Generating Effective Correspondence

Your department's ability to generate professional, error-free correspondence reflects well on your team and on your management skills. Conversely, generating poorly correspondence with factual or gramatical errors reflects negatively on a any department manager.

Your business writing goals should include:

Making certain letters and memos are clear and concise;
Eliminating repetitive phrases in your correspondence;
Including powerful opening and closing remarks;
Making certain the reader understands the action you want them to take and the deadline for completing this work;
Eliminating the use of jargon in order to make your correspondence more user friendly;
Avoiding the use of clichés and trite phrases;
Avoiding correspondence that is overly formal;
Creating documents that appeal to the reader's needs and wants;
For internal documents, creating clear but concise correspondence that provides the specific information the recipient needs;
Making sure all correspondence includes a subject line

Here are a few tips on creating more effective correspondence:

Remind people to write the way you talk (Example, if you don't use the word henceforth in daily conversations, don't use it in correspondence)
Make your messages brief
Re-read correspondence at least once before sending it
When you do, expect that you will find things that need to be changed
Include all relevant documentation with your correspondence

Following these guidelines will help every manager to ensure that their department is generating documents with fewer errors, and sending messages that are more likely to have the desired impact,