Why Writing Ability Is The Most Important Skill In Business (And How To Acquire It)

Jeff Bradford Forbes Councils Member

Jan. 29, 2019

Jeff Bradford, President & CEO of the Bradford Group,

Jeff is a former journalist with 30+ years of experience as a public relations professional.

(Getty image)

Any management consultant will tell you that communication skills are vital to success in business. Business is fundamentally about getting other people to do things -- getting employees to be productive, customers to buy your product or service, government to leave you alone -- and you can’t make these things happen if you can’t communicate well.

Communication can take many forms, such as video, speaking, phone calls, illustration, texting, email, signage, advertising, blogging, publicity and others. Doing any of these well requires good writing skills.

Why? Because good writing is fundamentally good thinking that follows a logical path and is easy for someone to follow. Writing out what you want to communicate forces you to organize your thoughts.

Of course, good writing is more than logic in action. It also must touch the reader, listener or viewer emotionally. Otherwise, it won’t connect or lead to the behavior you are seeking to create.

What makes a good writer? I suggest it is this:

Clear Thinking: It is impossible to write well without thinking clearly. You must understand what you want to say and be able to explain it. And I’m not talking about intelligence. A dull person can write better than a brilliant one if he clearly understands what he wants to communicate and sticks to it without wandering off into irrelevancies. In fact, smart people are sometimes quite poor writers because their desire to show off can muddy the message. (See “Economy” below.)

Knowing The Rules: The best writers regularly break the rules of grammar, but only after they’ve thoroughly learned them to the point that they are second nature. The difference between a masterful and hack painter of abstract art is that the master first learned how to paint representational art. He had a base to begin from and, as a result, his abstract work has a balance and harmony that the hack’s work will never possess. Picasso said he had to first learn to paint like Raphael before he could paint like a child.

Good Reading Habits: Simply knowing the rules of grammar and how to spell does not make you a writer. You have to read good writers to know what good writing looks like. Read a variety of good writers, which makes it less likely you’ll simply parrot someone’s style. And also fill your brain with lots of information you can use in your writing. Writers should read widely -- not just good literature, but also good non-fiction on a variety of topics, such as history, biography, science, politics, art and technology.

Curiosity: Being curious leads you to read widely, of course, but also to observe carefully the world around you -- both the animate and inanimate worlds -- and to ask questions and seek out people who know things you don’t know. Be a lifelong learner and you will continually grow the cognitive and emotional capacity you need to be a good writer -- because you’ll learn what moves people to take action.

Empathy: As the saying goes, no one cares how much you know until they know you care. A lack of empathy for others, especially for the reader, is to blame for most of the bad writing in the world. It leads to pompous drivel. To be a good writer, you must be able to get inside the heads and hearts of others; you must get outside of yourself. This will allow you to do two important things: One, say something interesting because you are able to juxtapose the thoughts of others with your own thoughts (and putting together things in novel ways is the foundation of creativity). And two, tap into the emotional intelligence that fuels all good writing.

Economy: It takes effort to be succinct, but your reader will appreciate it. Never use three words when one will do. Don’t say the same thing twice in a different way. Don’t write a preamble before getting to the heart of the matter. Unless there is a reason not to, stick to simple Anglo-Saxon words and eschew the Latin and Norman French words that have crept into English. Say “eat” instead of “ingest;” “goodness” instead of “probity," “rise” instead of “ascend.” And when you’ve said what you want to say, stop. Read Hemingway -- especially his early books -- for examples of economical writing at its best.

These are my tips for writing well, based on the 39 years I’ve spent as a professional writer. But they are by no means the last word. There are as many ways to write well as there are good writers. The main thing is to find a path to good writing that works for you -- because nothing is more important to success in business or in life. Thinking clearly is fundamental to success in any venture, and learning how to write will teach you how to think.

“Grammar and style not only matter to earning potential, but also to employers, managers, colleagues, and customers’ views of competence and performance.”

