Why Do Business Cases Fail? What Can You Do About It?

A business case may predict excellent results yet still fail to 'make the case.' We see project managers, IT directors, sales people, and others who have just had the painful experience: they predicted great cash flow, high ROI, and short payback - and still got a thumbs down from top management.

Solution Matrix (2006). Articles>Business Communication>Rhetoric>Business Case

Why Do You Need To Write Procedures?

Your organization needs procedures. While development and implementation can be a challenging project, there are dividends and returns on your investment if you understand why you are writing them and what you expect to achieve by documenting your processes.

Bizmanualz (2007). Articles>Business Communication>Documentation>Policies and Procedures

Wikis, Blogs and Other Community Tools in the Enterprise

Wikis and Web logs (blogs) make a big impact on the Web, but they can also be useful in an enterprise. A community is a group of people with common interests, goals, or responsibilities, such as a project team or an interest group. Combine wikis and blogs with existing collaborative tools to enhance the productivity and effectiveness of enterprise teams.

Farrell, Joel A. IBM (2006). Articles>Writing>Business Communication>Blogging

Winning--It's All About Information

The Web, it is said, changes everything. Truth is: It changes almost everything. It changes where we get information (Web search), the time it takes to get it (fast), and in many cases the price we pay for it (almost nothing). The Web can’t change an eternal truth. It can only re-emphasize it. Winning is all about information. Always was, always will be.

Karlgaard, Rich. Forbes (2005). Articles>Communication>Business Communication

With the Latest Software, Track How Your Readers are Interacting With Your E-Newsletter

While webmasters have long been able to study how site visitors interact with a web site, e-mail has been more elusive. No more. With the latest generation of smart e-mail software, marketers can now essentially look over the shoulders of their readers, seeing first-hand what works, what needs improvement and what is simply falling on deaf ears.

Dysart, Joe. Communication World Bulletin (2005). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing>Email

World Economic Forum Survey Projects Mainstreaming of Corporate Citizenship

A new report credits socially responsible investing, among other trends, for influencing mainstream investors to take corporate citizenship more seriously. Is corporate citizenship entering mainstream investors' consciousness? No and yes, according to a new World Economic Forum report that surveys CEO's and IRO's (investor relations officers) at 26 companies from 14 countries. Forty-two percent of the respondents felt there has been a major increase in the level of activism, engagement and sophistication from the SRI community regarding CSR. Over 70 percent of the respondents who hail from large international corporations believe that mainstream investors will have an increased interest in CSR issues.

Baue, William. Communication World Bulletin (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Public Relations>International

Would You Recommend Us?

Perfect your service by asking the only question that matters.

Dahl, Darren. Inc. Magazine (2006). Articles>Business Communication

Write a Strong Close

If the average business letter starts poorly, then it invariably finishes poorly. Your closing paragraph should bring your letter to a polite, businesslike close. Typical final paragraphs in business letters invite the reader to write again or use overused and meaningless phrases that detract from the impact of the letter.

Newman, Judith M. LupinWorks. Articles>Business Communication>Correspondence>Rhetoric

Write Your Help Desk's Mission Statement to Raise Team Awareness  

One sure-fire way to improve help desk morale and raise awareness of your technical support team is to write a help desk mission statement. Get some tips on what to include and find some samples of other mission statements.

Davis, Jeff. TechRepublic (2003). Articles>Business Communication>Collaboration>Help

Writing Clear Policies and Procedures with Playscript  

The Playscript procedure writing style is widely known for its plain language, content organization, readability and usability for all kinds of audiences. Developed by Leslie Matthies over 40 years ago, Playscript has been used by hundreds of leading (and other) organizations worldwide as their procedure standard. Major consulting firms have trained their professional staff in its use as a primary work process documentation technique. Extending several of Playscript’s design elements to policy writing provides an organization with policies and procedures that have a uniform look and feel. A leading publisher recently did this, using Playscript as the style model for their commercially produced Controller's Policies and Procedures Manual.

Fleming, J. Richard. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Business Communication>Policies and Procedures

Writing Effective E-Mail: Top 10 Tips

The informal e-mails you exchange with your friends don't have to meet any particular standards, but if you want to be taken seriously by professionals, you should learn proper e-mail etiquette.

Bauer, Jessica and Dennis G. Jerz. Seton Hill University (2000). Articles>Business Communication>Correspondence>Email

Writing Effective E-Mail: Top 10 Tips

This document offers 10 tips to help you write effective professional e-mails. The informal e-mails you exchange with your friends don't have to meet any particular standards, of course, but if you want to be taken seriously by people who use e-mail frequently, you should know e-mail etiquette.

