BUSINESS COMMUNICATION CARDON CH 9

An apology includes the following elements:

*acknowledgment of a mistake or an offense *an expression of regret for the harm caused *acceptance of responsibility *a commitment that the offense will not be repeated *Effective apologies should be timely and sincere.

Components of Routine Messages

- State primary message (10 wds or less) - Provide details in paragraphs of 20-80 words - Restate the request or key message in more specific terms - State goodwill

Tone

Aim for a helpful, professional, and reader centered tone. Show respect for your readers' time

Key Planning Steps

Audience Analysis Idea Development Message Framework

Proofreading

Check for any typos and any signals that you are not attentive to the needs of others

Audience Analysis

Consider exactly what information your audience needs and how they want to receive it

Message Framework

Create a front loaded, direct, complete, and detail oriented message

Setting Expectations

Describing responsibilities Providing deadlines Discussion coordination

FAIR Test

Ensure that the message contains all needed information and that it is entirely correct.

Key Reviewing Steps

FAIR Test Proofreading Feedback

Components of announcements

Gain attention Give announcement Provide details Call to action* State goodwill *for some announcements

Components of Appreciation Messages

Give thanks Provide rationale State goodwill

_______ your expression of sympathy on a nice card

Handwrite

Idea Development

Identify and gather accurate, relevant, and up to date information

Components of Claims

Make a claim Provide Rationale Call to action State to goodwill

Components of Requests

Make a request Provide rationale Call to action State goodwill *OPTIONAL - appropriate at the end of lengthy messages

Style

Make your message easy to read. Use short sentences and paragraphs and use action oriented language.

Feedback

Request feedback from trusted colleagues speaking on behalf of a team or unit.

Components of Directions

State goal Give step by step directions State goodwill

Key Drafting Steps

Tone Style Design

Design

Use subject lines and formatting to let your readers process and find information immediately

Routine messages require proportionately _______ for planning and reviewing

less time

In messages with ________ and _______, make the steps stand out clearly by enumerating each one.

procedures directions

Lay out a logical, reasonable, and professional explanation for your claim....

professional explanation for your claim

Claims

requests for other companies to compensate for or correct the wrongs or mistakes they have made

Excellent business communicators can develop ___________written messages in a matter of minutes.

routine

To prevent employees and customers from ignoring announcements, the subject line must be....

specific and must create interest

Directions typically include specific—often ____________ guidelines for accomplishing particular tasks

step-by-step

A sincere expression of thanks also helps achieve business goals and ....

strengthens work relationships.

One of the most important strategies for responding to inquiries is ..............

to set off each question so your readers can quickly identify responses to particular questions

Announcements

updates to policies and procedures, notices of events, and other correspondences that apply to a group of employees and/or customers

You generally can do this by............

using bullets or numbered lists and/or special formatting

Routine messages should be direct and a.) front-loaded. b.) back-loaded. c.) middle-loaded. d.) detail-loaded. e.) subject-loaded.

a.) front-loaded. The most important planning step is message structuring. Since routine messages are so common and your readers are likely overloaded with many other messages and tasks, your primary challenge is to make sure your readers pay attention. Therefore, your message should be direct and front-loaded.

In the case of a routine request, one of the primary goals of the message is to a.) display your gratitude toward the reader. b.) retain the goodwill of the recipient. c.) accept responsibility for a harm caused. d.) acknowledge a mistake. e.) improve the workplace relationships.

b.) retain the goodwill of the recipient. One primary goal for routine requests is to retain the goodwill of the recipient.

Which of the following is an effective strategy for responding to inquiries? a.) Restrict the number of inquiries to one per email. b.) Divide the inquiries into segments and reply to them at different times. c.) Set off each question by using special formatting. d.) Avoid using bullets or numbered lists. e.) Use bullets when the order of the inquiries is important.

c.) Set off each question by using special formatting. The very nature of working with others involves asking and responding to questions. One of the most important strategies for responding to inquiries is to set off each question so your readers can quickly identify responses to particular questions. If the order is important, use numbered lists. Otherwise, use bullets.

