Electronic Communication and the Negative Impact of Miscommunication

Electronic communications, improve efficiency and productivity, but poorly written emails can cause internal strife, low morale, and loss of clients. Effective written communication will enhance internal communications as well as external communications. The ability to write effectively is a core skill that all employees, no matter what their title is, should master. If the content of an email is unclear, grammatically incorrect or is full of typos, the email will cause misunderstandings and the possible loss of business. A chain reaction of emails or letters will occur, questioning the next course of action and clients will undoubtedly believe that we will treat them with the same carelessness we took in creating that correspondence. Case in point, a letter was recently sent to one of our clients misquoting our fees, a second letter was sent to the client correcting the fee, but was addressed to the wrong person. We have since lost this client. Jonathan Hershberg, president of Opus Associates, a communications training developer based in New York, states, "If I get an e-mail that's full of errors and I know nothing else about you," Hershberg says, "there's no reason for me not to think you'll handle my business in the same way you handled that writing.” (Moerke, A, 2004) We have seen an example of this kind of writing. A benefit distribution memo was created for the wife of a deceased participant. The salutation of the letter addressed the deceased, not the wife. Correspondences regarding death benefits require special attention. Correspondence should never be addresses to the deceased. All writers should use the method of prewriting, brainstorming, writing and organizing, revising for style, and proofreading to produce memos, letters, emails, and reports The suggested percentage of time spent on each writing step is as follows: (Jaderstrom, Miller, and Office Pro June 2004)

Prewriting 12.5%

Brainstorming 25.0%

Writing and organizing 25.0%

Revising for style 25.0%

Proofreading 12.5%

Emails are less formal then letters or memorandums; and the authors of emails tend to abbreviate words and use slang to get his or her meaning across quickly. This may be acceptable for communication inside the company, but it will confuse external clients. John Patrick, President of Attitud...

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...ding and spellchecking the content before sending to our internal or external clients. The clients will notice the change in the professionalism of our writing. Overall, the outcome can only benefit the company and its employees.

References

Crainer, Stuart, Dearlove, Des, Across the Board (2004) Making yourself Understood – The New Language of Business, 41, Issue 3, Retrieved September 28, 2004 from the EBSCOhost database

Jaderstrom, Susan, Miller, Joanne, Office Pro (2004) - Writing with Purpose Business Source Premier , 64, Issue 5 Retrieved September 28, 2004 from the EBSCOhost database

Moerke, Amy, (2004) Business Writing Brushup Sales & Marketing Management, 156, Issue 5 Retrieved September 28, 2004 from the EBSCOhost database

Shea, Gordon F, Training & Development, (1992) A Case for Clear Writing, 46 Issue 1, p63, Retrieved September 28, 2004 from the EBSCOhost database

Hudson Valley Business Journal (2001) Email underlines need for better business writing skills,. 11, Issue 26 Retrieved September 28, 2004 from the EBSCOhost database

Reed Business Information Ltd. Personnel Today, (2004), p18, 2p Retrieved September 28, 2004 from the EBSCOhost database