Have you ever read a long piece of writing and gotten stumped as to what the writer was trying to say?
Have you ever wished the writer had used a better tone when they were churning out emails to you?
Did you cringe at the grammatical or typographical errors made in a piece of writing, which led you to immediately form a preconceived judgment about the person behind the writing?
Written business communications are an essential component among the three main ways of communication in business, which also include verbal and non-verbal communications. Written business communication will include emails, letters, reports, and many more.
Written, verbal, and nonverbal communication are all important forms of communication that we use in our daily lives and at work.
Here are the 7 reasons why business writing skills are important to you, especially in the workplace:
1) Writing skills ensure effective business communication
Business correspondence helps a company connect with clients, partners, and stakeholders. Everything you write must be tailored in a proficient, comprehensive, and informative way. Then only will the receivers clearly understand your message. If a text is poorly written and structured, the receiver may misinterpret the message. This will result in a lot of unnecessary misunderstandings between you and the other party.
2) People may develop pre-conceived notions about the writer
Even if your job doesn’t require a lot of writing, how you come across is crucial. A few grammatical or punctual errors may seem minor. But people do notice these errors and mistakes, which may result in the receiver developing negative preconceived notions about the writer before meeting them in person.
Don’t let anyone dismiss you or look down on you just because of your poor writing skills! Take a few minutes of your time to proofread your writing. It will make a huge difference in people’s perceptions.
3) Good writers are credible
People with effective writing skills are perceived as more reliable and trustworthy. Take this as an example — imagine if you received an email where there were odd abbreviations and misspelt words. What would you think of the sender?
Two options are possible – either the person is not competent and neglects to proofread or is simply unprofessional.
4) You can be more influential
Good persuasion skills help you influence others to achieve your business goals. If you are creating taglines and call-to-actions for your organization, you need to know how to develop a copy that will encourage the reader to take action. If you are describing an innovative idea that can improve a process to your manager, you should sound convincing. Every paper must communicate your ideas effectively and with all the details covered.
5) Business writing conveys courtesy
Formal business correspondence will demonstrate politeness and professionalism. A courteous business letter expresses the writer’s personal respect for the receiver and the company they work for. Professionals take into consideration formatting and etiquette. They also pay attention to their personal tone, clarity, and logic. They avoid poor word choice and grammatical errors. These things can come across as lazy or even rude to the receivers.
6) Writing skills help to keep good records
Information that was communicated orally would not be remembered for long. Having good business writing skills would help to save the information. This can be kept for years, which would be beneficial for the organization.
7) You boost your professional confidence
Every business document has a purpose. You write a business proposal to attract clients or find business partners. You send emails to reach out to your potential customers. You also craft a report to propose your ideas. When your ideas or proposals are being approved, this shows that your writing has been influential and people understood your message. This will help you to boost your professional confidence to improve even more for yourself and for your organisation.
Conclusion
In conclusion, business writing skills are useful no matter which industry you are in, regardless of your job role, and regardless of where you intend to head in the future. Some of the characteristics of good writing are formatting and presenting information in a structured and organized way. Also, the way you express your ideas should be in a confident and clear manner with sound logical arguments and information that are used to back up and support your objectives. Writing should be presented in a professional business style that takes the level of expertise of the reader into consideration so that the information can be read, digested, and easily understood by the reader. It doesn’t matter how knowledgeable you are in your field, if you can’t express yourself in a way that allows others to follow and understand you, it won’t make sense. Be kind to yourself and start improving your knowledge through.