Effective Written Communication

"Even the best ideas are of small value unless communicated well." People write in response to situations that call on them to put their thoughts and feelings into words. For example, a boss may ask an employee to write a report on how to market a new product line or the company for which an employee works is requesting assistance in designing a home page on the World Wide Web. In a labor force full of mediocre writers, someone who writes well is bound to stand out and succeed, while someone who writes poorly is bound to do just the opposite. It is not to say that the mediocre writer will not be successful, but the success of a person who possesses excellent writing skills will certainly be far greater. Sponsorship of a workshop for employees to improve writing skills would certainly assist in empowering employees, serve as a motivator for boosting company morale, and ultimately result in an increase in business profits.

According to Dr. William C. Byham,"the successful organizations will be the ones best able to apply the creative energy of individuals toward constant improvement" (5). Yet, constant improvement is a value that cannot be imposed upon people. It has to come from the individual. The only way to get people to adopt constant improvement as a way of life in doing daily business is by empowering them. Empowering employees definitely motivates them to take ownership of their jobs so that they take personal interest in improving the performance of the organization. Formal training in empowerment skills and related areas are conceived via personal and organizational success. Personal and organizational successes are achieved through good advertisement as well as excellent relations with the public. Both of these rely heavily on one's ability to communicate thoughts and ideas effectively.

The heart of effective communication is excellent academic writing skills. Participative management stems from the idea of involving employees in the decision-making process. "In the Fifties, managers thought it meant being friendly to employees. In the Sixties, they thought it meant being sensitive to the needs and motivations of people. In the Seventies, managers thought it meant asking employees for help. In the Eighties, it meant having lots of group meetings." The very name "participative management" seems to imply that it is something that management does which in term seems to limit the amount of involvement of the employees. Instead, the term should be coined "employee involvement." "Employee involvement" and "participative management" are terms that should be used interchangeably. Moreover, the only way that these two words can truly be used interchangeably is by increasing the expectations of the employee. By advancing the standards of the employees to the next level these words then may be held true. The fact remains and is undeniable that the only way to venture into this relationship of empowerment between employee and employer, "employee involvement" and "participative management," is by implementing a formal writing workshop which assists in bridging the gap. This workshop will effectively give each participating employee more responsibility, authority, identity, energy, and power.

After the employees have been empowered, the transition to boost the morale of the company will occur with ease. Employees will begin to feel energized about their work because of their new found identities, authorities, and responsibilities. Sharing of the responsibilities of the workload with employees does not mean the supervisor abandons the responsibilities, but continues to know what is going on, set the direction for the department, ensure that people are on course, offer a guiding hand, and assess performance. All of these things can be done when utilizing excellent writing skills especially when ensuring employees are on course and offering guidance using a softer tone versus a negative tone. Here is a great example of effective communication between the Vice President of Human Resources and a branch manager via electronic mail.

Larry,

I'm not sure Monique and I see eye to eye on our interpretation of the attendance policy. I believe that Monique's stance is not firm enough. I have included a copy of Stephanie's attendance recorder for 2004. She has six points for tardiness and four points for absences in two months. I have also attached a copy of my verbal warning for Stephanie's sixth tardy within the past two months. I have put both time and an extreme amount of effort into making this branch successful. If I have someone on my team that is not pulling her weight, then I need to address it and either help turn the employee around or if the employee does not choose to change her performance, I need to get someone in the position that is going to be a team player. I expect to have more support from Monique and less creativity for excuses when an employee does not get his or her job done. I find Stephanie's attendance to be extremely poor. If I gave this minimum amount of effort you would not keep me around so why should I not expect the same from my employees. I have supporting documentation to back up each and every attendance violation. I also have a file documenting Stephanie's poor work performance. I would like to help Stephanie become an asset to the branch. It will hurt the branch if we lose her, but she needs to apply herself and get the job done. I would appreciate your help in resolving the matter at hand.

Thank you,

Bryan W. Stanley

Branch Manager - Lenexa

Bryan,

Monique is your HR Manager and I might add she has not had one litigation claim that has been successful against her under her direction in the