Portfolio_Project_Mikael_Sundin

Best Practices in Business
Writing and Communication
Mikael
Sundin

Objectives and Results
 Objectives
 Understand the needed skills
 Choose the correct media
 Comprehend topic application
 Results
 Improve business communication
 Create success for your organization
 Create your own success through knowledge

Business Writing and Communication
 Introduction
 Business Communicator’s Skills
 Written
 Verbal
 Non-Verbal
 Best Practice Topics
“Communication is a skill that you can learn. It's like riding a
bicycle or typing. If you're willing to work at it, you can rapidly
improve the quality of every part of your life.” (Tracy, n.d)

Business Communication Skills
 Written
 Clear and concise
 Must be learned
 Verbal
 Speaking
 Listening
 Non-Verbal
 Body language
 Tone of voice
 The skill of communicating effectively
in the workplace is not something
business communicators are born with
(Guffey & Loewy, 2011).
 Good communication skills afford a
better chance for employees to get hired
and retain their positions (CSU-Global,
2014a).
 The ability to listen represents an
important “soft skill” (CSU-Global,
2014a, p. 3) required to be an effective
communicator.
 Minus tone of voice (non-verbal) and
body language (non-verbal), only seven
percent of the spoken word in face to
face communication is transmitted
verbally (Chapter 2: Body Language,
1999).
Refer to Presentation Handout for Group Discussion

Best Practice Topics
 Effective and ethical business communication
 Professionalism in the workplace
 Intercultural business communication
 Writing tips for the business professional
 The use of electronic messages and digital media
 Positive and negative messages
 Business presentations
 Business reports, plans, and proposals

Effective and Ethical Business
Communication
 Focus on Ethics
 Create transparency
 Ensure customer faith
 Build better
employees
 Communicating Ethics
 Clear Standards
 Truthful Reporting
 Ethical standards should show
“accountability and transparency” to
maintain an ethical workplace (Ferrell,
Fraedrich, & Ferrell, 2011, p. 45).
(Business Management Daily, 2013)

Communication (cont.)
 Create Transparency
 Advertise standards
 Publicize reports
 Customer Faith
 Always building
 Feedback hotline
 Better Employees
 Training
 Buy in
 Ethical standards should be publically
communicated via distribution or readily
available on digital media. Most
businesses with web pages post these
ethical standards as a way to connect
with the community.
 Continue to communicate effective
business ideas with ethical intent.
Sharing these ideals and allowing
customers to comment on violations is a
successful approach used by the Red
Cross and other business’ around the
globe (American Red Cross, 2009).
 Employees should have buy in to ensure
that the ethical communication from
BoD’s and leadership are received and
emulated. Signing ethical codes of
conduct are one step to ensuring that
commitment from employees.

 Clear Standards
 Business practices
must emulate these
principles
 Truthful Reporting
 Accurate reports
 Publically available
 Standard should be adhered to so solid,
trustworthy communication can be
transparent to the organization internally
and stakeholders alike.
 Reporting of quarterly sales, annual
achievements, ect. Should be accurately
and openly displayed for an organization.
Avoid untrustworthy stakeholders and
conflict internally that can create
animosity among all parties down the
road (CSU-Global, 2014a).
(Morniniere & Macharia, 2012)

Professionalism in the Workplace
 Practice
Professionalism
 Its not just how you
look
 Believe in
professionalism
 Ethical Impact
 Make better decisions
 A public organization
 The service one provides whether for pay
or profit excels with top notch
professionalism in its act (Schaefer,
1984).
 Do not separate business communication
from ethics as moral sensibility will
disappear from the organization
(Schaefer, 1984).
(Microsoft PowerPoint, 2010)

(cont.)
 It Goes Beyond the
Look
 Understand you can’t
just look the part
 Communicate
professionally
 Believe in
Professionalism
 No conceptual model
 Create vision
 “Being professional goes beyond the
way you look” (Castillo, 2012, para. 1).
How you communicate creates positive
professional images.
 Professionalism must be create from
within, utilizing personal ideals and
incorporating them into the organization
(Schaefer, 1984).

