TO: Mrs. Mary Tate
DATE: March 12, 2011
TOPIC: Proposed writing course.
In response to your earlier memo on providing a guideline for the proposed writing course, I have been able to put together a few points. These points not only answer your questions but, can be evaluated further to create a syllabus for the writing course thus, improve the writing skills of employees. It will further assist in identifying writing weaknesses of GSC employees and thus make writing communication done on the job effective.
There are several types of writings done on the job by myself and colleagues here at GSC. All our writings can be classified into formal writings (which are used for both official and record purposes) and, informal writings (used in exchanging personal mails and views of employees.). Formal writings done by employees of GSC on the job include memorandums, emails, policies (also called plan documents), business proposals, questionnaires, company statements, queries, etc. Non-official or informal writings include emails, opinion polls, suggestions, etc.
Certain features of a written communication I receive on the job makes me read, understand, remember and act on it. We can classify these as characteristics of a good writing or essentials of a written document. For example, the context of the writing must not only be factual, but must include a clear subject line. It certainly must be practical and not extraneous in nature. For better understanding of the context, it must be clear, condensed and include signposting. I also react positively to a writing that is properly organized and includes information which is both persuasive and conversational in nature. Writing that lacks any of these simple characteristics is definitely a poorly written document and thus not professional.
While reading written communications from employees, I observed several errors