Professional Writing Skills: Five Simple Steps to Write Anything to Anyone

TO: Data Processing ManagersSUBJECT: Delays in data processing
There’s a problem with the Data Processing group, and as a manager, you can help solve it.
The group has failed to meet its deadlines for the past several months, and this failure is causing delays and confusion throughout the company. Please take the following steps:
Make sure your team members read the full Data Processing Organizational Format
Make sure they follow the format listed on page 23
Submit outlines of each team member’s responsibilities
When you need to report a problem, follow the procedures on page 603 of the Manager’s Handbook.
If you have questions or other suggestions, please email Joe at joe@help.com.

WRITING TO PERSUADE:

Why should readers do what I want them to do?
[e.g., why should they make a purchase?]
WRITING TO INFORM:

What do readers need to know?
[e.g., what do they need to learn about a new procedure that will start in one week?]

considering your readers’ point of view, deciding what you want to accomplish, and stating your main point clearly in a key sentence.

It’s usually best if your main message fits in one key sentence, but two or three sentences are fine if they’re concise and easy to grasp.

It’s usually best if the key sentence leads the document.

It’s increasingly important to keep business messages highly focused — offering busy, distracted readers ideas that will register quickly

With our current IT system, all of our offices operate independently. This fact slows our sales process by two to three days and increases our cost for customer care by about 30 percent. Please approve this new system to unify our systems, cut costs, and significantly improve customer service.”

We could also find another time to accommodate your schedule. P

We could also find another time to accommodate your schedule.

An email asking the head office to approve your request for new technology
A proposal suggesting that a prospective client hire your firm for a project
You write primarily to inform readers when you write …
A message to a client explaining the reasons to cancel an insurance policy
A report detailing the findings for a research project
Use writing to Support your team or Team Members
Writing is often critical for successful professional teamwork, and team members and leaders communicate more effectively when they identify their primary purpose for each email or status report they write. Team leaders often need to communicate a clear vision in writing — e.g.,