(cont.)
 Make Better Decisions
 Involve ethics to
create transparency
 Caution to vocation
 Public Organization
 Transparency creates
public image
 Have caution that
moral values enter
communication
 True professionalism is not learned by
looking for definitions but through the
art of honesty and transparency in
communication (Schaefer, 1984).
 Vocation can be communicated as
intimate to beliefs or religious in nature,
communicate these ideals cautiously.
 Create a positive image by:
 Being polite and respectful
 Smiling
 Act positive
 Do not use jargon
 Speak clear and concise (Castillo, 2012)

Intercultural Business
Communication
 Balancing Diversity
 Understanding your
organization
 Internal reflection of
diversity
 Cross Cultural
Communication
 Understanding your
partners
 Balancing diversity throughout an
organization fosters further diversity
advancement.
 Different cultures communicate on
separate levels in reference to
paralanguage and non-verbal
communication.

 Understanding Your
Organization
 Diversity creates
success
 Beyond a theory
 Internal Reflection of
Diversity
 BoD should reflect the
culture of the company
 Hiring practices
 Fortune’s list of the 50 best workplaces
for minorities shows organizations how
success with diverse workforces is more
than a theory, it is “the situation of
corporate America today” (Daniels,
2004, para. 5).
 Balance at the top helps promote more
free thinking members of a company as
they feel their own ideas can be accepted
at every level of the organization
(Daniels, 2004).
 A sustained, diverse culture will promote
and encourage a diverse pool of
candidates.

 Understanding Your
Partners
 Avoiding attribution
 Paralanguage
 Object language
 Do not place blame for communication
shortfalls on external factors such as
cultural differences (Coombs, 2004).
 Paralanguage must be addressed in order
to “strike a balance between merely
communicating and communicating
effectively in order to succeed in a fast
changing cross commercial world.
(Mishra, 2009, p. 29).
 How you set up your office or
conference room has a cross cultural
effect (McElroy & Morrow, 1981).
Ensure you environment welcomes open
communication with partners instead of
presenting an offensive feeling in the
room.

Writing Tips for the Business
Professional
 Clear and Concise
 Include required
content
 Length is vital
 3 x 3 Method
 Prewriting
 Writing
 Revising
 Stakeholders want the truth up front, the
facts aligned clearly, and presented in a
concise manner. Do not fill voids with
words that lose impact.
 Effective communication can be
successful if a standard is used to
produce the product. Guffey and Loewy
(2011) explain the 3 x 3 method of
writing that should be applied for every
scenario of business communication,
especially the written word.

Professional (cont.)
 Include required
content
 Only needed
information
 Factual content
 Length is Vital
 Do not get long
winded
 Short is alright
 Include what is needed, don’t make your
message “cloudy” (CSU-Global, 2014b,
p. 4), and include the facts that support
the thesis of communication.
 Run on sentences will lose the focus of
the reader. (Guffey & Loewy, 2011).
 Short statements are acceptable if they
are concise and factual.

Professional (cont.)
 Prewriting
 Writing
 Revising
 Prewriting – Understand the audience,
know what they know, predict the
reaction, decide on a media (CSU-
Global, 2014b).
 Writing – Do not revise along the way,
get ideas down and clean up later
(Guffey & Loewy, 2011).
 Revising – Perfect the work, concentrate
on content, style, and corrections (CSU-
Global, 2014b).
(Microsoft PowerPoint, 2010)(Microsoft PowerPoint, 2010)

Electronic Messages and Digital
Media
 Selecting the Best
Channel
 Importance
 Feedback and
Interactivity
 Record
 Formality
 Confidentiality and
Sensitivity (Guffey &
Loewy, 2011).
 Organizational performance has a direct
correlation to the ability to communicate
effectively. A message should have
purpose and insight related to the desired
results of the organization (Chen, 2011).
 Following the channel selection ideas of
Guffey and Loewy (2011) should help
guide electronic messages and digital
media in the right direction for the
organization.

Media (cont.)
 Importance
 Time sensitive
 Continued interaction
 Feedback
 Utilize peers to review
 Record
 Electronic messages
can provide permanent
data
 Important communication where results
desire fast action, immediate feedback,
or continuous monitoring require a
medium that is rich and meaningful
(Guffey & Loewy, 2011). Utilizing face
to face communication could kick start
the communication, but faxes and emails
can keep communication flowing
between parties.
 Do your messages make sense? Ask for
feedback from peers to ensure your
digital communication reaches the
audience correctly.
 Do you want permanent records? Digital
media such as blogs and clouds can keep
info for record. Email is also an
electronic messaging system that allows
historical capabilities.

