1. Midterm Best 1. Ecem Simsek 2. Dila Erdurak 3. Dicle Cakiroglu 4. Mert Sandiraz 5. Aigerim Nurgalieva 6. Damla Sayna 7. Elifnur Dundar 8. Hasan Olguner 9. Begum Keskin 10. Cansu Bagcivan 11. Sahin Cicek 12. Caner Tanriseven

2. UNIT FOUR: MAKING YOUR WRITING EASY TO READ

3. agenda A. Good Style in Business and Administrative Writing B. Half-Truths about Style C. Evaluating Rules about Writing D. Building a Better Style E. Ten Ways to Make Your Writing Easy to Read

4. agenda A. Good Style in Business and Administrative Writing B. Half-Truths about Style C. Evaluating Rules about Writing D. Building a Better Style E. Ten Ways to Make Your Writing Easy to Read

5. Good business and administrative writing is closer to conversation and less formal than the style of writing that has traditionally earned high marks in col­lege essays and term papers. Good writing is: tight complete easy to understand

6. Business Writing Style CasualBusinessFormal Conversational Note to a friend Instant message Legal document Contract Term Paper Personal Direct

8. Choosing the level of formality Use a friendly, informal style to someone you've talked with. Avoid contractions, slang in paper documents to people you don't know. Abbreviations are OK in e-mail messages if they're part of the group's culture. Haven’t is a contraction of HAVE NOT Prep is an abbreviation of Preparatory Ad is an abbreviation of Advertisement Pay particular attention to your style when you have to write uncomfortable messages when you write to people you fear or when you must give bad news. Confident people are more direct. Edit your writing so that you sound confident, whether you feel that way or not.

9. Good Report Style Tend to be more formal than letters and memos, since they may be read many years in the future by audiences the writer can barely imagine. Avoid contractions, spell out acronyms [PTT is an acronym, WHO is an acronym] and abbreviations the first time you use them, and avoid personal pronouns. Since so many people read reports, you doesn’t have much meaning.

10. Email The least formal of all business documents Closest to speech. Nevertheless, readers know that they are reading, not hearing, the message and are likely to apply some of the same standards they use for letters and memos. To create good e-mail messages, put the most important point in the subject line and the first sentence.

11. MEMORANDUM To: Division Heads From: Fiona Barnes, CEO Subject: Proposed Move Date: 8/30/09 The facilities people have been working on consolidating HQ marketing functions into the new building at Newmarket. As currently planned, Marketing Research will remain in its current location but be provided with additional space for expansion. The following functions will be moved into the new facility: Business Analysis, Special Applications, and Market Planning. It is expected that Public Sector will be relocated in a satellite location. The above moves will consolidate all of Marketing into the Newmarket location with the exception noted above. Attached is a preliminary outline of the new building by floor and whom it will house. I am interested in knowing if this approach is in agreement with your thoughts. Writer-Centered

12. MEMORANDUM To: Division Heads From: Fiona Barnes, CEO Date: August 30, 2009 Subject: Your Feedback on Proposed Newmarket Move I would like your feedback on the proposed organizational plans for the Newmarket move. Attached is a preliminary floor-by-floor outline of the new building and a list of divisions to be housed there. We are proposing the following changes: Business Analysis, Special Applications, and Market Planning will be moved into the new facility to improve consolidation of most marketing divisions. Public Sector will be relocated into a satellite location. Marketing Research will remain in its current location but be provided with additional space for expansion. Reader-Friendly

13. Guidelines for email messages Contractions, abbreviations, and jargon are acceptable when you write to people you know well. Use regular capitalization. Full capitals look like SHOUTING; Write out anything important on your word processor, reread, and then paste the message into your e-mail screen. Most readers will tolerate an occasional typo (writing mistake), but if your message is full of typos and other errors, you'll look unprofessional. If your e-mail system has a spell checker, use it. Be considerate. Not all e-mail systems have the same capabilities. Check with your correspondent before sending attachments, and images. Be professional. Assume that anything you write can end up in your personnel file. A message criticizing a third person can be forwarded to that person without your knowledge or permission. A message you erase can be retrieved.

