Communication

for Work Purposes

Purposive Communication
 BASICS OF WRITING
Writing is an essential skill. All jobs call for writing, from
application letters to memos, emails,
tweets, text blogs, websites, proposals, and reports. Through
writing, communication is possible among
or between employees, managers, stakeholders, clients, and
agencies. Employees should be able to
write clearly to be able to do the other requisites of the job.
Writing keeps business moving (Searles,
2014; Kolin, 2015).
1. Purpose

On-the-job writings are usually done for at

least one of three reasons: (a) to
create/build a record, (b) to request or provide
information, and (c) to persuade.
2. Reader/Audience

Ask yourself these questions:

a. Who am I writing to? An individual or a group of
persons?
b. What do they know about this topic?
c. What are their job titles and areas of responsibility?
In identifying your audience, remember that the workplace
has a communication-network
pattern of contact created by the flow of messages among
communicators: (a) upward, (b)
lateral/horizontal, (c) downward, and (d) outward (Searles,
2014; Adler, Elmhorst, & Lucas,
2013).
 Upward Communication
The written materials are sent by subordinates to their superiors.
Upward communication can convey varied types of messages:
a. What subordinates are doing: “We will have that job done by closing
time.”
b. Unsolved work problems: “We are still figuring out how the old
furniture will fit in our new office.”
c. Suggestions for improvement: “I think we should ask the opinion of an
interior designer.”
d. How subordinates feel about each other and the job: “I think Eve, our
new secretary, is having problems with her responsibilities.”
e. Reply to an inquiry from a supervisor
 Lateral (Horizontal) Communication
The materials are sent to people who are of equal
level or status; that is, between members of the same division
or department of an organization.
The communication serves the following purposes:
a. Task coordination
b. Problem-solving
c. Sharing information
d. Building rapport
 Downward Communication
This is the kind of communication sent by superiors to their
subordinates. Downward communication is very important
because giving instructions is
inevitable. Examples are:

a. Job instructions
b. Job rationale
c. Feedback
 Outward Communication

This is intended for workers outside the

workplace. An example is a letter to the comptroller
of a company regarding financial matters.
 Outward Communication
You need to consider the differences in reader category
that are created by the flow of communication because they
affect your communication in many ways, particularly format.
For internal communication (the first three categories), the
memorandum is traditionally the preferred medium, but it is
now almost totally taken by email. For outward
communication (with clients, customers, or the public in
general), the standard business letter still prevails although it
is now sent by email or by fax machine (Searles, 2014).
2. Tone
Tone expresses your attitude toward a person or thing
(whether you agree or disagree, like
or dislike, bias or accept). It is how you regard or consider the
person. Some authors call this
“you attitude,” “consideration,” or “reader-centered.” Tone
may be professional or formal and impersonal, like in a
scientific report, or informal and personal, like in a letter to a
friend or in a how-to-do-article.
Focusing on the Reader (“Reader-Oriented” or “You-
Attitude”). You, the writer, should
think of the reader—his needs, his wants, his expectations.
Your readers are real people; you
have to make them feel that you are writing to them as
individuals. Put them in the forefront of
your letter.
Example:

a. Poor: “We now have a Walk-up Window, open to serve you

from 9 am to 4 pm every
Wednesday.”

b. Better (Focus on “you”): “You can now take care of your

banking needs at our new Walk-up
Window, open to serve you from 9 am to 4pm every
Wednesday.”
Choosing Positive and Pleasant Ideas

a. Negative: “She is a fault finder.” Positive: “She is

concerned with details.”

b. Negative: “The glass is half-empty.” Positive: “The glass is

half-full.
Focusing on What to Be Done to Solve the Problem. Not on
What Not to Be Done

a. Negative: “It is impossible to open an account for you

today.”

b. Positive: “As soon as your signature card reaches us today,

we can gladly open an account
for you.”
Using the Passive Form of the Verb to Soften the Impact of
Unpleasant, Negative, or Controversial
News

a. Poor: “Today, the union leader declared a general strike.”

b. Better: “A general strike was declared today

 MINUTES OF THE MEETING
Minutes are a summary of what happened at a meeting.
They show the information shared, the discussion made (clear,
accurate, and objective), and decisions reached during the
meeting. Since business meetings have become important
communication in business and the industry, a record of their
minutes is always filed. Minutes, which are considered
official, permanent records, are regarded as legal documents
(Kolin, 2015; Dagdag, Ranin, Roxas, Perez, & Buluran, 2011).
 MINUTES OF THE MEETING

Minutes may be formal or informal depending

on the type of meeting. Whether they are formal or
informal, however, minutes have the same basic parts
(Kolin,2015,p.109; Dagdag, et.al., 2011)
 MEMORANDUM

Memo short for memorandum, is of Latin origin,

which means “something to be remembered.”
This meaning explains the function of memos—to
record information of immediate importance and
interests.
 MEMO PROTOCOL
1. Be timely. Do not wait for the day of the event before your
announcement.
2. Be professional. Although a memo is an in-house correspondence, it
should still be well crafted, factually accurate, and free of grammar lapses
and faulty writing mechanics.
3. Be tactful. Politeness and diplomacy are important qualities of any
business correspondence.
4. Send memo to the right person. In business, a memo is typically for
internal communication; hence, it could also be considered as an upward
communication through which any complaints, issues, opinions, views and
suggestions are sent.
 LETTER OF REQUEST
Business letters are typically used for external
communication—messages from one company
to another, from a company to a client or to a
supplier. Although email is now often used,
countless letters are still written for various
reasons. One of them is the letter of request.
 LETTER OF REQUEST
Request letters are written when a person seeks
help of any kind from someone else. Students
like you may write a request letter when you
need information for any assigned writing
project, such as report, research, or article, or
when you ask for clarification or for favors (Kolin,
2015).
 SHORT REPORT
A short report, which may be either oral or written in
the report form of a memo or a letter
attached to an email or simply sent in the body of an email,
consists of significant information of a particular topic that is
meant to inform a reader. It is “an organized presentation of
relevant data on any
topic--money, travel, time, technology, personnel, service
equipment, weather, the environment—that a
company or agency deals with in running the business”
(Kolin, 2015, p.554).
TYPES OF SHORT REPORTS
1. PROGRESS REPORTS
A progress report, whose purpose is to ensure the
successful completion of the task or project
within the specified time, informs the reader (who is usually in
the management sector of the
organization) about the status of an on-going project or task—
how much had been done, is being done,
and will be done by a particular date (Kolin, 2015; Smith-
Worthington Jefferson, 2011).
TYPES OF SHORT REPORTS
2. INCIDENT REPORT
An incident report, which deals with the unexpected
that brings harm to people and property, like fire, vehicular
accidents, physical injury, law-enforcement offense,
environmental danger, machine breakdown, computer virus,
delivery delay, cost overrun, or production breakdown, is
written either by the person involved in the incident or by a
person in charge of the area where it took place to explain the
circumstances behind the troublesome occurrence.
TYPES OF SHORT REPORTS
3. PROJECT PROPOSAL

A proposal, a document designed to convince or

persuade someone to follow or accept a specific course of
action, is written to propose: (a) change of process or policy,
(b) solution to a problem, (c) purchase of a product or service,
(d) pursuit of an activity, or (e) research (Sims, 2003;
Murcherson, 2013).
-End of Discussion-