Communication for UG lesson 2

Different forms of written communication used in organization

•Business letters-parts of business letters, office order, circular, notice, agenda, minutes

•Order, acceptance & cancellation, complaint and adjustment letters

Introduction

•Letters, memos and emails are brief pieces of communication.

•These modes of communication impact the receivers in different ways.

•Learn to identify business situations that require writing letters, memos and emails

•Acquaint yourself with different formats of letters memos and emails

•A plan should be in order about the message and how to execute it.

•A few terms to familiarize with  

Business Letters

Letters

 A business letter is a formal document often sent from one company to another or from a company to

its clients, employees, and stakeholders,

Business letters are used for professional correspondence between individuals, as well.

PURPOSE OF A BUSINESS LETTER

The purpose for business writings is to inform readers of information you want to get across or

possibly persuade the readers to do something.

THE 7 C 's OF BUSINESS WRITING

Make sure to double check the writing by following the seven C's of business writing. The seven C's

are:

•Clear

•Concise

•Correct

•Courteous

•Conversational

•Convincing

•Complete

source: https://www.eduers.com/businessletter/

KEEPING YOUR LETTER TO THE POINT

•The first thing to make sure of, when writing a business plan is  that you do not waste the reader’s time.

•How can you accomplish that will be ask yourself two questions, "why am I  writing" and "what do I want to achieve."

•If you are able to answer these two questions then, then you  are definitely on track and you can start writing.

•It is a good practice to keep your letter short and get straight to the point.

COMMON TYPES OF BUSINESS LETTERS

The different types of letters are: acknowledgement, adjustment, complaint, inquiry, order, and

response letter.

Acknowledgement letter:

•This letter is meant to thank the reader for something they did for you in the office.

•It could simply be saying thanks for receiving something the reader sent or maybe thanking them for

their help with something.

•This type of letter is not required in a business environment, but it is appreciated.

Adjustment Letter:

•This letter should be used in response to a written complaint against someone or something.

•The purpose of it is to inform the reader that actions are being taken against the wrong doing as well

as it serves as a legal document acknowledging the complaint.

Complaint Letter :

•The complaint letter is much like the adjustment letter except no wrong doing as taken place.

•Instead, this letter is just to let the reader know that an error as been found and needs to be corrected

as soon as possible.

•Once again, this letter is a legal document letting the reader know that something is being done to

correct the problem.

Inquiry Letter :

•An inquiry letter is written as a request for a certain something or in response to a request made by

someone.

•The object of the inquiry letter is to get the object or material requested in the letter.

Order Letter :

•Order letters are exactly as they sound, they are used to order material that is running low and will

be needed soon.

•This type of letter is commonly known as a PO (purchase order). This letter is also a legal document

showing a transaction between a business and a vendor.

Response Letter:

•A response letter is also exactly how it sounds. It is a letter written in response to another letter received by someone.

•The objective of this type of letter is to fulfill the request made by the person you are writing this

letter to. 

Memos

•Business memorandum/memoranda, also called memo or memos are specially formatted written communications within your business.

•A memo’s format is typically informal (but still all-business) and public.

•Memos typically make announcements, discuss procedures, report on company activities, and

disseminate employee information.

•If you have something confidential to communicate, don’t do it in a memo.

Point to remember

•The tone of memo usually is informal and friendly.

•Although you don’t need to be curt, officious, or patronizing, a certain succinctness is acceptable.

•Structure the memo so that the most important information comes in the first paragraph and that

subsequent paragraphs spell out what’s discussed in the first paragraph.

•Some people appear to think that memos are effective management tools.

•Although memos are effective for direction and suggestion, criticism and praise are best given in

person.

Source: https://www.dummies.com/careers/business-communication/business-writing/how-to-format-a-business-memorandum/

Structure of a Memo

All memos are structured similarly and have the following elements:

•An addressee: Flush left, in capital letters, near the top of the page

•The sender: Flush left, in caps, immediately below the addressee

•Date: Flush left, in caps, immediately below the sender’s name

•Subject: Flush left, in caps, immediately below the date

•Use suitable paper for your memos — white bond, either note size or standard to fit most desk in-baskets.