Media (cont.)
 Formality
 Can email be formal
 Memos and letters
 Confidentiality and
Sensitivity
 Safeguard from
unwanted viewers
 Keep information
secure
 Email has its place for both formal and
informal messaging even though some
organizations, such as the United States
Air Force, recommend formality to all
email messaging (Secretary of the Air
Force, 2013).
 Guffey and Loewy (2011) urge
organizations to use memos and letters
when formality is required. Letterheads
and signatures ad a feel of formality
unmatched by digital means of
communication.
 Security and information release could
cause public reputation damage and loss
of data for an organization (ISACA,
2010). Secure blogs and social media
monitoring could help mitigate this risk.

Positive and Negative Messages
 Positive Messages
 Embrace them
 Share the message
 Negative Messages
 Embrace them
 Control the responses
 Social media and the digital world have
stemmed both positive and negative
communication issues. Embracing both
sides and managing the reactions
afterward could create success.
Leave Your Comments Here!

(cont.)
 Embrace the Positive
 Build confidence in
your organization
 Continue forward
progress
 Share the Message
 Stakeholders must
know
 Advertise
 Share the good news and communicate
the benefits and employees will embrace
the organization (Gallo, 2013).
 Financial reports and quarterly
newsletters should be filled with positive
feedback from customers and
employees; create a buzz! Add that
positivity to social media; Facebook
alone has over two billion viewers, that
is cost effective advertisement (About,
2014).

(cont.)
 Embrace the Negative
 Ensure confidence
 Move forward
 Control the Responses
 How to communicate
back
 When to let go
 Negative comments should be addressed
with policy change or stakeholder
embrace, when claims are relevant.
Moving forward must be tactfully
accomplished as businesses will work
themselves out of profit if they cannot
overcome negative communication.
 Communicating back to a negative
message requires a step back, and a
closer look at the intent of your message.
Do not hastily reply, ever!
 Letting go before the situation gets
worse is sometime the best avenue. Who
knows, maybe that negative message is
from a spammer, an angry at the world
type person, or someone fishing for a
response to make themselves look better
(Mellows, 2012).

Business Presentations
 Do you want a
“powerful multimedia
presentation” (Guffey &
Loewy, 2011, p.473)?
 Choose your delivery
method
 Create the ambiance
 Practice
 Eight Steps to Making a
Powerful Multimedia
Presentation (Guffey &
Loewy, 2011).

Business Presentations (cont.)
 Choose your Method
 Speak naturally
 Project your spoken
word to the entire
room
 Repeat critical
information
 Pause at the right
moment
 Do not just read the
slides
 Create the Ambiance
 Your audience must be
able to see you
 Ensure remotes allow
movement throughout
the room
 Pointers can engage an
audience
 Do not let the
slideshow run the
discussion

Business Presentations (cont.)
 Eight Steps
 Start with text
 Fonts and background
 Image choice
 Simple graphics
 Animations
 Hyperlink
 Engage with questions
 Make it web based
(Guffey & Loewy, 2011)
 Business presentations
can define a person
and or corporation in
which they represent.
For presentations to be
successful proper
understanding of these
eight elements should
be ingrained into an
organization.

Business Reports, Plans, and
Proposals
 Formality Drives
Communication Style
 Formal reports, plans,
or proposals
 Informal reports,
plans, or proposals
 Understanding where
the report, plan, or
proposal will come
from, and the
preferred delivery
method, should decide
the style used.

Proposals (cont.)
 Informal
 Not common place
 Typically internal
 Individually generated
 Business reports, plans and proposals are
not typically informal. Some reports can
be generated through emails or memo
but tend to be for information purposes
only (Howard, n.d.).
 These informal communications lack the
hard data and facts needed to be
publicized.
 With the lack of data and the informal
formatting, most of these style reports,
plans, or proposals will stay internal to
an organization (Howard, n.d.). These
reports will need review and added
information if they intend to be
communicated to other stakeholders.
 Acharya (2012) informs that most
informal reports have a point of origin
from and individual rather than a group.

Proposals (cont.)
 Formal
 Professionally
common
 Internal or external
formatted
 Generated from
individuals or teams
 Formal reports in the professional
business world are more common for
written reports, plans, and proposals.
These formal reports are typically more
analytical and contain more data and
facts (Howard, n.d.).
 Internal versions of formal reports are
left to the discretion of the organization
as far as level of formality. When the
communication becomes and external
product more emphasis on format and
professionalism comes into play
(Acharya, 2012).
 Although any formal communication can
be generated individually or with teams,
more than likely these formal
communications will stem from a group
effort (Acharya, 2012).

