Business Communication

Chapter 3 – Planning Business Messages

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Learning Objectives

◼ Describe the three-step writing process and explain why it will help you create
better messages in less time.

◼ Explain what it means to analyze the situation when planning a message.

◼ Describe the techniques for gathering information for simple messages and
identify three attributes of quality information.

◼ Identify the six basic combinations of media and channels and highlight the
unique challenges of communication on mobile devices.

◼ Explain why good organization is important to both you and your audience and
explain how to organize any business message.
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Understanding the three-step writing process

No matter what kind of information you need to convey, your goal is to craft
a message that is:

◼ Effective (it meets your audience’s needs and gets your points across)

◼ Efficient (it makes the best use of your time and your audience’s time).
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Understanding the three-step writing process

No matter what kind of information you need to convey, your goal is to craft a
message that is:
◼ Effective (it meets your audience’s needs and gets your points across)
◼ Efficient (it makes the best use of your time and your audience’s time).
The writing process has the following 3 parts:
1) Planning
2) Writing
3) Completing
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Planning your message

◼ Analyze the Situation Define your purpose and develop an audience

profile.

◼ Gather Information Determine audience needs and obtain the

information necessary to satisfy those needs.

◼ Choose Medium and Channel Select the best combination of medium

and channel for the situation, message, and audience.

◼ Organize the Information Define your main idea, limit your scope, select
a direct or an indirect approach, and outline your content.
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Writing your message

◼ Adapt to Your Audience Be sensitive to audience needs by using a “you”

attitude, politeness, positive emphasis, and unbiased language. Build a
strong relationship with your audience by establishing your credibility and
projecting your company’s preferred image. Control your style with a
conversational tone, plain English, and appropriate voice.

◼ Compose the Message Choose strong words that will help you create
effective sentences and coherent paragraphs.
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Completing your message

◼ Revise the Message Evaluate the content and review readability; edit and
rewrite for conciseness and clarity.

◼ Produce the Message Use effective design elements and suitable layout
for a clean, professional appearance.

◼ Proofread the Message Review for errors in layout, spelling, and

mechanics.

◼ Distribute the Message Deliver your message using the chosen medium;
make sure all documents and all relevant files are distributed successfully.
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Analyzing the Situation – Define Your purpose

◼ A successful message starts with a clear purpose that connects the sender’s
needs with the audience’s needs.
◼ All business messages have a general purpose: to inform, to persuade, to
collaborate, or to initiate a conversation. This purpose helps define the overall
approach you’ll need to take, from gathering information to organizing your
message.
◼ Within the scope of that general purpose, each message also has a specific
purpose, which identifies what you hope to accomplish with your message. To
define your specific purpose, consider what action you want the message’s
recipients to take
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Analyzing the Situation – Define Your purpose

◼ “I want my reader to… .” You need to state your specific purpose as

precisely as possible, even identifying which audience members should
respond, how they should respond, and when.

◼ For example,
◼ “get approval to hire three programmers by June 1 in order to meet our
November 15 deadline”
◼ “get approval to hire more staff.”
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Analyzing the Situation – Define Your purpose

After you have defined your specific purpose, make sure it merits the time
and effort required for you to prepare and send the message. Ask these four
questions:
◼ WILL ANYTHING CHANGE AS A RESULT OF YOUR MESSAGE?
◼ IS YOUR PURPOSE REALISTIC?
◼ IS THE TIME RIGHT?
◼ IS YOUR PURPOSE ACCEPTABLE TO YOUR ORGANIZATION?
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Developing an Audience Profile

Conducting an audience analysis involves the following steps:

◼ IDENTIFY YOUR PRIMARY AUDIENCE. Don’t ignore the needs of less influential members but make sure you
address the concerns of the key decision makers.

◼ DETERMINE AUDIENCE SIZE AND GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION. A message aimed at 10 000 people
spread around the globe will likely require a different approach than one aimed at a dozen people down the hall.

◼ DETERMINE AUDIENCE COMPOSITION. Look for similarities and differences in culture, language, age,
education, organizational rank and status, attitudes, experience, motivations, and any other factors that might affect
the success of your message

◼ GAUGE AUDIENCE MEMBERS’ LEVEL OF UNDERSTANDING

◼ UNDERSTAND AUDIENCE EXPECTATIONS AND PREFERENCES.

◼ ASSESS THE WAY IN WHICH THE AUDIENCE PREFERS TO GET INFORMATION. While Boomers (those
born in the mid-1940s to mid-1960s) often prefer print, Millennials (those born since 1982) often prefer visual and
online channels of communication, finding things out by looking on the internet or consulting peers

◼ FORECAST PROBABLE AUDIENCE REACTION.

