TECHNICAL

COMMUNICATION
PROCESS AND
PRODUCT
Chapter 06
Routing Correspondence: Memos, Letters, Email, Instant Messages

Letter Writing
Engr. Nauman Ahmad Tariq
WHY EMAIL IS IMPORTANT
 E-mail has become a predominant means of routine
correspondence.
 Emails are primarily used for following reasons:
 Time.
 “Everything is driven by time.
 You have to use what is most efficient”
 The primary driving force behind e-mail’s prominence is
time. E-mail is quick.
 Whereas a posted letter might take several days to
deliver, e-mail messages can be delivered within seconds
WHY EMAIL IS IMPORTANT
 Convenience.
 With wireless communication, you can send e-mail from
notebooks to handhelds.
 Handheld communication systems combine a voice
phone, a personal digital assistant, and e-mail into a
package that you can slip into a pocket or purse.
 Then, you can access your e-mail messages anywhere,
anytime
WHY EMAIL IS IMPORTANT
 Internal/External
 E-mail allows you to communicate internally to co-
workers and externally to customers and vendors.
 Traditional communication channels, like letters and
memos, have more limited uses.
 Generally,
 letters are external correspondence written from one
company to another company;
 memos are internal correspondence transmitted within a
company
WHY EMAIL IS IMPORTANT
 Cost.
 E-mail is cost effective because it is paper-free.
 With an ability to attach files, you can send many kinds of
documentation without paying shipping fees.
 This is especially valuable when considering international
business
WHY EMAIL IS IMPORTANT
 Documentation.
 E-mail provides an additional value when it comes to
documentation.
 Because so many writers merely respond to earlier e-mail
messages, what you end up with is a “virtual paper trail”
(Miller et al. 15).
 When e-mail is printed out, often the printout will contain
dozens of e-mail messages, representing an entire string
of dialogue.
 This provides a company an extensive record for future
reference.
 In addition, most companies archive e-mail messages in
backup files
REASONS FOR WRITING
EMAIL
 E-mail is used to convey many types of information in business
and industry.
 You can write an e-mail message to accomplish any of the
following purposes:
 Directive: Tell a subordinate or a team of employees to
complete a task.
 Cover/transmittal: Inform a reader or readers that you have
attached a document, and list the key points that are included
in the attachment.
 Documentation: Report on expenses, incidents, accidents,
problems encountered, projected costs, study findings, and
reallocations of staff or equipment.
 Confirmation: Inform a reader about a meeting agenda, date,
time, and location; decisions to purchase or sell; topics for
discussion at upcoming teleconferences; conclusions arrived at;
fees, costs, or expenditures
REASONS FOR WRITING
EMAIL
 Procedures. Explain how to set up accounts, research on
the company intranet, operate new machinery, use new
software, apply online for job opportunities through the
company intranet, or solve a problem.
 Recommendations. Provide reasons to purchase new
equipment, hire personnel, contract with new providers,
revise current practices, or renew contracts.
 Feasibility. Study the possibility of changes in the
workplace (practices, procedures, locations, staffing, or
equipment).
 Status. Provide a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly,
biannual, or yearly report about where you, the department,
or the company is regarding any topic (project, sales,
staffing, travel, practices, procedures, or finances).
 Inquiry. Ask questions about upcoming processes,
TECHNIQUES FOR WRITING
EFFECTIVE E-MAIL
MESSAGES
 To convey your messages effectively and to ensure that
your e-mail messages reflect professionalism, follow
these tips for writing e-mail:
 Recognize Your Audience
 Identify Yourself
 Provide an Effective Subject Line
 Keep Your E-mail Message Brief
 Organize Your E-mail Message
 Use Highlighting Techniques Sparingly
 Proofread Your E-mail Message
 Make Hard Copies for Future Reference
 Be Careful when Sending Attachments
 Practice etiquette
RECOGNIZE YOUR
AUDIENCE
 E-mail messages can be sent to managers, co-workers,
sub- ordinates, vendors, and customers, among other
audiences.
 Your e-mail readers will be high tech, low tech, and lay.
 Thus, you must factor in levels of knowledge
 If an e-mail message is sent internationally, you also
might have to consider your readers’ language.
 Remember that abbreviations and acronyms are not
universal.
 Dates, times, measurements, and monetary figures differ
from country to country.
RECOGNIZE YOUR
AUDIENCE
 In addition, your reader’s e-mail system might not have
the same features or capabilities that you have.
 Hard-copy text will look the same to all readers.