15. The Curse of E-mail? A Hewlett-Packard study found that excessive day-to-day use of technology…can be more distracting and harmful to the IQ than smoking marijuana…The IQ decline was the equivalent of missing a whole night’s sleep. 62% of adults are addicted to checking e-mail and text- messages. Half of the workers would respond to an e-mail immediately or within sixty minutes. One in five is “happy to interrupt a business or social meeting to respond to an e-mail” San Francisco Chronicle, May 4, 2005

16. E-Mail Provides a Middle Ground Key Advantages Written record Fast “Written conversation” Less formal Reduces hierarchy Key Disadvantages Message is PUBLIC An electronic postcard “deleted email”=oxymoron Tone difficult to discern Contributes to “information overload” E(rror)-mail E(gregious)-mail E(scalation)-mail “E-mail is a party to which English teachers have not been invited.” Source: Dr. R. Craig Hogan, Director of Business Writing Center, Illinois

18. Termination for Computer Misuse Employers terminate employees for misuse of electronic communication: 26% for misusing company email (21% increase since 2001) 2% for inappropriate IM 2% for posting offensive Web log content (even home-based) 24% have had employee emails subpoenaed 15% have defended employee email legally 2006 ePolicy Institute survey of nearly 500 companies One CEO commits to only e-mail information he can envision himself being deposed on two years later.

19. Research on Tone People are correct in interpreting tone half the time They think they are correct 90% of the time The reason for this disparity is egocentrismegocentrism In other words, people aren't that good at imagining how a message might be understood from another person's perspective Source: 2007, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

20. Guidelines for E-mail: Tone Short e-mails can sound blunt or rude: always include a salutation and closing First e-mail should be fairly formal Follow the tone of the responses COMPARE Send me the graphics file by Monday. And report your quarterly results to Edwards in Accounting on Friday at 1pm.Versus Please send me the graphics file by Monday so I can present them to the boss on Tuesday. And report your quarterly results…

21. Stylistically Between E-Mail and Letter In the Header: Create Informative Subject Line In the Body: Format as a Letter (keep it short!) Salutation (Dear Professor Smith) Closing(conventions??) Address block (Job title, organization, mailing address, phone, fax) Treat as Formal Business Correspondence • Use standard capitalization, punctuation, Etc. • Create a professional user name • No smiley faces (emoticons) • No “cute” sayings or quotations in address block • Make sure your reader can open attachments

23. E-mail Disasters How ofen do yoo get e-mails ritten like this?! Subject: Meeting canceled I AM AN OBNOXIOUS PERSON WHO THINKS SHE IS VERY IMPORTANT! Sorry, but you are one of those employees being laid off this month .

24. Abbrev, IMHO Restrict abbreviations to those understood by virtually everyone: FYI, CYA, OBO, LOL What do these suckers mean, anyway? TNSTAAFL FWIW RTFM TTFN

25. International Emoticons Western smiling  frowning :-D delighted %-) confused but happy Japanese ^-^ smile ^.^ girl’s smile ^o^ happy ^o^;> excuse me? Check out Dave Barry’s Guide to Emoticons: http://www.lovedungeon.net/humor/dave/home.html Newer versions: :@“I just ate a lemon.” :-#“I just got braces.” :-X“Before my nose surgery.” :-x“After my nose surgery.” %-)“I’m a cubist painter.” {:-)“How do you like my new toupee?”

26. The 10 Common Mistakes of Business E-mail 1. Unclear subject line 2. Poor greeting (or none at all) 3. Unfamiliar abbreviations 4. Unnecessary copies (CCs) 5. Sloppy grammar, spelling, and punctuation 6. All caps in the message 7. No closing or sign-off 8. Rambling, unformatted message 9. Unfriendly tone 10. No clear request for action Source - Customer Service for Dummies 1. Address goofs 2. Lengthy messages or attachments 3. Inappropriate content (such as delivering bad... news) 4. Instant indiscretions (angry or thoughtless..... Statements) And five more…

28. “If anything will bring about the downfall of a company, or even a country, it is blind copies of e-mails that should never have been sent in the first place... Every fight that goes on [in Disney] seems to start with a misunderstanding over an e-mail.” Source: Michael Eisner, Disney CEO The Other Side of E-Mail

29. Costly to self and shareholders Cerner CEO Neal Patterson emails 400 managers Employee posted on an Internet message board Stock falls from $44/share to $34 in 3 days

30. To: All Managers From: Neal Patterson, CEO Subject: Fix it or changes will be made We are getting less than 40 hours of work from our K.C.-based EMPLOYEES. The parking lot is sparsely used at 8am; likewise at 5pm. As managers—you either do not know what your EMPLOYEES are doing; or you do not CARE. You have created expectations on the work effort which allows this to happen inside Cerner, creating a very unhealthy environment. In either case, you have a problem and you will fix it or I will replace you….. NEVER in my career have I allowed a team which worked for me to think they had a 40-hour job. I have allowed YOU to create a culture which is permitting this. NO LONGER……. You have two weeks. Tick tock.

31. Does this e-mail clearly state the business problem? Can you make a guess about the actual business problem? How will Mr. Patterson determine if the “problem” is resolved (what outcome measure does he list in the e-mail)? As a businessperson, how would you explain the problem? What outcomes would you seek? What sort of problems did Mr. Patterson create for himself when he chose e-mail as his communication medium? Questions