Conclusion
 Objectives Reached
 Writing, speaking, and
presenting all have added
value
 Understanding the correct
media for your message
creates better reception
 Topics were understood
and practical exercises
solidified the knowledge
 Expected Results
 Business communication
should improve
individually and within the
organization
 Organizational profits,
sustainability, and futures
should improve with this
application
 You are better!

References
 About. (2014). Life events. Author. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/facebook/info
 Acharya, A. (2012). What is the difference between formal reports and informal reports? Retrieved from
http://www.preservearticles.com/201101133250/formal-reports-and-informal-reports.html
 American Red Cross. (2009). American Red Cross code of business ethics and conduct.
Retrieved from http://www.redcross.org/www-
files/Documents/Governance/file_cont5875_lang0_2860.pdf
 Business Management Daily. (2013). Honest or not? 10 questions to spot ethical applicants. Retrieved
from http://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/35119/honest-or-not-10-questions-to-spot-ethical-
applicants
 Castillo, M. (2012). Practicing Professionalism. Health Care Registration: The Newsletter For Health
Care Registration Professionals, 21(12), 8-9.

References
 Chapter 2: Body language. (1999). Effective Business Communications Pocketbook (pp. 27-35).
 Chen, I. S. (2011). Choosing the right communication channels of communication moderating stress levels
during organizational change. International Journal of Management and Innovation 3(1), 43-44.
doi:10.1177/0021943612465181
 Colorado State University-Global. (2014a). Module 1: Effective, ethical and professional business
communication. Retrieve from
blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/courses/KEY_ORG536/courseModules_winter2013a/org536_1/org5
36_1.html
 Colorado State University-Global. (2014b). Module 3: The writing process. Retrieved from
https://csuglobal.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/courses/KEY_ORG536/courseModules_winter201
3a/org536_3/org536_3.html

References
 Coombs, W. T. (2004). Impact of past crisis on current crisis communication: Insights from situational
crisis communication theory. Journal of Business Communication 41(265). Retrieved from
https://staticssl.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/Coombs%20Impact.pdf
 Daniels, C. (2004). 50 best companies for minorities. Fortune, 149(13), 136-146.
 Ferrell, O.C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2011). Business Ethics: Ethical decision making and cases.
Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
 Gallo, C. (2013). Seven ways to inspire employees to love their jobs. Forbes. Retrieved from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2013/06/21/seven-ways-to-inspire-employees-to-love-
their-jobs/
 Guffey, M. E. & Loewy, D. (2011). Business communication: Process & product. (7th ed.). Mason, OH:
South-Western Cengage Learning.

References
 Howard, R. M. (n.d.). Types of business reports. Retrieved from http://wrt-
howard.syr.edu/Handouts/reports.htm
 ISACA. (2010). Social media: Business benefits and security, governance and assurance perspectives.
Author. Rolling Meadows: IL.
 Mellows, P. (2012, October 4). Taming the trolls. Morning Advertiser, 38-39. Retrieved from
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.csuglobal.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=ef4acf4e-f9e4-
4141-a46c-55dc7ad424e8%40sessionmgr115&vid=2&hid=102
 McElroy, J. C., & Morrow, P. C. (1981). Object Language as Nonverbal Communication: The Role of
Interior Office Design in Impression Management. Academy Of Management Proceedings
(00650668), 203-207. doi:10.5465/AMBPP.1981.4976803

References
 Microsoft PowerPoint. (2010). PowerPoint clip art. Author.
 Mishra, B. (2009). Role of Paralanguage in Effective English Communication. ICFAI Journal Of Soft
Skills, 3(2), 29-36.
 Moriniere, P. & Macharia, S. (2012). The learning resource kit for gender-ethical journalism and media
house policy. The Communication Initiative Network. Retrieved from
http://www.comminit.com/global/content/learning-resource-kit-gender-ethical-journalism-and-
media-house-policy
 Secretary of the Air Force. (2013). Air Force senior non-commissioned officer academy course.
Washington D.C.: Author.

References
 Schaefer, T. E. (1984). Professionalism: Foundation for Business Ethics. Journal Of Business Ethics, 3(4),
269-277.
 Tracy, B. (n.d.) Brainy Quotes. Retrieved from
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_communication.html#EcO20whA3TI1X8MW.99

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