The Truth About The New Rules Of Business Writing Part 9

* Don't use e-mails for subtle messages-and keep away from sarcasm, irony, and for the most part, humor. It is easy to take such things the wrong way when voice and visual clues are absent.

* Never, ever e-mail anything you don't want to see on your boss's wall or on anyone else's computer anywhere in the world.

* Don't let emotion, anger, or criticism rear their heads in e-mails. Breaking up, resigning, or firing someone via e-mail is very bad form.

* Never click Send without proofreading, checking to be sure the e-mail is addressed to the person you want to send it to, and reviewing your attachments. If you often forget to attach doc.u.ments you intend to, writing a reminder sentence into the e-mail is helpful, such as, "Report 5A attached." It helps you remember to attach it and also helps the recipient, in case he or she fails to notice the attachment itself.

Truth 25. Writing good progress reports is worth your time.

Let's look at something that most people hate doing but can really make you look good if done well: regular reports to your boss on your work progress or what you've been doing all week.

Goal-Think past the idea that your goal is simply to get an onerous task out of the way. You want to demonstrate that you've used your time well, made progress on your current project, and get the support you need (supplies, equipment, resources, discussion).

Audience-The "what's in it for me?" idea is always important. So why does the boss impose this task on you and your colleagues? Distrust? No...he or she hopes to hear you are performing well. In a department with more than a handful of staff members, a supervisor simply can't observe what everyone is doing and track the big picture. And he or she can't hold enough meetings to interact one on one and drag any problems or questions to the surface.

Ultimately, too, your boss needs to report on collective progress to someone higher up the ladder. Your reports may also be essential for billing clients.

Tone-One more thing that just about everyone you write to has in common-feeling strapped for time. Almost every e-mail you write will be read by an impatient and distracted person. This affects your presentation approach: You'll want to be businesslike, efficient, and tight.

Content-What does your goal and audience a.n.a.lysis already tell you to cover in your progress report, regardless of the specifics of your job?

* A rundown of how you used your time (a proportional approach is probably fine) * If your work is project-oriented, what progress you've made, and whether you're on schedule * Any problems you're encountering * Any help you need to do your project, or job, well Organize-The content map is logical; try using that order.

Begin with a strong lead-In an e-mail, that's the subject line, plus the first sentence or so of the message. Some subjects call for a catchy subject line. That's when you're competing for attention. This is not one of those occasions. Your boss will not respond favorably to "What Willie Did the Week of March 14th." You're better off with "Progress Report: Week of March 14."

The middle and end will flow naturally because you've got your message planned, so let's start with the message lead and see where it takes us.

Dear Sam: Here's my progress report for the week of March 14.

General Allocation of Time:.

50% on the Wise-Allen project.

25% closing out the details on the Fineman project.

10% partic.i.p.ating in meetings and industry networking.

10% training and supervising the interns.

5% working on the database reorganization.

Personal-Time Activities:.

After-hours social meeting with Rod Blaine of SatSun, a good prospect for our services.

Spoke on international commerce careers at the high school Tuesday night.

Major Project Progress:.

Wise-Allen is on target in most respects: The supplies have been ordered, the staff is briefed, and the working plan is three-quarters developed. Obtaining additional staff support is running late, however.

Fineman should be wrapped up within the 10-day framework.

New Contacts:.

Met and talked at some length with Brad Savitch, VP of Manson Inc., at the JVNC meeting on Wednesday, and plan a follow-up call to request a meeting. His firm may be interested in our international support service.

Intern Program:.

The interns are doing productive work and having a good experience helping with the database work. I met with each of them for 15 minutes to check things out.

Problems: As noted above, there have been delays in getting the help we need from HR. We need time from specialists for the technical aspects of Wise-Allen-I'll attach a list-which could cause serious delays in completing this stage of the project. Would you consider placing a call to HR to let them know this is important, or drop them a note? Thanks.-Bill Now we have a draft of the e-mail. Next...

Evaluate-What comes across overall-what would be your impression of the writer? If the message doesn't meet the stated goals, or doesn't seem right for the audience, you'd adapt or change it at this point. Notice we added in a "Personal Activities" section because in the course of drafting the memo, it seemed like a good opportunity to remind Sam that this employee goes above and beyond the standard work-hour framework and expectations. But whether you should do this depends on the personality of your recipient.

Of course, you may work in an office that demands far more detail or provides a form to fill out, especially if billable hours must be doc.u.mented. Adapt the ideas to your own environment and the people you work with and for. Even company guidelines can be applied with imagination. Take your activity reports seriously, and you'll see opportunities to give a strong impression of your capabilities and advance your long-range goals.