This figure shows an example of a properly structured memo.

             ____________________________________________________

                                              MEMORANDUM

DATE: May 23, 2018

TO: Advertising Department

FROM: Mandy Joyne

SUBJECT: Third- and fourth-quarter marketing ideas

____________________________________________________

After our meeting on Tuesday, we had a chance to review your marketing suggestions for the third and fourth quarters and would like to immediately move forward with the "Back to School" series of advertisements.

____________________________________________________

Emails

Electronic mail or email is a method of exchanging messages between people using electronic devices.

There are six key components to structure business Email:

•Subject Line

•Greeting

•Intro/Purpose

•Detail

•Ask/Action

•Closing/Sign-off

Source: https://www.emailoverloadsolutions.com/blog/structure-business-email

Subject Line

The subject line highlights the importance of an Email and the key information or topics within the message.

•Make the subject line clear, concise, and meaningful.

•It should summarize, not describe.

•Avoids one-word descriptions (e.g., Important, Help, or Urgent).

•Change the subject line if it is vague, messy, or not related to the message.

•Use Subject Line Hashtags as a way to standardize Subject Lines and provide key information such as purpose and urgency.

•For short messages, use subject line only message ending with “EOM” (shorthand for "end-of-message").

•Bad Subject Line:  “Re: Re: Re: Need to talk about change”.

•Good Subject Line: “Important: Project Orion Timeline Acceleration”.

Greeting (or 'hello'):

•Use the addressee’s name and title if it is a formal message.

•Follow institutional protocols for the use of greetings.

•Casual business communications do not always need a formal greeting - they can often just list the recipient names.

The greeting makes your first impression - ensure you identify people cordially and properly!

Intro/Purpose:

•Clearly and concisely explain the purpose, question or issue.

•One or two sentences at most - you will add the necessary detail below.

•Avoid Emails that span more than one topic or request, unless they are closely related or linked.

•The Intro/Purpose provides a summary of the issue or request.  By reading the intro, the recipient understands the context of the detail to follow.

Detail/Body

•Provides the necessary background or supporting detail.

•Limit yourself to several bullet points or a few, short paragraphs.

•Only provide the minimum information needed to explain the issue or ask the question.

•Ensure you provide brief explanation of the five key questions; What? When? Where?

How? Why?

•If you need more then a page of detail, consider attaching the detail in a Word document or

set a meeting to discuss.

•When the Email has a file attachment, ensure you refer to it in the message, what it contains,

and any actions needed.

•Be polite, professional, and respectful when presenting issues or asking questions.

•Avoid sarcasm, jokes, humor, or tone that can be misinterpreted.

The Detail/Body provides the background information about the issue or needed to help

answer the question.  If there is too much information to convey in a page, consider if another

type of communication or even a formal meeting is more appropriate.

Ask/Action

•Provide a specific call for needed action.

•State the response or action you want to receive.

•Ensure you are clear about exactly “who” needs to perform “what”.

•If there are deadlines, provide the "when" prominently to the recipients.

The Ask/Action is one of the most important components of the Email message and where

you state exactly what you are looking to get, from whom, and by when.  Unfortunately, it is

often omitted or not well defined.

Closing/Sign-Off/Good-bye

•Uses phrases or words conveying respect and formality (e.g., “Sincerely,” “Best regards,”

“Best”).

•Include signature lines that contain helpful contact information.

•Follow institutional protocols for use of closings/sign-offs.

•Casual, routine business communications often do not use formal sign-offs.

The Sign-off is where you provide a courteous "thank you" for assistance and provide

required contact information.

Newsletters

A newsletter is a printed report containing news (information) of the activities of a business

(legal name; subscription business model) or an organization (institutions, societies,

associations) that is sent by mail regularly to all its members, customers, employees or people,

who are interested in.

•Creating a newsletter depends on the content

•Newsletter marketing provides an excellent opportunity to make and maintain contact with

potential as well as repeat customers.