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Developing an Audience Profile

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Gathering Information

There are variety of informal techniques to gather insights and guide your research efforts:

◼ CONSIDER THE AUDIENCE’S PERSPECTIVE. Put yourself in the audience’s position: what are these people
thinking, feeling, or planning? What information do they need in order to move forward? What questions would
they have about your topic?

◼ LISTEN TO THE COMMUNITY. community of customers, product enthusiasts, or other people linked through
social media who engage in online discussions

◼ READ REPORTS AND OTHER COMPANY DOCUMENTS. Annual reports, financial statements, news releases,
blogs and microblogs by industry experts, marketing reports, and customer surveys are just a few of the many
potential sources of information.

◼ TALK WITH SUPERVISORS, COLLEAGUES, OR CUSTOMERS.

◼ ASK YOUR AUDIENCE FOR INPUT. If you’re unsure what audience members need from your message, ask
them if at all possible.

If a project doesn’t require formal research or you need an answer in a hurry, use informal techniques to gather
information.
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Providing Required Information

In addition to delivering the right quantity of required information, you are

responsible for verifying the quality of that information. Ask yourself these three
questions:

1) IS THE INFORMATION ACCURATE AND COMPLETE? Inaccuracies and

missing information can cause a host of problems, from embarrassment and
lost productivity to serious safety and legal issues.

2) IS THE INFORMATION ETHICAL? By working hard to ensure the accuracy

of the information you gather, you’ll also avoid many ethical problems in your
messages.

3) IS THE INFORMATION PERTINENT?

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The Most Common Media and Channel Options

Media can be divided into oral, written, and visual forms and all three can be
distributed through digital and non-digital channels.

◼ Summary for the general advantages and disadvantages of the six

medium/channel combinations.
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The Most Common Media and Channel Options

Oral Medium, In-Person Channel

◼ The nonverbal and interactive aspects of in-person communication are difficult to replicate in
most other medium/channel combinations. The oral medium, in-person channel combo involves
talking with people who are in the same location, whether it’s a one-on-one conversation over
lunch or a more formal speech or presentation. Being in the same physical space is a key
distinction because it enables the nuances of nonverbal communication more than any other
medium/channel combination

◼ By giving people the ability to see, hear, and react to each other, in-person communication is
useful for encouraging people to ask questions, make comments, and work together to reach a
consensus or decision. Face-to-face interaction is particularly helpful in complex, emotionally
charged situations in which establishing or fostering a business relationship is important
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The Most Common Media and Channel Options

Oral Medium, Digital Channel

◼ Oral media via digital channels include any transmission of voice via
electronic means, both live and recorded. Examples include telephone
calls, podcasts, and voice-mail messages. Live phone conversations offer
the give-and-take of in-person conversations and can be the best
alternative to talking in person. Without a video component, however, they
can’t provide most of the nuances of nonverbal communication
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The Most Common Media and Channel Options

Written Medium, Print Channel

◼ Written, printed documents are the classic format of business communication.

◼ Memos are brief printed documents traditionally used for the routine, day-to-day
exchange of information within an organization.

◼ Letters are brief written messages sent to customers and other recipients outside
the organization. Reports and proposals are usually longer than memos and
letters, although both can be created in memo or letter format. These documents
come in a variety of lengths, ranging from a few pages to several hundred, and
usually have a fairly formal tone.
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The Most Common Media and Channel Options

Written Medium, Print Channel

While printed documents are still a useful format, they have been replaced by
digital alternatives in many instances. However, here are several situations in
which you should consider a printed message over electronic alternatives:
◼ When you want to make a formal impression
◼ When you are legally required to provide information in printed form
◼ When you want to stand out from the flood of electronic messages
◼ When you need a permanent, unchangeable, or secure record
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The Most Common Media and Channel Options

Written Medium, Digital Channel

◼ Most of your business communication efforts will involve written digital

messages, with everything from 140-character tweets to website content to
book-length reports distributed as portable document format (PDF) files.

◼ Visual Medium, Print Channel Photographs and diagrams can be effective

communication tools for conveying emotions, spatial relationships,
technical processes, and other content that can be difficult to describe
using words alone
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The Unique Challenges of Communication on
Mobile Devices

◼ The mobile digital channel has become significant in business

communication of all types but it presents some challenges that must be
considered.

◼ Mobile devices can be used to create and consume virtually every digital
form of oral, written, and visual media.
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The Unique Challenges of Communication on
Mobile Devices

◼ SCREEN SIZE AND RESOLUTION

◼ INPUT TECHNOLOGIES

◼ BANDWIDTH, SPEED, AND CONNECTIVITY LIMITATIONS

◼ DATA USAGE AND OPERATIONAL COSTS