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Summary
Crafting Informative Messages
Business communication is an exercise in problem-solving. The strategy for creating and delivering professional written messages calls for a thoughtful approach to the situation at hand, going beyond simply what you want to say. An informative message in the workplace shares meaningful information among people in an unbiased and professional manner. Informative messages can be short or long, formal or casual in tone, internal or external in focus, and direct or indirect in structure depending on the situation. Like all forms of communication, the purpose of informative messages is to promote understanding, encourage action, stimulate thinking, or promote ideas.
We listed the following guidelines for creating informative messages:
- Get to the main idea as quickly as possible.
- Use a greeting to identify the audience.
- Be clear and concise with the presentation of information.
- Check your message for grammatical errors.
- Include a call to action.
Team-Focused Messages
Collaborative teams are essential in the workplace. Successful teams are the key to productivity in business, and team-focused communication is a key ingredient in creating the proper atmosphere for building and supporting team-based workplaces. There are many options for sending team-focused written messages including cloud-based collaboration platforms.
Feedback in Messages
Feedback messages make up another large segment of communication in business. These include a feedback message to an external company, a feedback message to a customer, a feedback message to a subordinate, and a feedback message to a colleague. Depending on how the feedback may be received, you can choose between the direct versus indirect style, the constructive style, and the active versus passive voice style to deliver the message.
Responding to Feedback
This topic involves behavior as much as expertise when criticism is incoming. Always consider ways to remain professional despite frustration and other workplace issues. Consult guidelines and recommendations for written responses to external and internal criticism. Even the best corporate culture will see conflict arise from within and without.
Key Terms
active listening
a communication technique that involves fully concentrating, understanding, responding, and then remembering what is being said, demonstrating genuine engagement and empathy with the speaker
active voice
sentence written in the form of “A does B”
buffer
an opening statement designed to prepare the reader for bad news, often by starting with neutral or positive information to soften the impact
constructive criticism
feedback given to improve the behavior of a person while consciously avoiding personal attacks and blaming
informative message
the sharing of meaningful information between people in an unbiased and professional manner
passive voice
sentence written in the form of “B is done by A”
team-focused message
the sharing of information in a way designed to enhance collaboration, trust, and camaraderie among team members