Welcome to ffxiv-knights-ivalice.org
Business writing: What it is and Tips to Help You
(business writing)
Business writing is much more precise and less detail oriented than other styles of writing. In writing for a business there are a few elements you must know. Your knowledge or lack there of these elements can make or break your business writing career. Your goal for business writing is to strive for clarity and precision, yet not be too vague or elaborate. Examples of business writing would be emails, business plans, brochures, and many more. Virtually anything writings that pertain to a business are classified as business writing.
When people read business writings they are not only looking for what happened and why, but how you are handling the situation at hand. A person reading a business writing that has an organized and concise style with an active tone is going to heed a much better result and give confidence that any matters will be taken care of.
Organize your thoughts. The more organized you are the quicker and easier it will be for you to put your words in a decisive and orderly style. Your writing should be grammatically correct along with the proper usage of capitalization and punctuation. These errors can cause misinterpretations amongst the readers of your business writings. An example of correct and incorrect punctuations would be “We are missing the actress Jane.” Or “We are missing the actress, Jane.” While both are correct, they mean two entirely different things.
Business writing is backwards or upside down from other writings. You start with the ending and then give a brief synopsis on how you got to that point. You may include other avenues that were considered and why they were not chosen.
Have a positive attitude. Even if you are conveying a message that has on outcome other than optimal a positive tone will bring a much better response. Tell your readers what good came about from the outcome. Tell them what you can do with these results. For example a non-profit agency held a fundraiser. They were hoping to bring in $25,000 for building repairs and play ground equipment. Unfortunately, they only got $15,000. Positive tone writing would be “Our fundraiser was successful. We can now begin building repairs.” Or “The new playground equipment will be delivered tomorrow due to our successful fundraiser.” Even though it was not as much of a success as you would have liked, by keeping a positive attitude and showing people what can be done will promote a positive attitude in the future. A negative tone might be something like “Since our fundraiser was not as successful as we had hoped, we will have to choose between playground equipment and builder repairs.” This approach could be unfavorable to future fundraisers because it seems as though you are unthankful for what you did get. Being positive shows your appreciation for the hard work or donations that you have received.
Don’t play the blame game. Even if you know whose fault it is a deal fell through there is no need to start a mud-flinging contest. Surely, the person responsible is already aware of the situation and chances are so is everyone else. Down the line they are not going to remember whose fault it was, but they will remember who was naming names. This is not only very unprofessional, it is malicious and that is not how you would like to be talked about.
Finally using an active voice will promote a better reception to your business writing than a passive one. An active voice shows that you are in control and are aware of how or why things are going to happen.
Got an Offer? How to Evaluate the Company to Ensure It’s the Right Move Being offered a new job is always a great feeling. No matter what type of job it is, the fact that the employer wants you is very satisfying. The inclination to put in your two-week notice and start packing up your desk can be exhilarating. However, be sure that you know what you are getting into before you plunge into a new job. The terms of a job offer should be written out in black and white, literally. Whenever a company offers a job to someone, there should be literature about the position to read. When the offer is made, be sure to spend some time reading over the literature and finding out exactly what the terms and conditions of the job are. Salary, benefits and the terms of employment should all be very clear before you accept the offer. Be sure that you read the fine print. This is especially true from sales jobs. That advertised rate of pay might be what you make with commission. Without the commission you may not have a salary at all. This could be a major issue if your sales do not go well. Salary is one of the most important things to find out about before you take a job. Make sure that what they are offering as base pay is enough for you to live comfortably on. Bonuses can sound really great when employers discuss them with you. However, what you have to do to earn the bonuses may be very difficult. Thus making the bonuses obsolete the majority of the time. Restaurant management is a career path where many times your bonuses are based on the success of your particular restaurant. Not you yourself. That means that when the restaurant is not doing well, there will be no bonuses. The hours you will be working is another issue you will want to tackle before you take the job. Find out exactly what you are expected to work. This could be tricky with salaried positions. Find out what the average amount of hours is that employees spend on the job. Will there be travel? Many jobs post this in their advertisements but others are not so forthcoming with this information. Living out of a suitcase can be ideal for some but if you are not looking forward to having a relationship with your spouse strictly through cell phones and e-mails, you better inquire. If you are not open to travel be sure to find out if travel could be included in your position. The environment at the office could be hard to gauge. However, if you go to an interview and are not greeted in the lobby or see a few scowling employees, chances are, the office environment is a bit hostile. This is a major thing to consider when taking a job. Is the management hiring new personnel in order to replace the existing personnel? If they are, why does the existing personnel need to be replaced? Try to feel out the environment of the office when you are waiting for your interviews to take place. What will your job entail? Will there be times that you are expected to do things that go against your better judgment? Will you be surrounded by a corporate mentality that is concerned only with numbers? Are you going to be able to put your reservations aside and carry out the job that needs to be done? If a job offer is made immediately, you may want to be leery of this position. Try to find out about the turnover rate of this position. There may be a reason why the employer is so ready to offer you the job. Judging by Appearance – It Happens in the Workplace This is one of the old sayings that really does come true, the clothes do make a person. What does it mean? For many people, it means that people judge by the clothes you wear. This is especially true in the workplace, but also for everyday life. Many companies nowadays have a dress policy in place to keep the appearances at work up. Reasons why companies have dress policies are of a great variety. Here is a review. One of the biggest reasons for companies to require nice appropriate clothing at least in their office area is visiting customers. If your employees need to be in contact with customers on daily or weekly bases or if customers do visit your offices in general, it is important that your employees make a good first impression. First impressions are very much guided by what you are wearing, your facial impressions and body posture. Therefore, if your customer see your employees working on their desks, it is important that the employees are dressed appropriately. For most workplaces this means a button down or polo shirt, dress pants or casual dress pants. In some instances, it is important for the employees to wear a tie and suit. For women, the codes are equivalent what the style of the clothing is referring to. Imagine what would happen if a customer comes into a company and the employee receiving the customer wears dirty, spotty, old and ripped clothes. In society that does not make a good impression, then the customer will most likely not want to do business with you. Another reason of why companies and employers would judge by your appearance is called professionalism. In the picture of professionalism at the workplace includes good appropriate clothing. It belongs to being a good employee as much as doing your job right and being polite and respectful to your boss and colleagues at your workplace. In society much is judged by the way you dress. If you have ever walked into one of the better department stores with a set of old, worn clothes, what kind of response do you get from the sales person? Often times they think you do not have enough money to buy here anyways and that is the way they treat you. They may not even give you the time of day, even if you have a lot of money. They judge you by what you have on and this is certainly the case in the workplace as well. If you want to project a good image, then take a good look at what you wear before you step out of your door in the morning. There are many places where a dress code is required or expected, such as the church, the opera, the theater, better restaurants and many other places. The workplace is just one of many and whether you like it or not, appropriate clothing is what can make or keep you get the job. Many Internet sites, books and people that offer advice on interviews and getting that job, will emphasize the importance of nice appropriate clothing and the impact it can have when you wear something that stands out from the crowd. Most people have been raised to think that proper dress attire is what you should wear at work, but for some it still is more a mystery to them than anything else. |