Bauer, Jessica. University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (2001). Articles>Business Communication>Correspondence>Email

Writing Effective Letters

Always start by putting your main message up front. Some people feel that bad news should be buried. But research shows that readers will always look for the bottom line.

PlainLanguage.gov (1995). Articles>Business Communication>Correspondence>Minimalism

Writing for Technical and Business Decision-Maker Audiences  

The impact of any technical writing depends on the ability of the writer to understand and address the readers' concern, and to deliver highly usable documents that are relevant to the audience. Especially when readers make business decisions about technology, based on technical communication, writers need to develop best practices for conducting their own audience analysis and writing with audience needs in mind. This paper introduces several likely audiences a technical writer is likely to encounter and makes a few practical recommendations for communicating to them with the intended impact.

Lemoine, Chris. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Business Communication>Writing>Technical Writing

Writing Government Policies and Procedures in Plain Language    

Ask ordinary citizens for an example of unreadable prose, and half of them will show you a government document; the other half will point to something written by a lawyer. As a government lawyer for more than 30 years, I wrote and reviewed safety regulations and technical policies and procedures for a major federal agency and eventually supervised other lawyers who did the same. Although I never met a technical document I didn't have the urge to rewrite, I always thought that what my fellow lawyers wrote was pretty clear. Then the plain-language movement came along, and I found I had a lot of room for improvement.

Byrne, Don. Business Communication Quarterly (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Policies and Procedures>Minimalism

Writing in the Business Environment

Organisational writing is specialised. To be an effective writer in the business environment, you need to have excellent general writing skills and to understand the complex communication choices involved. Knowing how writing is structured in an organisation and what is acceptable helps you to shape your writing so that it communicates successfully.

Petelin, Roslyn and Marsha Durham. Allen and Unwin (1992). Articles>Writing>Business Communication

Review: Writing in the Business Professions

Writing in the Business Professions should interest teachers of advanced composition. I encourage them to peruse the volume for themselves since I can’t analyze its contents at length here. I do, however, feel that I need to warn potential readers about several things that perplexed me when I read the book especially since this book may help determine the future of business communication instruction in the 1990s.

Hagge, John. JAC (1990). Articles>Reviews>Business Communication

Writing in the Corporate Workplace: How to Keep Your Writing Healthy at Work

Make sure you know what you're talking about. This means understanding the big picture as well as sweating the small stuff. When interviewing subject matter experts, don't accept high-level answers to questions. Drill down to the details.

Harper, Judith. Between the Lines (2007). Articles>Business Communication>Writing>Technical Writing

Writing in the Presence of Disaster: A Case Study of an Aviation Investigation Report  

The investigation of fatal aircraft incidents has gained in importance and in the attention of the public. This paper presents the experience of one documentation company in working on a major aircraft accident investigation report. The paper covers the general approach the company took, the challenges it encountered, the standards it applied, the strategies it developed, and the lessons it learned.

Thurston, John. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Reports

The Writing of Marketing Materials as Technical Communication  

Writers of marketing materials seem to be stepchildren at best in the family of technical communication. Yet one cannot engage in writing effective marketing materials about technical products or services without being a technical communicator. And the more "typical" technical writer--such as an author of documentation--will perform better when she understand-s the marketing component of her work. We will serve the marketing communicator and his technical writer counterpart well by breaking down the barrier that seems to exist between the disciplines.

Baker, Dina. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing>Writing

Writing Policies and Procedures    

Over the years, I have had several enlightening and eventful encounters as I helped to develop organization policies and procedures. Most recently, when we voted to approve the revised mission statement for our business school, faculty members cheered and uttered sighs of relief. For months, we had debated every word, phrase, sentence, and paragraph in the many drafts we created. We were often reminded that the statement should conform to the mission of the larger university and that it should be readily understood by the average reader. The most contentious issue was how we could articulate the historical legacy of the minority-serving institution yet focus on its future as a full-fledged member of a highly regarded university system. We sought the advice of the chancellor, provost, advisory board, students, community members, and business owners, among others.

Muir, Clive. Business Communication Quarterly (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Policies and Procedures

Writing Press Releases

A press release is a (candidate) news story written by a firm for distribution to the media. The purpose of a press release varies from announcing new products, services, and business activities, to introducing the hiring of a new employee. It is not advertising in the classic sense, i.e., there is no hard sell involved although there is a more subtle intent to reach the prospective buyers.

Tech-Writer. Articles>Business Communication>Writing>Press Releases

Writing Technical Press Releases  

Explains how technical communicators with no public relations experience can take charge of their companies' media plans and press releases.

Greiling, Dunrie A. Intercom (2001). Articles>Business Communication>Writing>Press Releases