Part 4 (2/2)

Dear Joe: Great news! We've decided you're ready to take on the McAllen account, which as you know, is a very important one for the company. Your achievement record has done the trick. I don't think it should unbalance your workload, but if it proves to be time-consuming, we can talk about getting help for you on another account...

Which e-mail would you rather get? The information is nearly the same, but with version #1, you'd be groaning by the end of the first sentence. But version #2 would make you feel good about the new a.s.signment, and valued. Further, from the writer's viewpoint, putting a positive spin on the message leads to supporting thoughts-for example, that help will be provided if needed.

Here's something to remember: Everything you write, even a garden-variety e-mail, has a psychological impact. It reflects relations.h.i.+ps and sets the tone for how things are perceived. Ten years ago, no one would have written an e-mail message like ”Dear Joe”; the information would have been delivered in person, or perhaps in a carefully written memo. But today, the ability to communicate instantly by e-mail has made us very careless about how the way we say things affects other people.

What's the real message?-Note that when you read a message, the physical cues-tone of voice, expression, body language-are missing. So, your innocent e-mail might send an entirely different message than what you meant. That's why you've got to be aware of your tone and how your message may be received on the other end.

If you want to motivate others, or impress those you report to, take the potential of your written words seriously. You'll have a powerful leaders.h.i.+p tool in your hands.

When the news is bad-Here's an example of how to think through your choices in crafting a bad-news message.

#1 Subject: No holiday party.

Dear Staff: Please be advised that the holiday party scheduled for December 18 is canceled. The reason is that our cost-cutting program requires it.

We hope the company is in a position to reinst.i.tute this tradition next year. Thanks for understanding.

#2 Subject: The holiday party is canceled.

Dear Staff: This is news we regret having to share with you. At a time when we are working to trim costs in the interest of maintaining all staff positions, the Executive Committee has decided to forgo the traditional holiday party planned for December 18.

Instead, everyone is invited to gather for coffee and cake in the Johnson Auditorium at 10 a.m. on the 18th-and to bring a toy as a donation to the Homeless Children's Holiday Drive. We can wish each other all the season's joys and also share our good fortune with those who have little.

Which would you rather get? The news is essentially the same, but recipients of the first message might well grumble at this particular cost slas.h.i.+ng-we can hear them mutter about executive perks being the last benefit to go-and employee insecurity is being fed as well. Is my job safe? If management doesn't care about the holiday season, will they care about cutting my job?

Message #2, on the other hand, puts everyone in the same boat: We're all disappointed-but it's more important to maintain jobs; who could deny that? It's good to see someone taking responsibility for the decision. And the subst.i.tute invitation results from the kind of brainstorming that should accompany situations of this type. It costs little, offers something in the holiday spirit to look forward to, and contributing toys for needy kids reminds everyone of their relative good fortune. It also demonstrates that the company has a heart and it's in the right place, which is very rea.s.suring.

Guidelines for delivering bad news.

* Tell the total truth (or as much as you can and is appropriate).

* Show a human face (in a restrained way).

* Acknowledge that someone, or at least a department or unit, made the decision rather than using the obscuring pa.s.sive (”a mistake has been made...”).

* Think about how your audience will react, on every level you can think of.

* Map the content in response to antic.i.p.ated reaction.

* When possible, come up with some mitigating factor.

* Review the message you craft carefully for how it comes across.

It's not a bad idea to test run bad-news messages by a few trusted colleagues.

These rules don't apply to more serious bad-news situations such as firing people, taking them to task, or transferring them, because you should never use e-mail for what should be one-on-one conversations.

Truth 14. Effective messages lead with strength.

Did you freeze whenever your high school or college teachers told you to develop ”a strong thesis statement” for your ”essays”?

Journalists have a much more encouraging way of talking about an opening. They call it the lead. For a newspaper or magazine article-and for broadcast journalism as well-the opening statement has a lot of work to do: It must pull the reader in, represent the full content of the doc.u.ment, establish accurate expectations, create the tone, and more.

A lead for an advertising or promotional doc.u.ment works even harder to attract attention and set up the reader to view the rest of the piece favorably. In both journalism and advertising, the lead must answer that essential ”what's in it for me?” question: Why should I care?

Business communication is not very different. Whether you're writing a letter, memo, report to your boss or a colleague, white paper, proposal, news release, home page of a Web site, or an article for your company's newsletter, the lead must focus your audience's attention and crystallize the core of your message.

The lead can be a sentence, a paragraph, or more, depending on the nature and length of the doc.u.ment. If your message is delivered via e-mail, you should consider the subject line as an important part of your lead.

Professional writers probably spend half their time developing the right lead. That's because when you start right, the rest will follow (although it often works in reverse-many writers create or rewrite their lead after the rest of the story is finished).

Here's a useful way to think about the lead. It must: * Tell your specific audience how your subject relates to them.

* Indicate why the subject is important in general.

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