 E-mail platforms, such as in AOL, Out- look, Gmail,
HotMail, and Yahoo, display text differently.
 To communicate effectively, recognize your audience’s
level of knowledge, language, and technology needs
IDENTIFY YOURSELF
 Identify yourself by name, affiliation, or title.
 You can accomplish this either in the “From” line of your
e-mail or by creating a signature file or .sig file.
 This .sig file acts like an online business card.
 Once this identification is complete, readers will be able
to open your e-mail without fear of corrupting their
computer systems.
PROVIDE AN EFFECTIVE
SUBJECT LINE
 Readers are unwilling to open unsolicited or unknown e-
mail, due to fear of spam and viruses.
 In addition, corporate employees receive approximately
50 e-mail messages each day.
 They might not want to read every message sent to
them.
 To ensure that your e-mail messages are read, avoid
uninformative subject lines, such as “Hi,” “What’s New,”
or “Important Message.”
 Instead, include an effective subject line, such as
“Subject: Meeting Dates for Tech Prep Conference”.
KEEP YOUR E-MAIL
MESSAGE BRIEF
 E-readers skim and scan.
 To help them access information quickly, “Apply the ‘top
of the screen’ test.
 Assume that your readers will look at the first screen of
your message only” (Munter et al. S1).
 Limit your message to one screen (if possible)
ORGANIZE YOUR E-MAIL
MESSAGE
 Successful writing usually contains an introductory
paragraph, a discussion paragraph or paragraphs, and a
conclusion.
 Although many e-mail messages are brief, only a few
sentences, you can use the introductory sentences to tell
the reader why you are writing and what you are writing
about.
 In the discussion, clarify your points thoroughly.
 Use the concluding sentences to tell the reader what is
next, possibly explaining when a follow-up is required and
why that date is important.
USE HIGHLIGHTING
TECHNIQUES SPARINGLY
 Many e-mail packages will let you use highlighting
techniques, such as boldface, italics, underlining,
computer-generated bullets and numbers, centering, font
color highlighting, and font color changes.
 Many other e-mail platforms will not display such visual
enhancements.
 To avoid having parts of the message distorted, limit your
highlighting to asterisks, numbers, double spacing, and
headings.
PROOFREAD YOUR E-MAIL
MESSAGE
 Errors will undermine your professionalism and your
company’s credibility.
 Recheck your facts, dates, addresses, and numerical
information before you send the message.
 Try these tips to help you proofread an e-mail message:
 Type your text first in a word processing package, like
Microsoft Word
 Print it out. Sometimes it is easier to read hard-copy text than
text online.
 Also, your word processing package, with its spell check
and/or grammar check, will help you proofread your writing
 Once you have completed these two steps, copy and
paste the text from your word processing file into your e-
mail
MAKE HARD COPIES FOR
FUTURE REFERENCE
 Making hard copies of all e-mail messages is not
necessary because most companies archive e-mail.
 However, in some instances, you might want to keep a
hard copy for future reference.
 These instances could include transmissions of good
news.
 For example, you have received compliments about your
work and want to save this record for your annual job
review.
 You also might save a hard copy of an e-mail message
regarding flight, hotel, car rental, or conference
arrangements for business-related travel.
BE CAREFUL WHEN
SENDING ATTACHMENTS
 When you send attachments, tell your reader within the
body of the e-mail message that you have attached a file.
 Specify the file name of your attachment and the
software application that you have used (HTML,
PowerPoint, PDF, RTF [rich text format], Word, or Works);
and use compression (zipped) files to limit your
attachment size.
 Zipped files are necessary only if an attachment is quite
large.
PRACTICE ETIQUETTE
 When you write your e-mail messages, observe the rules
of “etiquette”:
 Be courteous. Do not let the instantaneous quality of e-mail
negate your need to be calm, cool, deliberate, and
professional.
 Be professional. Occasionally, e-mail writers compose
excessively casual e-mail messages.
 They will lowercase a pronoun like “i,” use ellipses ( . . . ) or
dashes instead of more traditional punctuation, use instant
messaging shorthand language or “textese” such as “LOL” or
“BRB,” and depend on emoticons.
 These e-mail techniques might not be appropriate in all
instances. Don’t forget that your e-mail messages represent
your company’s professionalism.
 Write according to the audience and communication goal
PRACTICE ETIQUETTE
 Avoid abusive, angry e-mail messages: Because of
its quick turnaround abilities, e-mail can lead to negative
correspondence called flaming.
 Flaming is sending angry e-mail, often TYPED IN ALL
CAPS