Fair test of ethical business communication

Analyzing A Corporate Message

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LO6.3 Describe and apply the

components of the

reviewing stage, including

a FAIR test, proofreading,

and feedback.

Reviewing Your Message

You will recall from Chapter 5 that expert business writers use their time differently than do average business writers (see Figure 5.2 in Chapter 5 ). They devote more time to planning and reviewing and proportionately less time to drafting. They spend most of their time— before and after drafting—carefully thinking about how the message will influence and affect others.

Many business professionals get anxious to send their messages as soon as they finish drafting them. It is human nature to want to move on to the next task. Resist the urge to move on without carefully reviewing your messages. During the reviewing stage, you will improve your message, making it far more successful. You will also minimize the possibility of embarrassing and damaging mistakes.

The reviewing process includes three interrelated components: conducting the FAIR test, proofreading, and getting feedback (not generally needed for routine messages). These reviewing components ensure that you show fairness, get the message right, avoid errors, and get perspectives from trusted colleagues. For short, routine messages (one to four paragraphs),

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expert business writers can often check for fairness and proofread in just a few minutes. For long, important messages, such as business proposals or business plans, the reviewing stage may take weeks or months.

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TECHNOLOGY TIPS USING SPELLING AND GRAMMAR CHECKS Most word processing software programs contain

spelling and grammar checks to help you avoid

misspellings and grammatical mistakes. Many of

these programs, such as Microsoft Word, also

have tools to evaluate writing style and ease of

reading. Typically, these tools are not set by

default. You will need to manually select them. (In

Microsoft Word, you can access these additional tools by changing settings in

the Proofing area of Word Options.)

When you run spelling and grammar checks, you can review your document

sentence by sentence for passive voice, noun clusters, and other elements.

Once you finish the check, you will see a final calculation of readability

statistics. Keep in mind that the software is not perfect. Generally, however, it

will help you improve your writing style.

Source: Microsoft Office Word 2007

Source: Microsoft Office Word 2007

Source: Microsoft Office Word 2007

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Conduct a FAIR Test In Chapter 1 , we introduced the FAIR test as a way of ensuring ethical business communication. Of course, you will consider such issues during the planning and writing stages. Also, during the review process you can also take the time to think about the degree to which your entire message conforms to standards for facts, access, impacts, and respect. For important messages—particularly those that involve complicated business issues—apply the FAIR test:

Proofread Proofreading involves rereading your entire document to make sure it is influential and accurate. You might consider rereading each sentence several times, each time with a different focus. On your first pass, place yourself in the position of your audience members. Imagine how they will respond. On your second pass, check for problems with writing style and language mechanics.

Get Feedback As one business writing expert stated, one of the best ways to ensure that your communication is effective and fair is to get feedback from others:

Ask some people whose judgment you respect to give it a test read and get their reaction. Do they think it’s too energetic or hyperbolic for the audience and the occasion? Or is it too frosty? Similarly, do they think the writing is too distant or too familiar? What are the offending words or phrases? How can they be changed to do the job at hand? Using test readers is hardly rocket science, but those willing to go through this trouble invariably produce more effective writing.

Facts: Are you confident in your facts? Are your assumptions clear? Have you avoided slanting the facts or made other logical errors?

Access: Have you granted enough access to message recipients about decision making and information? Have you granted enough access to the message recipients to provide input? Are you open about your motives, or do you have a hidden agenda?

Impacts: Have you thought about how the message will impact various stakeholders? Have you evaluated impacts on others from ethical, corporate, and legal perspectives?

Respect: Have you demonstrated respect for the inherent worth of others: their aspirations, thoughts, feelings, and well-being? Have you shown that you value others?

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This advice reveals an important point: Your trusted colleagues are giving your message a trial run—trying to simulate how the intended message recipient will respond. As they review your message, they can provide insights about making it better. Before they begin to read, ask them to consider whether you have framed the idea correctly, whether the business logic holds up, whether the message has the intended effects, whether the tone is appropriate, and so on. Effective business communicators make a habit of getting this advance feedback for important messages. In the Communication Q&A with Ronald Scott, you can learn more about the importance of clarity, tone, and accuracy in business writing.

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COMMUNICATION Q&A CONVERSATIONS WITH CURRENT BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS Pete Cardon: How important are writing skills in

the workplace?

Ronald Scott: They are vital. Members of my staff

are regularly required to take complex and

technical ordinance language and explain it in

plain terms to citizens or customers. This requires

the ability to capture the essence and translate it

into simple language that the customer can

understand and act on. In today’s workplace,

having good writing skills is an asset that will

distinguish an employee from his or her peers. One of the first opportunities an

employer has to assess writing skills is when he or she reviews an application

for employment or a résumé. A basic review of these two documents can

either thoroughly impress or completely horrify a potential employer.

PC: How much time do you spend writing? What types of writing?

RS: I spend approximately half my time writing. Examples include writing

emails; drafting letters to customers, citizens, and businesses; drafting letters

to local, state, and federal officials; reviewing and correcting written

documents and reports prepared by staff; creating policy and procedure

manuals; creating form letters; creating grant application and grant documents;

and creating budget documents and periodic budget reports.

PC: How formal is business writing?

RS: Typically, business writing is a formal means of communication. Recently,

one of my employees wrote a letter to a customer he knew quite well. After his

salutation he wrote, “How are you doing today? I hope you are doing well and

that you are feeling better.” While this language may have been acceptable for

Ronald Scott has been the chief development officer at

Eau Claire Cooperative

Health Centers and the

director of community

development for Lexington

County in South Carolina.

He is currently a juris doctor

candidate at the University

of South Carolina. Courtesy of Ronald Scott

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an in-person exchange, it seemed too casual and inappropriate for a business

letter.

PC: What kinds of writing mistakes do you see most often in the workplace?

How damaging are these mistakes? Could you give a recent example?

RS: In my profession we often communicate with large businesses about the

cost of development permits for large projects. Some permit fees can be in

excess of $50,000. A missing zero in a letter estimating permit fees can make

a big difference when a business is preparing its budget. Recently, an

employee addressed a letter to a customer about a code violation. He wrote,

“You will not need a building permit to complete this work.” He intended to

write, “You will need a building permit to complete this work.” What a

difference one word made. Some delicate negotiations were necessary to

make the situation right with that customer.

PC: How is writing in the workplace different from writing for school

projects?

RS: Business writing requires you to maintain business relationships (even

when giving bad news), build and maintain company loyalty and morale, retain

customers/clients, and portray a positive image for yourself and your company.

Academic writing focuses more on its subject than on the reader’s reactions or

on the goal of cultivating a long relationship with the reader. When writing for

business purposes, we need to make sure we do not hamper business

transactions and workflow due to misuse of language, inappropriate

expressions and emotions, or lack of empathy.