No discussion of communication is complete without mentioning the importance of effective writing skills. No matter what their position or level in the company, at some point all employees must put words on paper. You might need to write a memo, a report, or a performance appraisal. What you say matters; how you say it can matter more. Although writing is a life skill, not just a job skill, many people turn into babbling bureaucrats when they write. There's no reason for business writing to be any more convoluted than talking. In fact, it can be easier to write because you focus just on your presentation. In fact, it's as easy as three steps that you can view as your AIM:

• Audience: Who will read your message?

• Intent: Why are you writing?

• Message: What do you have to say?

Make separate lists to answer each of these three questions. Then use your lists as an outline and begin writing. Write as though your audience is sitting in front of you and you are talking to them. Hold the slang, but stay conversational. Write enough content (your message) to cover your intent — no more. Be sure the vocabulary you choose is appropriate for your audience; steer clear of jargon.

Don't let the process of writing intimidate you. It's just another form of communication. The best way to begin writing is to start with what's on your mind. Keep in mind that you don't have to start at the beginning. You can rearrange your blocks of words after you get them down on paper (or on screen). Word processing programs and computers make this very easy. Often one idea flows into the next once you get started, leading you through all of what you want to say. And remember, nobody gets it just right the first time. Writing is a process of editing and revision. If you don't like the way something sounds, change it.

Keep It Concise

To keep your focus clear and clean, make sure every sentence contributes to your intent and message in a way that is relevant to your audience. The myriad details of last month's focus group might fascinate you, but the employees receiving your report just need to know the problems and the suggestions for remedying them. The typical manager gives a written document, paper or electronic, about eight seconds to prove itself worthy of further interest and more time. Brevity counts!

E-mail Issues

Ironically, it's the proliferation of electronic communication that most graphically illustrates the need to address writing skills. The speed with which we can zip messages across the office or around the world makes us behave as though we must take every available shortcut to save even more time, circumventing the processes that effective writing requires. The instantaneous nature of e-mail makes us feel as though we have to read and write at the same speed. But we don't (and can't), and trying to is often a direct route to misunderstanding. The same guidelines for effective communication on paper apply in the paperless environment of cyberspace.

Because e-mail is instantaneous, it's easy to fire off responses and comments without thinking about potential ramifications. The fact that most of us delete e-mail messages once we've read or sent them gives the impression that they are temporal communications, existing only in time just like conversations in person or over the phone (and just as private). Wrong! This is a common and potentially hazardous belief. A growing number of companies capture and store electronic messages that travel through the company's networked computer systems. So far the courts have upheld the rights of companies to do this; what you do on company time with company resources belongs to the company and is the company's business.

If you wouldn't write something in a letter or a memo, don't write it in an e-mail message, either. With distribution lists and bulk forwarding, the message you send to your superior “for your eyes only” could end up on hundreds of other computers. E-mail messages have embarrassed presidents and secretaries alike, and they are an increasing source of evidence in legal proceedings involving everything from sexual harassment to wrongful termination. That offhand comment you fire off in response to a question about someone's performance could become an electronic ghost that returns to haunt you months or years from now.