In my current job in accounts
receivable, I talk to a lot of different people every day, some inside my
company and some outside of it. I didn’t really think of all these
conversations as “professional writing” before, but after learning about Paul
Anderson’s reader-centered approach in Technical Communication, I started to
see how much thought actually goes into every email, message, or report I
write. His framework helped me break down what I do when I write at work and
made me realize how important it is to think about who I’m writing to and how
they’re going to react.
The first step in Anderson’s
framework is thinking about your reader who you’re talking to and what they
care about. In my job, my readers are usually coworkers from different
departments, my supervisor, and sometimes customers. Each group wants something
different from me. My team might need updates on invoice payments, while a
client might just want a simple answer about their bill or pricing. So, I
always have to think about what they expect to hear and how I can explain
things in a way that makes sense to them.
Next, there’s context, which means
the situation around communication. This includes things like deadlines,
pressure from upper management, or even just how busy everyone is. The way
people react to my messages can also depend on how they’re feeling that day,
how high up they are in the company, or whether we’ve talked before. Something
else I’ve learned is that readers have certain expectations when it comes to
how messages are written. If I’m sending an email, they expect it to be clear
and to the point. Usually, I follow the same basic structure: I explain the
problem, give the important details, and suggest what should happen next. When
I’m writing something for leadership, I try to keep it professional and
straight to the point. But if I’m chatting with a coworker on Microsoft Teams,
I might be more casual and even throw in an emoji or two. Knowing when to
switch tones is a big part of getting people to take your message seriously.
There are a few writing strategies
I use often. I like to use bullet points when I’m listing things, and I try to
bold important dates or numbers so people can find them quickly. I also try to
keep emails to the point. Having long explanations in an email get overlooked.
These tricks help make my messages easier to understand. But I’ve also had to
adapt some of my writing depending on who I’m talking to. For example, if I’m
talking to someone who doesn’t work directly with the systems I use, I have to
explain things more simply. One time, I had to explain why a payment
integration with AT&T wasn’t working. When I explained it to a coworker in
AR, I included all the technical details. But when I explained it to a client,
I just gave them a timeline and what it meant for them.
There are still some things I want
to get better at, like using visuals to show trends or data. I think adding
charts or graphs to my emails would help people understand what’s going on
without having to read a ton of text. That would make my messages more
persuasive and save people time. I’ve learned that ethics plays a big role in
professional writing. I have to make sure I don’t share sensitive payment
information with the wrong people, and I always need to be honest, especially
when something goes wrong. It can be tough to find the right words when
mistakes happen, but I try to stay focused on the facts and how we can fix the
problem.
Anderson’s framework showed me that
writing at work isn’t just about typing up a message and hitting send. It’s
about knowing who you’re talking to, what they need, and how you can help them
understand what you’re saying. By thinking about my readers, my context, and my
tone, I can make my communication more effective and professional, even if it’s
just a quick message on Teams.
No comments:
Post a Comment