Making a difference with your business writing guidelines for your team is a great way to lead by example. Show your team how business writing guidelines can make a difference by developing your in-house guides.
In my previous article, I have mentioned one helpful hint. Develop your in-house writing style guides to the audience with an English variety specific to your business. It makes your lives easier in handling business correspondence while maintaining uniformity.
Your guidelines give a customised and consistent approach if your team or audience is a heterogeneous group. It also helps in the initiation sessions of your group.
English teachers usually say that, in business writing, avoid using personal pronouns such as I, we, and you. They also say never begin a sentence with but, and, or other similar words. They instruct that passive writing is preferable to active voice. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t incorporate these into your business writing style. You can connect with your audience using active voice with personal pronounces. You can notice these expressions if you browse through business publications.
Make your guidelines for business correspondence with item-by-item applications for each writing job to ensure consistent quality. Make such instructions available to all your staff.
You can even prepare a list of checkpoints. It can include the type and size of the font, spacing between the lines, capital letter usage, layout, indenting, and tone of writing. Come up with a list of activities for participation. Update them regularly, and propagate any changes throughout the organisation.
Business communications with people of different origins
Communicating to people of different origins in business is still a challenging task for business. It will perplex when people of different origins make up a significant part of the workforce and business audience. It is because of the disparities that vary in their English practices and approaches to business writing.
You can hold a few orientation sessions for employees to help each nationality better understand how the other uses English. It also aids them in comprehending the writing perspectives of other cultures. Or, you can have group discussions posing questions and giving answers.
Include such topics as how each sees their customers, how each sees himself, how your customers see themselves, or how your customers perceive your business. Or you can devise any such discussion topics that can help elicit views and form your business writing guidelines. That way, you can streamline and maintain uniformity in writing for business.
All such exercises are more about writing to create the right and long-lasting relationships with your audience, whether they’re internal or external users. It’s all about meeting your customers’ needs and service. If a manager is just unaware of how to communicate customer service in written form is bound to make mistakes, eventually.
How to write good business English?
Use easy and understandable English for what you want to say. Do not think in your language and then translate it into English. It will not work the right way. Think from the reader’s side whether the reader understands the rightful meaning. If you are not sure, then redo it by taking advice from your colleagues.
In your business and as an individual, your fundamental skill is writing with the correct words for the expression. It is an ongoing process to improve your writing skills at every stage, or even every day, perhaps. People feel difficult in understanding what you write if you don’t understand it yourself.
You will enjoy your business by training and supporting your employees to write good English.