We live in a world where people make decisions and impressions very quickly. Research has shown us that we get about seven seconds to make a good first impression when we’re meeting someone in person. The same goes for the writing that we produce. People are more likely to call into question your authority, your competence, and quality of your ideas when they see mistakes or feel confused by your writing.

“If you aren’t writing with confidence and strength, you’re holding yourself back from becoming your ideal professional self.”

Business Writing For Everyone by Arley Cruthers

https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/businesswriting/chapter/bad-news-messages/

Bad News Messages

A bad news message (or negative news message) delivers news that the audience does not want to receive. Delivering negative news is never easy. Whether you are informing someone they are being laid off or providing constructive criticism on their job performance, how you choose to deliver the message can influence its response (Bovee & Thill, 2010).

Some people prefer their bad news to be direct and concise. Others may prefer a less direct approach. How you break bad news will also depend on your culture, your family and norms of your industry. For example, people in India might be very direct with their family and close friends, but use an indirect approach in a workplace setting.

Regardless of whether you determine a direct or indirect approach is warranted, your job is to deliver news that you anticipate will be unwelcome.

In this section we will examine several scenarios that can be communicated internally (within the organization) and externally (outside the organization), but recognize that the lines can be blurred as communication flows outside and through an organization or business. Internal and external communication environments often have a degree of overlap. The rumour of anticipated layoffs may surface in the local media, and you may be called upon to address the concern within the organization. In a similar way, a product that has failed internal quality control tests will require several more tests and improvements before it is ready for market, but if that information leaves the organization, it can hurt the business reputation, prospects for future contracts, and the company’s ability to secure financing.

Goals of Bad News Messages

When you break bad news, you first want to think about the best possible outcome for everyone involved. For example, if you have to lay off a good employee because of budget cuts, the best case scenario is that the person is upset but understands that the layoff wasn’t about their work performance. If you handle the news with professionalism, you might be able to preserve the working relationship in the future. If you’re firing an employee who hasn’t responded to multiple Performance Improvement Plans, however, you would want to break the news clearly and compassionately, but you might not care as much about preserving the relationship.

This also applies to external communication. Sometimes, an angry customer might complain on social media. You might not be able to preserve the relationship with that customer, but other customers will be watching to see how you handle it. If you deal with the angry customer in a fair, professional manner, you will leave others with a positive impression of your company.

There are seven goals to keep in mind when delivering negative news, in person or in written form:

Be clear and concise to minimize the chances of confusion or back-and-forth communication.
Help the receiver understand and accept the news.
Maintain trust and respect for the business or organization and for the receiver.
Avoid legal liability or erroneous admission of guilt or culpability.
Maintain the relationship, even if a formal association is being terminated. (Note: this only applies to situations where you want the relationship to continue. When dealing with an abusive client, for example, your goal might be to clearly sever the relationship).
Reduce the anxiety associated with the negative news to increase comprehension.
Achieve the designated business outcome.

Delivering a Bad News Message

There are two approaches you can use to deliver a negative news message–the direct approach and the indirect approach. We’ll go through each of these in turn.

Direct approach

The direct approach is often used when the audience values brevity, the message needs to be concise, the message is very complex and might not be understood easily, the message is related to a known issue or problem (and bad news won’t be a surprise), or you’re terminating a business relationship.

Example:

Your request for vacation time from August 1-30 was not approved because it is over your vacation days entitlement of 10 days.

Please re-submit your request for vacation days (up to a maximum of 10) to HR as soon as possible.

Indirect approach

When the bad news may have a significant impact on the recipient or you don’t know them very well, you may prefer to use the indirect approach.

Here is an example of a bad news message delivered using this approach...

Mr. Smith,

Thank you for submitting your request for 10 days of vacation (your maximum entitlement) in August.

