Written Communication in the Workplace

Written communication is a type of message that makes use of the written word. Unlike oral communication that usually takes place in real-time, communication in writing gives you the opportunity to be more thoughtful about what you want to say. It’s a useful form in the business setting since it gives your clients and colleagues the chance to reference what you said. Likewise, it’s a necessary tool when creating agreements or legal documents.

Learn more: 24 Quick Tips That Will Improve Your Writing

These are the benefits of communication that is written:

• No need for personal contact: Written communication is a great tool when you’re busy or simply don’t have the means to meet up with someone in person.
• Serves as proof: When something is in writing, you have tangible evidence. This is useful for things like contracts, agreements, and project briefs. By writing information down, you can prove that you and another party received the same information.
• Easy to reference: It can be easy to forget all the details about what someone told you. When you write everything down, you can look to see if you are forgetting anything. This is especially useful for training materials and other instructions.
• Saves time: Rather than taking the time to meet in person or talk over the phone, you can quickly send an email or Slack message to get your message across.
• Avoids interruptions: As long as you turn your notifications off, written messages don’t come as an interruption like a phone call or coworker walking into your office would. You can read your messages when you have time.

These are the drawbacks of written information:

• It’s less secretive. When handling sensitive information, written words can become a liability. You need to be extra careful with what you write down since other people can read it. Likewise, when sending written messages, you need to be careful with what you say. Although, it’s never okay to say something inappropriate verbally either.
• Communication can be delayed. If you need to get a message to someone right away, doing it in writing isn’t always the best option. You don’t know when the recipient will get a chance to read it.
• You don’t know when it’s received. Unless the program you’re using has read receipts, you have no idea when someone reads your message until they respond. When you speak directly to someone, you get instant feedback. The same isn’t always true with written messages.
• There is a lack of nonverbal cues. One benefit of verbal communication is that it is much richer than written words. You get to see facial expressions, hear tones, read body language, and interpret other nonverbal cues. Written words usually cannot convey any of these things, making people more susceptible to misinterpreting the connotation of written correspondence.

Here are some common types of written communication you may encounter at work:

Email

Email is one of the most popular forms of communication professionals use. It’s a useful tool when you want to send someone a lengthy message that doesn’t need an immediate response. Since emails have threads, you can easily keep track of previous messages you and your colleague or client sent. Email is a useful way to send other people files and other attachments. You can often edit things like font and formatting, making it an excellent way to show some personality.

Learn more: 5 Helpful Tips on How to Write Emails from Your Phone

Instructional materials

Instructional materials are one of the most useful forms of written information. This is especially true when learning a lot of information at once or a complicated task. Hearing a series of instructions is easy to forget while writing ones are easy to reference if you get stuck along the way. How-to guides, eBooks, case studies, style guides, and employee manuals are all useful instructional materials. Another benefit is that since every employee is reading the same materials, your training and processes stay consistent.

Instant messages

Platforms that allow you to send instant messages are becoming increasingly popular in the workplace. For instance, many organizations use Slack to send direct messages and company-wide announcements. On this platform, your team can create a separate channel to discuss certain topics. Instant messaging is useful when you have a quick question or comment to share. Although your coworker may not respond right away, you tend to get a quicker response than you would with email.

Website content

Having a website filled with interesting and informational content is an excellent way to teach customers about your business. When writing website content, many brands try to keep a consistent style and tone. This is how companies can make themselves stand out and ensure consumers recognize their branding. For instance, a brand like Google comes off as friendly, modern, and innovative in its written content. This is an intentional way to streamline its branding and convey a certain vibe.

Learn more: How to Land a Freelance Writing Job

Marketing content

Marketing content is everything from social media posts, advertisements, marketing emails, website content, and more. This goal of marketing content is to get your customers to buy your products or services. Even if you don’t make a sale right away, marketing content can build brand awareness.

Business documents

Quarterly reports, project briefs, contracts, employee reviews, invoices, and human resource documents all fall under the category of business documents. Rather than trying to persuade like marketing messages do, business documents are solely for utility. Businesses keep track of important things like budgets, reporting, and reviews through writing since it’s easy to file away and important to reference in the future.