Written Communication: Limitation and Essentials

Communication is the exchange of information between two or more parties. In communication one party transmits message to another using oral/written/hints etc. as medium or any other perceivable means. Communication is inseparably related with human life. Where pulsation of live exists, communication is a must there. From the beginning to the end, human life fully depends on communication. Besides personal life, extensive effect of communication is found in family life, professional life and social life of human being. In the business world necessity of communication is undeniable. Every step of business depends on communication. Basically communication is part and parcel of human activity and growth.

Classification of Communication

Communication is can be broadly classified into two ways categories such as oral communication and written communication. Such oral communication are direct conversation, telephone, skype and other source by which people can use voice to communicate, while written communications are letter, e-mail, reports, notice and manuals etc. Written communication is one of the most used communications of the world. In professional and business world, nearly every communication is done with written communication. Written communication is the presentation of thoughts, ideas, opinions, feelings etc., though words that are meant to be. Actually, messages in written form are known as written communication.

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In the figure: Classification of Communication

Written Communication

Written communication is very much useful for all types of business and legal activity. It helps to keep record every transactions and also can be used as references in various need. To make a proper written communication, it needs various essentials. Communicators must have to ensure these essentials to make a proper and clean written communication. There is also some limitation of written communications like expensiveness, sluggishness etc. But these disadvantages are very small in comparison with the usefulness of written communication.

Written communication is the second most widely used communication after oral communication. In spite of some disadvantage, written communication is the best way to do official communication. It is the most preferable way to do business and legal activity. So, clean and clear written communication is very much needed for proper communication.

Limitation of written communication

Written communication is not always the best choice for business, academic or personal communication although it has several advantages over oral communication because written communication also has several limitations as well. So mode of communication needs to be determined depending on the situation. Some of the obvious limitations of written communication are described below:

Lack of Instant Feedback:

Written communication does not allow for instant feedback. Impressions and reactions are exchanged instantaneously in oral communication but in written communication the sender does not usually receive immediate feedback to his or her message. In addition the message sent through written communication cannot be immediately meet an audience's needs, clarify a question or found out if any miscommunication occurs. As a result frustration and uncertainty in business situations may arise when a swift response is desired. Lack of Direct Relation:

Written communication is less personal than oral communication because in maximum cases parties involved in written communication do not meet each other. Consequently personal relationship does not grow between them. So communicating through writing or email is less effective than in-person communication at building personal relationships. Moreover written communication is not effective for sending any kind of emotional message. So important messages, such as getting a promotion or being fired should be communicated in person. Possibility of Miscommunication:
Written communication does not include tone of voice or facial expression. As a result miscommunication happens in written communication more likely. Humor and sarcasm are difficult to express in written communication and may be sounded as insults. In written communication message sender tend to write in a more formal, serious tone, contributing to the impersonal nature that may arise miscommunication between sender and receiver. Expensive:

Written communication is highly expensive. Various types of stationery, such as printers, ink and paper are needed to establish written communication. It also costs huge in terms of the manpower employed in writing/typing and delivering letters. So, written communication incurs huge expenditure. [pic]
Excessive time:

Another greatest limitation of written communication is the delay in communication since the encoding and sending of message takes time. In addition the message is communicated after completion of certain process. Firstly the message is prepared then it is verified and after then it is delivered by the sender. So it takes more time.

Lack of Secrecy:

Secrecy cannot be maintained in written communication because messages can be read by anyone. So it can be a threat for an organization because some information is confidential. This information, if shared by someone can be threat for the organization. For example the policy of an organization can be copied by another organization because of the lack of secrecy.

Problem for Uneducated Person:

Written communication is ineffective for conveying message to the illiterate receiver because uneducated receiver will fail to understand the meaning of the written message. This can be a trouble for business situation. For example it may happen that one of the top level officials of any organization can be illiterate or the owner of any business can be illiterate. So it is quite failure to communicate with them through written forms.

Problem in Alteration:

In written communication problem arises when the subject of the message needs to be changes. Since many formalities are needed to follow to alter the message. Moreover it is not possible to change the subject instantly. So sometimes it may happen that this alteration can be of no use.

Liability:

Written communication may create a liability issue. For example, while oral communication remarks are easily forgotten whereas emails, memos and other documents can be used as evidence in court, even years after they were written. Problem of agreement in opinion:

The parties involved in the written communication are separated by distance. They do not come closer to each other. As a result they face problem in building up agreement in opinion.

Lack of Dynamism:

Necessary interruption and explanation are required to increase the efficiency of communication that is absent in written communication. In some cases it seems to be tough for the communication to send clarification easily to the receiver that arises complication.