Summer is traditionally a time when many employees are out of the office and demands on the servers are reduced. In order to minimize the disruption to staff throughout the company, the IT department will be rolling out a server replacement project during July and August. Because this project will need to be completed in a more compressed timeframe, no vacation requests in July and August are possible for staff in the IT department. As a result, your request for vacation during August has not been approved. However, you are welcome to take vacation before and/or after the project rolls out. In compensation, HR is providing IT staff with three extra days of paid vacation.

We look forward to receiving your revised vacation request soon.

The indirect approach for delivering bad news has six parts:

Begin with a salutation
Open with a buffer statement
Explain the situation
Break the bad news
Redirect or provide alternatives
End politely and forward-looking

We’ll go through each of these parts in detail.

Begin with salutation

A business letter salutation is a formal greeting used in professional written documents. These include business letters, job application materials and formal emails. Proper usage of a business letter salutation is important in business writing and organizational practices. Overall you need to provide some form of personalization. Remember to keep it appropriate to the circumstances and your relationship to the recipient.

For more details on different salutations go here: How to write salutations in business letters and emails

Buffer statement

The first part of a negative news message, verbal or written, is a buffer statement. It provides neutral or positive information. It sets the tone and often serves as a cushion for the information to come. It is important that the buffer not be overly positive because this can be misleading or set up the reader to expect a positive news message instead.

Explanation

Next, an explanation discusses why there is an issue. This may be relatively simple, quite complex, or uncomfortable. While an explanation is important, never admit or imply responsibility without written authorization from your company cleared by legal counsel. Try to avoid labeling the bad news, such as calling it inconvenient or disappointing, because this can assume the feelings of your reader and create a negative impression. The person receiving the message may not have felt badly about receiving the news until you pointed out that it was indeed inconvenient or disappointing.

Break the bad news

The third part of the negative news message involves the bad news itself, and the emphasis here is on clarity and accuracy. While you want to break the bad news clearly, try not to spotlight it.

Redirect or provide alternatives

The fourth part of a bad news message is the redirect, where you refocus attention on a solution strategy, possible alternatives, or the subsequent actions that will take place.

End politely and forward-looking

Last, you want to end your message politely and looking to the future. Don’t mention the bad news again!

(https://www.australiabesttutor.com/blog/ethical-dilemmas-in-organizations)

More information: How to Respond to an Ethical Dilemma

Last Updated February 21, 2020

https://www.michiganstateuniversityonline.com/resources/leadership/how-to-respond-to-an-ethical-dilemma/

As unpleasant as it may be to face, the statistics suggest that you’re likely to encounter an ethical dilemma in the workplace. According to the Ethics & Compliance Initiative’s 2018 Global Benchmark on Workplace Ethics, 30% of employees in the U.S. personally observed misconduct in the past 12 months, a number close to the global median for misconduct observation. Recent headline-making ethical issues, particularly those tied to discrimination and sexual harassment, have brought unethical conduct in the workplace to the forefront of conversation. While greater awareness has led to a larger discussion on certain unethical behaviors, when you encounter unethical behavior in your own workplace, you’re then faced with an ethical dilemma of your own—what actions should you take?

How to Act and React

Depending on the situation, you may be a victim of unethical behavior, such as discrimination, sexual harassment or bullying in a toxic workplace culture. You may be the witness to your manager’s or coworker’s unethical behavior, or you may be asked by a manager or client to do something unethical. Your immediate reaction may be to blow the whistle on the behavior. However, whistleblowing may encourage retaliation, but inaction makes you complicit or continues to victimize you. It’s an ethical dilemma!

