In many workplaces, written communication will be very important in your day to day activities. Here are some concepts to keep in mind with your written communication:

• Start with your goal: what are you trying to achieve with this communication? Are you trying to persuade? Inform?
• Consider your audience: is it an employer, your professor, a colleague, your boss?
• Use appropriate salutations, such as Mr. or Ms. Use salutations unless invited to do otherwise by the person you’re addressing.
• Be concise. Unless you are writing a full technical report, most business communications benefit from conciseness.
• Watch your tone. Keep it friendly, yet professional. Be cautious with humour and avoid slang. One great way to check the tone of your writing is to read it out loud before sending it. Your tone can influence how your message is interpreted.
• Be aware of cultural differences. Diversity in workplaces means there is a greater likelihood for certain communications to be misunderstood. For example, not everyone may understand if you say “those products are a dime a dozen”, but they’ll likely understand if you say “those products are very common”. Try to avoid idiomatic expressions and use plain language where you can.

Emails

An electronic mail message or email is a great way to provide direct, important, and timely information. When writing a professional email, for example, you’ll want to keep the following in mind:

Sending Emails

There are numerous ways you can email a message to someone (e.g., To:, Cc:, Bcc:).

Using “To:”

The main intended recipient of your email should appear in the To line. This is the person you expect to take action or respond, or for whom the information is directly relevant.

Using “Cc:”

You can also send an email to additional recipients by using the Cc field. Before using the Cc field, know how to use it correctly. Cc (“carbon copy” or “courtesy copy”) is used to send a message to recipients who may need to be informed about the information, but who are not expected to take action or to respond. People listed in the To and the Cc fields (their names and/or email addresses) are visible to others in the email.

Using “Bcc”

You can also send an email to additional recipients by using the Bcc field. Before using the Bcc field, know how to use it correctly.

Bcc (“blind carbon copy”) is used to send a message to a recipient without disclosing their name or address to others on the thread. Bcc is rarely used and is meant not to avoid transparency, but to protect confidentiality. For example, mass mailings often use Bcc in order to send the same message to many recipients without disclosing their personal information to each other. Using Bcc can also cut down on email traffic when someone mistakenly “replies all” to a large recipient group. If you’re not sure how – or whether – to use Bcc in work emails, be sure to ask at your workplace.

Replying to Emails

When you receive an email, it’s because the sender believed the subject of the email was relevant to you in some way. There are a few things to consider before deciding when or how to reply to an email.

Reply All

When you respond to an email with multiple recipients, it possible to send your response to everyone in the To and Cc lines by clicking “Reply All”. However, in most cases, you should not use this function when responding to emails. Here is when not to use Reply All:

• To a department-wide or company-wide email
• When your response is only pertinent to the sender
• To an information-only type email, such as the time or date of a meeting (if you have a conflict or need more information, reply only to the person who sent the email. Let them sort out what does and doesn’t work for the group)
• In response to congratulations or happy birthday emails for one person (just email the person being congratulated, not the whole group)
• To disagree with or correct someone
• To vent or comment about the chain

Verbal Communication

Verbal communication involves the exchange of messages using words – through speaking, listening, writing, and reading – such as in face-to-face discussions, phone calls, emails, or texts. There are many factors affecting the effectiveness of verbal communication, such as word choice, logical sequencing, using expressions, and word connotations. Strong verbal workplace communications have 4 facets:

1. Listening – e.g., Do you ask clarifying questions? paraphrase what you hear? refrain from interrupting?
2. Speaking – e.g., Do you use words correctly? enunciate? speak at an easily understood pace & volume?
3. Reading – e.g., Do you understand what you have read? Did you read thoroughly before asking questions or responding?
4. Writing – e.g., Do you write with conciseness and clarity? Do you minimize jargon and avoid slang?

Leaving Professional Voicemail Messages

You’re about to make a business call. There is a possibility – as there always is – that you will be unable to reach the person you’re calling and will need to leave a voice mail message instead. When making any business calls, take a moment in advance to think about what you will say if you get a voice mail. Here are some tips:

Digital Collaboration Tools

Collaboration tools bring employees together despite physical distance, improving daily communication and keeping productivity up. Check out the presentation below for some details to consider regarding established practices and general etiquette when it comes to meeting virtually.

General Tips

Most workplaces will have you mixing and matching different styles of communication and contextualizing your messaging accordingly. Here are some additional tips to keep in mind:

Watch Your Tone

Using Positive Language

Negative language usually contains words like not, can’t, won’t, or impossible. It emphasizes the negative, says what cannot be done, and implies blame. In fact, negative language can feel coercive or imply the other person has been careless or deceitful. On the other hand, positive language emphasizes what can be done, offers choices and alternatives, and is encouraging and helpful. So, instead of saying something like “your car won’t be fixed for a week”, you might opt to phrase it as “your car will be ready next week”. This example shows how the same news can be delivered in a positive or negative way. Although the news is the same, it’s more likely to be well received when delivered using positive language.

Things to never say at work

Many things can be rephrased using positive language, but there are some phrases to avoid altogether.

Click here to download a list of phrases to avoid in the workplace given their potential to jeopardize your professional image. For each, we’ve offered an explanation as well as alternative approaches to try instead.

Slang at Work

Slang refers to informal words and phrases that are typically restricted to a particular context or group of people. Slang tends to be more common in spoken language than written.

The use of slang is discouraged in many workplaces: because it is content- or group-specific, it can easily lead to misunderstandings or miscommunication. For those accustomed to more formal language in the workplace – including customers – the use of slang can imply disrespect or not being taken seriously. Using more formal language allows more people to participate in communications at work. Here are some examples:

Remember: compared to texts, emails are considered to be a more formal form of communication in the workplace. For this reason, common text conventions – such as the use of emojis and acronyms – are often best left out of emails. This is another way you can promote clearer communication at work.

Non-Verbal Communication

Hopefully by now you’ve come to appreciate the context of your communication. Sometimes it’s not what you say, but how you say it. In some cases, you can communicate without saying or typing anything at all. Non-verbal communication involves the exchange of messages without words, such as via facial expressions, eye contact, gestures, tone of voice, and even emoticons. Here are some tips to consider how you communicate without speaking:

• Where possible, turn your camera on for video chats
• Be mindful of your personal appearance: look neat
• Keep a tidy workstation
• Dress professionally, in line with the workplace dress code
• Stand and sit with good posture
• Don’t hunch: hold you shoulders back to convey confidence
• Keep your arms relaxed at your sides while talking
• Beware of crossing your arms, as it can suggest you are closed off
• Express undistracted attention by leaning forward in your seat