Why we need written communication skills
We need to write effectively to communicate with their peers, lecturers, professional colleagues and employers. Good communication skills are at the top of the list of what potential employers look for in new entrants. The vast majority of business transactions involve written communication of some kind. Employers often express concern that employees have inadequate basic written communication skills. It is generally expected that university graduates have good literacy skills that can transfer into various work contexts, but research shows that this is not always the case.
Written communication is the ability to use the conventions of disciplinary discourse to communicate effectively in writing with a range of audiences, in a variety of modes (e.g., persuasion, argument, exposition), as context requires, using a number of different means (e.g., graphical, statistical, audio-visual and technological).
The six ‘C’s of effective writing
“Effective business correspondence yields results because it achieves two basic objectives.
First, it conveys a clear and unambiguous message to the reader and second, it produces goodwill in that reader. To achieve these two objectives, the writer must write:
- clearly:
- coherently;
- concisely;
- correctly; with
- courtesy; and
- confidence.
These characteristics are the result of careful planning, writing in plain English, and critical editing.” Dwyer, J. (1993). The Business Communication Handbook , (3 rd ed.). New York: Prentice Hall, p.186.
For those of you that would like to learn more about written communication simply click on the courses below from Griffith University. You can also expand your knowledge of communication skills by trying our Business Communication Course.
Griffith online writing skills course:
This online course was developed by Dr Marilyn Ford to improve students’ writing skills. The course is broken into three self-paced components, which cover basic grammar and writing skills.
Ref: The Griffith Graduate Site
Tags: Business Communications, communication, communication skills, course, skills, soft skills, Training, up-skill, written communication