• The goal of these newsletters is first and foremost to inform people, but many a time this

objective is ignored and they end up being misused.

•They often contain more advertising than actual information, which leads to the recipient

finding them in spam.

• When creating a newsletter, it’s important to develop a clear concept that maximize

readability and user satisfaction without losing sight of the original marketing purpose.

The foundations of a successful newsletter

•Depending on the sector it’s being created for, a right balance of providing information and

advertising  can be developed in a newsletter.

Keep these points in mind when creating a newsletter:

•Find an appropriate and appealing layout for your newsletter

•Ensure a clear and interesting structure

•Create exciting and informative content

•Determine the perfect time to send out the newsletter

•Analyze your readership with the help of relevant tools

Minutes

Minutes, also known as minutes of meeting (abbreviation MoM), protocols or, informally,

notes, are the instant written record of a meeting or hearing.

What is the purpose of meeting minutes?

•To capture the essence of the meeting, including details such as: 

•decisions made (motions made, votes, etc.) 

•next steps planned

•identification and tracking of action items

•Minutes are a tangible record of the meeting for its participants and a source of information

for members who were unable to attend.

•In some cases, meeting minutes can act as a reference point, for example:

•when a meeting’s outcomes impact other collaborative activities or projects within the

organization

•minutes can serve to notify (or remind) individuals of tasks assigned to them and/or timelines

What’s involved with meeting minutes?

•There are essentially five steps involved with meeting minutes:

1. Pre-planning meeting minutes:

A well-planned meeting ensure effective meeting minutes. 

If the Chair and the Secretary or minutes-taker work together to ensure the agenda and

meeting are well thought out, it makes minute taking much easier.

2. Record taking - what should be included?

•Before you start taking notes, it’s important to understand the type of information you need

to record at the meeting. As noted earlier, your organization may have required content and a

specific format that you’ll need to follow, but generally, meeting minutes usually include the

following:

•Date and time of the meeting

•Names of the meeting participants and those unable to attend (e.g., “regrets”)

•Acceptance or corrections/amendments to previous meeting minutes

•Decisions made about each agenda item, for example:

•Actions taken or agreed to be taken

•Next steps

•Voting outcomes – e.g., (if necessary, details regarding who made motions; who seconded

and approved or via show of hands, etc.)

•Motions taken or rejected

•Items to be held over

•New business

•Next meeting date and time

The Minutes Writing Process

 •Once the meeting is over, it’s time to pull together your notes and write the minutes. Here

are some tips that might help:

•Try to write the minutes as soon after the meeting as possible while everything is fresh in

your mind.

•Review your outline and if necessary, add additional notes or clarify points raised. Also

check to ensure all decisions, actions and motions are clearly noted.

•Check for sufficient detail: For Board of Director’s minutes, an Association Trends

article (by lawyers Jefferson C. Glassie and Dorothy Deng) suggests the following for Board

minutes:

•include a short statement of each action taken by the board and a brief explanation of the

rationale for the decision

•when there is extensive deliberation before passing a motion, summarize the major

arguments

Distributing or Sharing Meeting Minutes

•As the official “minutes-taker” or Secretary, your role may include dissemination of the

minutes.

•However, before you share these, be sure that the Chair has reviewed and either revised

and/or approved the minutes for circulation.

Filing/Storage of Meeting Minutes

•Most committees and Boards review and either approve or amend the minutes at the

beginning of the subsequent meeting.

•Once you’ve made any required revisions, the minutes will then need to be stored for future

reference. 

•Some organizations may store these online (e.g., in Google docs or SkyDrive) and also back

these up on an external hard drive. 

•You may also need to print and store hard copies as well or provide these to a staff member

or Chair for filing.

Circular

•A letter or advertisement which is distributed to a large number of people.

•Circular Letters

•A circular letter is also a kind of letter that is issued for a large  number of people.

•When any information / instructions / guidelines are to be sent to all the branches by the head

office, circulars are usually issued by the head office to its branches or by higher officer to its

junior officers for compliance.

•Business Circular Letters are issued by a business entity to its client, dealers, sub-dealers,

branch. 