Here are some steps you can take to highlight your concerns without risking your job or your own ethics:

Repeat back and clarify: Muse Career Coach Avery Blank says to tell your manager what you think the request is to ensure you have complete clarity. This may resolve the issue, either because you’ve misunderstood or because the newfound perspective has made the person rethink their request.
Ask questions: If simply stating the request aloud does not work, probing your supervisor with questions regarding the reason and motivation behind the request can also help deter them. Melody Wildling, another Muse Career Coach, says that not only does this demonstrate that you make measured, informed decisions, but it can also create a more transparent dialogue.
Focus on your manager’s best interests: If you can’t convince your supervisor yet, it may be time to point out that this will “look bad if it gets out,” writes Anne Fisher in Fortune. Pointing out the disadvantages this unethical action will have on your manager’s career will help your hands stay clean and portray your loyalty.
Suggest an alternative: After telling your manager that you are, in fact, uncomfortable with the situation after gaining more information, providing an alternate solution is the next best step to do if possible. Fisher says that while this isn’t always possible, it’s worth a shot, and you could end up looking like a hero.
Escalate: If the situation isn’t resolved by clarifying, you’ll need to determine the next person to inform. Depending on your organization, this may be your boss’s leadership, general counsel, a compliance officer, a hotline, an auditor, or an HR representative.
Blow the whistle: If you exhaust all internal options and the issue isn’t resolved, external entities like the government or the media are the next step. But, Daniel Victor in The New York Times advises to consider the risks before you escalate the issue to this level. Bringing unethical behavior to light, even internally, isn’t always popular. Depending on the situation and the type of unethical behavior you’re bringing to light, you may be protected by OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program. However, even if you may be legally protected and vindicated, understand what this action could mean in your professional and personal life.
Leave, if necessary: If all else fails, it may be time to find another job. Try one final, firm refusal with the ultimatum that you will leave, and do so if the action isn’t resolved. While this may put an economic burden on you, in the long run, you don’t want to stay in a position where you’re asked to violate your morals or where advancement requires unethical behavior.

Do’s and Don’ts for Speaking Up

If you’re faced with an ethical dilemma, emotion can quickly take over as these situations may feel alarming or like a moral test. Use these do’s and don’ts, based on insights from Amy Gallo of the Harvard Business Review, author of the HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict at Work, to make a more deliberate decision:

Do…

Question your assumptions: Fear – of confrontation or retaliation – can spur rationalization. Common rationalizations may include statements like, “this isn’t a big deal,” or “this is just the way it’s done,” or “this is not my responsibility.” Examine those assumptions to ensure they aren’t simply a way to avoid feeling bad if you don’t take action.
Gain perspective: Try to understand what is motivating the unethical request or action. This perspective can help form a response, particularly if there is an ethical way to achieve the same goal.
Have a conversation: With the exception of extreme ethics violations, confronting the individual directly first is often the best way to manage a situation. Provide an opportunity for the person to explain his actions or to correct the behavior first. If a direct conversation doesn’t resolve the issue, you may need to inform your manager, HR department or a company ethics hotline.

Don’t…

Forge ahead without a plan: Spend time rehearsing how you’re going to address the situation to test your thought process and have a planned approach.
Make accusations: Keep the focus on understanding the situation. Leading with questions like, “Can you help me understand?” or “Can you help me see?” can help establish if the individual is open to a productive discussion and may help them see your perspective.

Know Your Ethics

There are ethical aspects to every individual and organizational decision. Unfortunately, when an organization’s leadership makes unethical decisions or even asks employees to conduct business in an unethical matter, this can permeate the company culture and the ethical decision-making process of the entire organization. Maintaining your own ethical awareness and practicing sound judgment are essential as you decide what steps to take in dealing with ethical dilemmas. Not only can this help you to make better-informed decisions that align with your values, this may also even help you to be an ethical example for your coworkers and superiors that can lead to a more effective and ethical organization.

To Do:

1. Listen to recorded lecture (if we do not have class time to complete this material)

**PDF of the lecture slides: Module 10 Business writing and technology.pdf

2. Read this article: Understanding company hierarchy and chain of command

Additional Resources:

Efficient Group Writing.pdf

Put a Smiley on It-Use of emojis in the workplace.pdf

1.03 The 5 C's of Business Writing (1).pdf

writing_tasks.-good news and bad newspdf.pdf