Which of the following is an important element of an apology? a.) providing responses b.) making requests c.) offering commitments d.) expressing sympathy e.) offering support

c.) offering commitments Typically, an apology includes the following elements: acknowledgment of a mistake or an offense, an expression of regret for the harm caused, acceptance of responsibility, and a commitment that the offense will not be repeated. Effective apologies should be timely and sincere.

Which of the following messages generally takes the least time to complete? a.) persuasive messages b.) bad-news messages c.) routine messages d.) crisis communications messages e.) public relations messages

c.) routine messages Since you will send and receive so many routine messages in any given business day, one of your primary goals is efficiency: You need to produce credible messages quickly. Typically, completing routine messages requires less time than other types of business messages.

Requests are the essence of people ______ work efforts, buying and selling products and services, and ______ work relationships

coordinating maintaining

Setting expectations is directly tied to your _____ and ______ to foster interpersonal trust in the workplace

credibility ability

In any given business day you need to produce _____________ quickly

credible messages

Betsy learns that the wife of one of her main clients has just died. What should Betsy do? a.) Ignore the situation because their relationship is professional, not personal. b.) Send a condolence email as soon as possible. c.) Order the biggest bouquet of flowers possible to be sent to the funeral. d.) Send a brief but genuine handwritten note of sympathy. e.) Say, "I'm sorry for your loss," the next time she sees him.

d.) Send a brief but genuine handwritten note of sympathy. Typically, keep your expression of sympathy brief. For deaths, state your support and concern to the person who has experienced the loss. When possible, handwrite your expression of sympathy on a nice card.

The foremost requirement of any expression of sympathy is that ....

it be sincere

Which of the following statements is most true of a routine request? a.) You need to be particularly persuasive when writing routine requests. b.) Avoid including subject lines in routine requests. c.) One primary goal for routine requests is to acknowledge a mistake. d.) Your tone should be direct but not bossy or domineering. e.) You can expect a lot of resistance to routine requests.

d.) Your tone should be direct but not bossy or domineering. Routine requests involve cases where you expect little or no resistance from message recipients. Like all routine messages, routine requests should contain clear and specific subject lines, often stating the entire request. When working with superiors, be careful about setting deadlines. Even in today's flatter organizations, being bossy to the boss can be counterproductive.

What are announcements? a.) lists of tasks with deadlines assigned to different employees within an organization b.) detailed timelines by which the work should be accomplished satisfactorily c.) written step-by-step procedures for how employees should complete a particular task d.) updates, notices, and other correspondences that apply to a group of employees and/or customers e.) requests for other companies to provide compensation for or correct the mistakes they have made

d.) updates, notices, and other correspondences that apply to a group of employees and/or customers Announcements are updates to policies and procedures, notices of events, and other correspondences that apply to a group of employees and/or customers.

Failure to do it can lead to lasting professional ______ and _________ in working relationships

disappointments breakdowns

Which of the following is true of apologies? a.) For the apology to be effective, others must sense that the apologizer has an agenda. b.) Effective apologies must focus on you, not on the injured party or parties. c.) Defensive behavior during an apology validates the apologizer's sincerity. d.) Apologies are effective when they employ clichés to express sentiment. e.) If you are dealing with customers or clients, an apology may imply legal responsibility.

e.) If you are dealing with customers or clients, an apology may imply legal responsibility. If you are dealing with customers and clients, an apology may imply legal responsibility.

Which of the following is most likely to be caused by a failure to set worker expectations in routine messages? a.) feeling under-appreciated b.) inadvertent legal responsibility c.) the spread of garbled information e.) breakdowns in working relationships f.) noncompliance with requests

e.) breakdowns in working relationships

Focus on facts first and ....

emotions second

Your ________ will compensate for any deficiencies in the words you use

genuine concern

As you write claims, keep in mind that your goal is to ....

have your claim honored