Part IV: The truth about letters.

Truth 26. Letters: They live! And you need them.

Even in the digital age, businesspeople use letters for building client relations, proposals, references, invitations, and all the other formal occasions of the business world. In each case, the step-by-step process will focus your thinking so you come up with the right presentation.

Of course, the line between an e-mail and a letter can be pretty blurry. We're not necessarily defining a letter as a hard-copy doc.u.ment that is snail-mailed. It might be e-mailed, sent as a whole message or as an attachment. Regardless of the delivery system, you need to consciously decide when you are writing a letter and think it through as a letter for it to achieve your goal.

"Can we meet?"-Let's turn to a cla.s.sic business situation: writing a letter to request an appointment to present your product or service to a prospective client. Suppose you spoke with someone briefly at a networking event. Here's one way to follow up: Dear Jenny: I enjoyed talking with you at the AALG meeting yesterday. You mentioned your interest in touring the Amazon, so I'm attaching information about an ecolodge a good friend of mine stayed in and highly recommends.

And, I will very much appreciate an opportunity to tell you about my company's services as an HR outsourcing firm. We have served a number of companies in the medical lab industry, and were successful in saving them considerable money while improving their customer service systems.

May I have 10 minutes of your time to show you what Outsource Strategies can do for you?

Where did the ecolodge bit come from? Surprisingly often, you'll see a chance to follow up even a brief exchange with some information of interest: the name of a book or restaurant... a source of data or new software...or best of all, a connection to someone the other person would like to know.

"Thanks for your time"-Margaret applied for a job recently that was just high enough on the corporate pecking order for her to make a brief appearance at a board of directors meeting. She knew she was on a short list but that there were at least two other candidates. So she went home and wrote a letter to every member of the board.

Briefly and respectfully, she thanked them for their time and expressed enthusiasm for the opportunity. Then she summarized in one carefully written paragraph why she was convinced she could do the job outstandingly. She took trouble to make the letters look good and delivered them to each board member's workplace.

As the only candidate who wrote letters, Margaret got the job. Of course she was qualified, but so were her compet.i.tors. Writing the letter, and writing it well, gave her the edge, or so she is convinced.

It's always good to take the trouble to thank people for their time, preferably by letter. This applies whether it involves a prospective client, a reference, a referral, a favor, a subordinate's extra effort, or a supplier's blowing out all the stops to deliver on time.

"Thanks but no thanks"-Often, the letter format is the most appropriate when delivering unwelcome news is the task. This is where looking at the situation from the other person's viewpoint really pays off. Whether you're discontinuing a supplier, rejecting a job candidate or canceling an office perk, your goals will generally be: * Deliver the information unequivocally, leaving no room for argument or misunderstanding * Minimize hostile reaction to your organization-and to you personally * Rea.s.sure the recipient in some way These goals suggest that you need to take responsibility for the decision-no cop-outs like "it has been decided." You should show caring (but not emotion), and when possible, cite a reason for the action. If you can legitimately hold out hope for the future do so, or include other encouraging ideas. For example, you might offer the unsuccessful job candidate a connection to someone you know, or tell someone who has been denied promotion how to qualify next time.

Cushioning a blow this way, with real substance, works much better than the verbal cushioning often recommended for framing bad messages. The latter is sometimes called the "sandwich" approach: You start by saying something as positive as possible, then deliver the bad news, and close with expressions of good will and/or other rea.s.surance. For example: Dear Jim: For more than 10 years, it's been my pleasure to work with you and your company as a supplier of Part 32B. Unfailingly, we have found that you delivered on time, as promised, and met our specifications. Right now, however, I must tell you that next year's contract has been awarded to another firm. A-Plus has grown so much that a national distribution network has become imperative.

Should circ.u.mstances change or other needs arise, be a.s.sured I would look forward to working with you again.

That's okay, but consider that the opening paragraph delivers an unwelcome note of suspense ("uh, oh, I hear an ax falling...") and moreover, doesn't suit today's accelerating tempo. We think most recipients will prefer the direct, get-it-over-with approach: Dear Jim: I am sorry to let you know that next year's contract for Part 32B has been awarded to another firm. The reason is that Ajax's growth the past year has made it imperative for us to have a national distribution network.

Please know that your excellent track record with us remains very much appreciated, and I hope we'll have opportunities to work together in the future.

Of course, there are times when it's appropriate to sugarcoat the facts. If you're writing to a customer, for example, responding to a complaint or denying a request, you'd want to begin by setting a positive context and a feeling of relationship.