•Following types of information are usually sent through business circulars.

(a) information about change of address of registered office to its share holders

(b) Information about special discount on deepawali festival to dealers and sub-dealers

(c) Information about removal from service of an employee to all its offices, dealers and sub

dealers

(d) Information about a policy of incentive for achieving sales targets to dealers and sub-dealers

(e) Any other such information relating to business

•Miscellaneous Circulars

•Circulars issued by a society / organization to its members are called miscellaneous circulars.

•Personal Circulars :

•Circulars issued by a person regarding change of his / her telephone numbers or residential

address.

Structure Of A Circular :

•Address of the issuing agency usually in all kinds of circulars, the address, phone no. Etc. Of

the issuing office / agency / department is printed at the top.

•Reference is usually written at the left side. It is different for each circular.

•Date is written at the right side.

•Subject on which the circular is being issued is written as in simple letters.

•After subject, FOR is written that indicates FOR WHOM the circular is being issued.

•No salutation like Dear Sir & Dear Sirs is used in circulars. When the circular is meant to the

authorities, the use of salutation can be done. In business circulars, usually salutation like…

Dear Dealers, Dear Customers and Dear Valued Customers are used.

•The body of the issuing authority… The language used should be straight, unambiguous,

formal and simple that conveys the instructions / guidelines in clear terms.

•At the last circular issuing authority puts his signature. The designation of the circular

issuing authority is also written below the signature. The use of subscription yours faithfully

or yours sincerely is avoided in circulars.

Source http://www.effective-business-letters.com/Circular-Letters-1.html

Agenda

An agenda is a list of meeting activities in the order in which they are to be taken up,

beginning with the call to order and ending with adjournment.

 7 Steps to The Perfect Meeting Agenda

•Meeting objectives give adults a reason to meet. If there is no clear objective, there’s no point

in meeting. This objective should outline exactly why you are holding a meeting and what

you hope to accomplish as a result.

•Here are 7 guidelines to walk you through how to create an effective meeting agenda:

1. Create your meeting agenda 3 days in advance

•Follow a process, whether it’s sent through email or printed and distributed, make sure

everyone on your team knows what to expect.

•Sending it in advanced ensures that attendees have ample time to prepare or read through any

notes they will need before the meeting and raises flags if the objective doesn’t match their

expectations.

2. Start with the simple details

•What time it should start? (end time is determined after agenda topics are set)

•Who should be attending? (more on this in day 2)

•The place or dial-in information for accessing the meeting

The Meeting Objective

•Before you start writing an agenda what is the goal of this meeting?

•If asked why you are meeting, the objective should answer this in no more than 2 sentences.

•Once that goal is established, prioritize the list of topics from most important to least (to ensure the most important pieces get accomplished).

Time Per Topic

•Let the content dictate how long each topic should take.

•Don’t fall into the trap of over scheduling time per topic.

•ex: Introductions (2 minutes)

•People tend to schedule time based on the automatic 30 minute time block in their default calendar even if it could be done in 15 minutes or requires 45.

•Let the content dictate time, not the software.

Keep the agenda to less than 5 topics

No one wants to spend 2 hours in a meeting.

Long agendas seem daunting and often don’t get read.

Include any other pertinent information for the meeting

Ex: @Stephen will be taking meeting minutes.

Ex2: Please read attached document on weekly sales numbers prior to meeting.

What if someone sends an invite with no agenda?

•Come up with a company policy to deal with agenda-less meetings.

•A common solution is to decline any invites that don’t include the necessary information to have a productive meeting.

•Below is an example of a typical agenda with a clear purpose:

•Objective: Determine projected sales goals for 2014.

Agenda:

1) Intro (2 minutes)

2) Review previous years sales metrics (10 minutes)

3) Review upcoming paper lead accounts (5 minutes)

4) Set targeted goals (5 minutes)

* Please review the attached doc with last years numbers prior to attending.

•Stephen will be taking notes to be sent out after meeting

Source: http://lessmeeting.com/7-steps-perfect-meeting-agenda/