Can be precise Cannot be precise
Time Consumed more Consumed less
Completeness Easy to understand Difficult to understand
Nature of formality Formal Informal
Impact Taken seriously Taken casually
Verification Can be verified for records Cannot be verified
Purpose of writing:
Writing to inform:
• If the writer provides some information and tries to explain that then that
written information is called informative writing.
• Also known as expository writing.
• Explains and elaborates the facts, ideas.
• Focuses on the topic or subject under discussion
• Purpose of educating readers
Writing to persuade:
• Called as persuasive writing or argumentative writing.
• Tries to convince the reader.
• Opinions are stated and not facts.
• Focus is on the reader.
• Making the readers thoughts similar to the writer.
• Ex; Essays, Novels, Business research reports, stories.
Clarity in writing:
• Use of clear and comprehensible language for effective writing.
• Free from jargons.
• Simple words and good vocabulary.
• Ideas to be represented in simplest form for the reader to understand.
• Example: A number of replace with ‘many’.
• At the earliest replaced with ’soon’.
• Fullest possible extent replaced with ‘completely or fully’
Coherence:
• Degree to which different parts of a sentence are co-related.
• Non usage of extra words
• Sender and receiver build the same perception about the matter being
conveyed.
• Example usage of the words like it, that, this etc.
• I found a gold man’s watch===I found a man’s gold watch.
Brevity:
• Being concise
• Enables readability
• Long sentences or phrases should be replaced with short words.
• Discard repetitions
• The quality of being concise and explaining the complete meaning at the
same time is termed as brevity.
Importance of brevity:
• Saves time
• Enhances clarity
• Demands conciseness
Principles of effective writing:
• Place the reader first: The most vital thing to be kept in a writers mind is to
know about who are the readers, what are the languages known by them,
what is the understanding ability of them etc. The subject matter is also
chosen depending upon the interest of the readers and therefore it is very
necessary to know about such characteristics of the readers.
• Keep to the point: Many writers commonly make a mistake of exaggerating
the concept or subject matter under discussion. Therefore such exaggeration
will cause deviation from the actual matter to be discussed and the writer
will lose the connectivity to the audience. Excess of exaggeration of concept
 will often cause boredom to the readers and they are prone to lose their
interest.
• Set the right tone: It is very much essential to set the right tone for the
writer to address the audience or readers. Setting the right tone here refers to
the way the writer tries to take the readers on his way of thinking and
anticipation, the tone generally includes politeness, courtesy, humbleness,
respect etc offered to the readers.
• Write a strong opening: A strong opening is one that generally creates an
interest in the minds of the readers to go through the further descriptions of
the written content. Many readers have a habit of reading only the first few
lines of the content therefore it is very important for the writer to create an
interest in the minds of the readers at the initial stage itself.
• Write a strong close: A strong close makes the readers know and realize
that whether they have actually benefited from the message conveyed by the
writer or not. Thus if a valuable message is conveyed at the end of a
document written then definitely the same readers will be interested to read
other editions, releases offered by the writer.
Approaching the writing process systematically: 3x3 writing process:
The 3X3 writing process to business communication:
Introduced by Guffey.
When composing any document consulting the four basic principles of business
writing is recommended. Another great tool to keep available is the 3-x-3 writing
process. This process takes all of the information presented above and puts it into a
neat package. This is a simple process that encompasses three steps to guarantee
your success.
1. Prewriting – Form the purpose, profile your audience and determine the
correct tone and method.
2. Writing – Research, organize and comprise the message
3. Revising – Proofread, revise and determine if the message will appeal to the
audience.
Guffey (2013), states that the revising process is the most time consuming of the
three. She also recommends allotting a specific percentage of time to each area.
Step one: 25%, step two: 25% and step three: 50%. (p. 81). These steps are
guidelines for the inexperienced writer. As you become more familiar with
business writing feel free to arrange the steps to make them work for your writing
style and your success.

Persuasive letters:
• It is a convincing message or letter from seller to buyer.
• Written with the aim of persuading or influencing one’s opinion.
• The tone of letter decides about the positive or negative impact.
• Example:
• Requesting employees to work on weekends voluntarily.
• Letters for making donations for charity.
 • Mostly used by business firms
For format refer slides
Positive message or good news letter:
• It is a carrier of a optimistic message to the receiver.
• These letters are used on the occurrence of some happy and delightful event.
• It is written in a very simple language.
• Includes sincerity and honesty.
• The tone is informal and friendly used here.
• It is also known as a affirmative letter.
For format refer slides

Negative message or bad news letters:

• It generally conveys disappointment, bad news, unpleasant information.
• It includes refusal of employee or customer request.
• Ex: information about product recall.
• The reader must be able to comprehend the negative message.
• The relationship between sender and receiver must not be affected.
For format refer slides