Generally, it's a good rule to keep negative messages brief. Just as political history shows us that cover-ups always create much worse fallout than the original transgressions, bad-news messages that meander can generate bigger problems than the news itself. Generally, the less said the better.

Truth 27. Letters build relationships.

Writing a letter of introduction-One of us recently got a snail-mail letter from a doctor who'd taken over a retired doctor's practice and wanted to keep his predecessor's patients. He began: I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. I am a board certified dermatologist practicing in this area since 2002. I trained at...

And on with more than a page of credentials and a list of dermatology diseases he's treated that, well, made our skin crawl. The writing is technically fine but fails utterly. It's the message that doesn't work-why not?

The doctor appears to have been writing to impress his peers, not prospective patients. Had he considered his audience's concerns, he might have come up with a content map that includes: I'm a warm, comfortable guy who cares about his patients...my office will be run efficiently and respectfully...and I'm a very good doctor. The writer doesn't actually need to say he's a warm person, but he needs to demonstrate it in his writing tone. For example: Dear Ms. White: As you know, Dr. Andrew Grant retired in June, and I am taking over his practice. I don't know you yet personally but want to introduce myself. In addition to bringing strong experience and credentials to Hartley Street Medical, I plan to provide a comfortable, responsive environment...

Notice that once we take the trouble to produce a good lead, the rest readily falls into place. The basic information can be categorized (for example, training, experience, local connections). It is perfectly okay to use subheads or bold lead-ins in a letter, and/or bullets. A good business letter does not necessarily require a narrative flow all the way through.

Of course, a personal salutation and real signature help personalize a letter.

A resignation letter-Suppose you've got a new job and it's time to resign from your old one. Do yourself a favor-don't use e-mail for this! Usually it's best to tell your immediate superior in a private meeting and follow up with a formal letter. It will circulate through company channels and be filed forever, remember. So formal business style is the way to go.

What's your goal? Don't make it revenge: It's human to think about getting even for all the small snubs, resentments, and relationship issues that develop over time. But that's the fantasy-you're the grownup and have to do what's best for you in the long run.

Your goals in 90 percent of leave-taking situations should be...

* To ensure you get good references every time you consider a new opportunity.

* To maintain cordial relations with people who remain part of the same industry.

* To leave people feeling good about you-and themselves.

* To leave a foot in the door. You may want to come back someday on a higher level or work for someone who will move on and be in a hiring position elsewhere.

How to do this? Consider it from the other people's perspective. Unless you've been messing up and they're happy to see you go, they may feel that the company investment in your training was wasted and may also feel let down personally, even abandoned. So you need to express appreciation for the opportunities afforded you, regret at leaving, and positive things about your experience at the company and with the particular person. It's a good idea to remind everyone that you will remain part of their industry and that they may benefit from putting a good face on your leaving.

Dear Jack: This is to officially confirm that I will be leaving Martin Brothers effective Friday, May 30.

I will miss many things about the company, which has given me wonderful opportunities to learn and grow over the past five years. Because of this, I am ready to take on a challenging opportunity in the accounting department of ABA Inc.

Continuing in the underwriting business gives me great satisfaction, and I look forward to seeing you and the rest of the executive team at events and professional meetings. It would be terrific if chances to work together develop.

I've enjoyed working with you more than I can say. I wish you the best of luck in all your own future endeavors.

What if the work experience and relationships were not so hot and writing such a letter makes you feel like a hypocrite? Before sending a more honest message, remember that leaving on a high note can mend many fences retroactively. One of us had a colleague whose work came under criticism at top levels. Seeing the writing on the wall, Jenn quietly applied for other jobs and landed a good one. She then wrote gracious letters to several key people about how sorry she was to leave and why the new opportunity was irresistible. Result: They were delighted to save face and behaved with equal graciousness. Jenn always gets glowing references from the organization-and a smile when her name comes up.

What if you're fired or laid off?-The same principle applies-doubly. Look to the future and put a good face on your leave-taking. Don't come across as angry, pitiful, or vindictive. Maintain your dignity and you'll reap future rewards, not the least of which is self-respect.

Handwritten notes for great networking-A consultant we know makes a point of knowing what's happening in the lives of her clients and, whenever she finds a reason, sends handwritten messages on notepaper. For example: Dear Jerry, I was absolutely delighted to learn that you are this year's recipient of the Tumblewood Award. The a.s.sociation could not have made a better choice. Your contributions to our industry have been outstanding for many years, and I look forward to applauding them at the awards dinner in June.

Dear Joan: A little bird told me that your son has been chosen as valedictorian of his graduating cla.s.s. What a terrific achievement-I know how proud you must be. I just had to let you know how happy I am for your family.