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Workplace Writing

Brian Reeves, PhD

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Workplace Writing

No matter what job you have, chances are it will involve a little writing. You are used to certain kinds of writing: texts and emails with friends and family, essays, reports, and papers for school. When you are on a job, you will need to think about writing a little differently. Professional writing must be clean, error-free, and directed to the right audience. Communicating at work isn’t like communicating with friends. You have to be professional, and any mistakes distract from what you have to say.

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Writing---the Basics for the Business Workplace

    • In the workplace, the way you dress, talk, and even use your body language can affect your ability to succeed. The same is true with the way you write: Poor writing can cause you to lose the trust of your coworkers. Be careful to use proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
    • There are definitely ways you write a text or email to your friends that would be inappropriate in the workplace. In the workplace, avoid: emojis, letters and abbreviations for full words like “thx” instead of “thanks”, lack of punctuation, crude language, and misspelled words.
    • You have spent years in school learning and practicing spelling, grammar, and punctuation. But years of texting may have blurred some of those lessons and led to some bad habits. Here is a quick refresher using this document

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Basic Tips for Professional Writing

    • Follow the examples of your supervisor and others in the company---and any company rules---when it comes to fonts and other design choices. It’s not just about what you write, but what it looks like.
    • Always check the list of recipients on an email to make sure it’s going to the right people.
    • Check for errors before hitting Send. Once an email is gone, it’s too late.
    • Be precise so your message can’t be misinterpreted.
    • State your main point quickly. You are not telling a story, so focus on facts.
    • Use a professional, straightforward style, not casual. This means complete sentences with proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
    • Only use jargon (specialized or technical industry-specific terminology) if you are sure your reader will understand it. This includes initials that stand for words that people outside

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Main Idea

Employers will judge you by your writing, even if it’s not a main function of your job. Be sure to double-check anything you write for dissemination in the workplace. A typo could come back to haunt you!

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Assignments

1)Complete the following assignment translating work emails into proper business writing: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AzT4IXwnBVWVubgcoI92i1jJoJ1m2C7sJS4h4M7l7CE/edit

Submit to Google classroom;

2)Complete the following document rewriting work messages into proper workplace writing: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1r_Yk3FbFyBffeunM6t_kNBQ3gV8s_35INsObHX0Pyqs/edit

Submit to Google classroom

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Questions? breeves@farmington.k12.mo.us

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