Business letters:
• A business letter is a also called as business correspondence letter.
• A business letter is an effective medium to exchange and convey
information, ideas, instructions etc in a written form.
• It is included in the category of formal communication.
• It is used by companies, employees, government, agencies, suppliers etc
Structure of business letter:
• Letterhead
• Date
• Inside name and address
• Courtesy title
• Subject
• Salutation
• Message
• Complimentary close
• Signatures & designations
• Reference initials
• Enclosures and copy line

Types of business letters:

• Sales letter
• Credit letter
• Offers and quotations
• Order letter
• Claim letter
• Thank you letter
• Recommendation letter
• Settlement letter
• Complaint letter
 • Collection letter
• Status enquiry
• Persuasive letter
• Follow up letter
• Job application letter
• Letter to editor
• Bank correspondence letter

Layout of business letter:

Physical appearance
• Good quality of paper
• Proper arrangement of the typed matter
• Properly folded and kept in the envelop
• The envelop itself has to contain the addressee’s name and address and
stamping
Standardised styles of letter formats
• Full or complete block form
• Indented form
• Semi-block form
• Modified block form
• Hanging indented form
• Simplified form of N.O.M.A
Refer slides for the format of all letters
Memo:
 Business memos are internal documents sent to employees to convey
information about the company.
 Memos are often sent to notify staff members about a meeting or new policy
the company feels is important enough to warrant more than word-of-mouth
dissemination.
 Memos are often informal, with less attention to structure, formatting,
grammar and quality of paper.
 A memo is a short message that is sent by a person to another.
 A memo is more concise and to the point.
 A memo is exchanged between individuals within an organization.
 A memo usually has a header that states where it is from and who it is
intended for.

Structure of Memo:
TO: This is where the name of the recipient goes, along with their title in the
company.
FROM: the name of the sender, his/her position, and if the memo is printed, the
sender’s initials.
DATE: the date the memo is sent.
SUBJECT or RE: the title of the memo. It mentions the situation the memo will
address.
2. Next, the memo’s content generally follows this structure:
a. Situation/Problem- an introduction or the purpose of the memo followed by
a description of the issue at hand.
b. Solution/ Action– the steps needed to resolve the problem and how they are
to be carried out.
 c. Closing- ends with a polite expression; also, provide a contact number where
the recipient can reach you and offer to answer any questions that may arise.
Format of Memo:

MEMORANDUM
TO: Suresh Agarwal, Store Manager
FROM: Deepak Dutta, Assistant Manager
DATE: March 18, 2014
RE: Dress Code Issues
A number of our clients have expressed their concern over the way certain
sales associates are dressed. Clients complain their clothing does not reflect
our store’s good image and quality of service, and instead makes them look
trashy and unprofessional.
I think it is necessary for us to establish and enforce a dress code for all our
store employees. Some of the items that can no longer be considered
appropriate are excessively baggy pants and T-shirts, low cut blouses, and any
garment that exposes the chest and back.
I would like to discuss this issue with you at your convenience, and also
answer any questions you may have. Please contact me at XXX-XXXX.

Proposals:
• The word ‘proposal’ is derived from the word ‘propose’ which means to put
forward .
• Hence it is an offer by a party to another party for providing goods or
services in exchange of monetary amenities.
• It is usually issued by a customer or client.
Structure of proposal
• Cover letter or memo
• Title page or cover
• Reference to authorization
• Table of contents
• List of illustrations
• Proposal summary
• Purpose
• Problem or need
• Background
• Benefits of proposals
• Description of solution
• Evaluation plan
• Qualifications of personnel
• Time schedule
• Cost
• Glossary
• Appendixes
• Reference list

Press release:
 A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news
media for the purpose of providing information or making an announcement.
A press release is traditionally composed of nine structural elements,
including a headline, introduction, body, and other information.
 Press releases can be delivered to members of the media physically on paper
and electronically.
Writing a press release:
 What is this about?
 What is the actual news?
 Where does this event happen?
 Why does this event take place?
 Why this is news?
 How is this happening?

E-mails and E-filing

 The abbreviated form of electronic mail is 'email'. Email is a system used for
creating, sending/receiving and storing data in a digital format over a
network of computers. Today's email technology uses the store-and-forward
model. In this model, users send and receive information on their computer
terminals.
 An electronic filing system is a system of organizing files that utilizes hard
drive space or network space. The system may either be computer software,
an Internet-based program, or a simple file and folder system on the desktop
of a computer. Electronic filing systems are used on multiple devices,
ranging from our cell phones to our video game consoles to our digital video
recorder.