Lack of Knowledge:
Effective written communication requires great skills and competencies in language and vocabulary use. Employees working in an organization may not have much knowledge about writing skills. as a result they cannot send the message in proper writing method that can arise a negative impression on receiver’s mind. Consequently, poor writing skills and quality have a negative impact on organization’s reputation. Essentials of Written Communication

Written communication is not only a communication but also an art. If a person is keen in written communication, he will dignify himself as well as the organization too; on the other hand; if a writer is not effective in this communication, he will create a bad impression on the him and also organization.

So, to be effective in written communication a person needs to understand the essentials of written communication. Such essentials are:

Correctness:

In all the aspects the letter should be corrected. As a formal letter, the sender has to be more conscious as the letter is quite correct. If there is any error or mistake, it will create a bad impression towards the organization.

A formal letter could be lost its correctness in different ways. Such as:

• Spelling, Grammar and Language: In formal letter there may have any incorrect spelling, or grammatical mistakes even the language problem. For instance, in USA they use 2nd floor to identify the 2nd level of a multistoried building but in UK 2nd level is usually called 1st floor. So, here we see the language problem.

• Poor and untidy Layout: The layout of the letter might be poor and untidy. So, the sender should have more careful about the layout of the letter. Because poor layout might be seen the inefficiency of the organization.

• Information of the letter: The information of the letter may be wrong or incomplete or even ambiguous. So the writer should be more conscience about the information and the information of the letter must be corrected because wrong information should be harm be for the organization.

Clarity:

Clarity is very much important for the business letter because you know that letter is a one way communication or you will not get instant feedback. So, here the formal letter should be clear in thought and in language. If the letter has not clarity, the receiver may explain the information in the wrong way. For instance, “Please state from what date the patient was order to stay in bed” this sentence is not quite clear and the above statement might be explained in different way. The above sentence could in a simple form such as “When patient was asked to take bed rest”.

Conciseness:

Conciseness means expressing much in a few words. In another way we can say that conciseness means keeping to the point by using a few words without sacrificing clarity and the complete meaning. For example: A businessman may send a letter to supplier in such way “We would appreciate receiving goods as early as possible since arrangement have to be made for export so that they will reach our foreign customers.” The above letter could be in a concise format “Please deliver the goods by 14th September since will have to ship them in USA by 17th September. The formal letter can be concise in the following way. Such as:

• Omitting unnecessary words

• Omitting unnecessary details

• Specify the time and place

Courtesy:

Courtesy is considered for the feelings of others. One’s letter will express how the receiver is treated by the writer. On the other word we can say, Courtesy is considered one person’s behavior with other. For example, an employee needs a leave for next day and he will write a letter to his supervisor. The language of the letter is somewhat like this; “Hay guys tomorrow I will not come because I need a day off for my girlfriend’s birthday party.” This speech of the letter is not paying any courtesy towards the boss. So, here the supervisor may think that the employee is not obedient. In the letter the style, the manner and the choice of words reflect the courtesy of writer. Use courtesy words like please, thanks and sorry. The writer should express appropriate feelings. The employee’s above statement could be “Dear sir, tomorrow I need a day off”

Completeness:

The writer should be conscious about the complete message providing all necessary information, facts and figures. If the communication of writer is incomplete, it may create irritating to the receiver. On the other hand, incompleteness creates misunderstanding. For instance, a supplier may send a letter to a buyer like this way “Dear Mr. X, yesterday I could not send you the goods for unavoidable problem.” Here the information is not complete because supplier did not mention such problem which was very much important for the buyer to take next initiative.

Receivers Point of View:

Letter should be receivers point of view and those information should be kept in which the receiver has interest to read. It should not contain irrelevant information in which receiver gets bored. Whatever the writer communicate, the letter should be arranged in that way which creates value to the receivers. Awareness of writer of needs of receiver will make the letter more acceptable to the receiver. On the other hand, writer should consider the culture of receiver because a polite word of one place may be an odd meaning to other place.

Avoiding the use of slang words:

Writer should avoid such words which are not use in the formal way or such slang words such as bullshit. If a writer use those slang words, it will impact on image of the organization’s employees.

Avoiding Abbreviation:

Sometimes we use different abbreviation such as ICC, ACC, BCCI, and BCB etc. But when we use these words in our formal letter, the receiver may not understand the meaning. For example, one meaning of ICC is “International Criminal Court” on the other hand; “International Cricket Council” is another meaning of ICC.

Avoiding Clichés:

Many people may have many belief and superstition and many people may have antique concept. So, whoever the writer or whatever his belief, the writer should avoid cliché because the receiver might be ultra-modern, so when the receiver get any letter with cliché, receiver may feel irritating.

Keep the sentence Short:

Every time writer should use short sentence because short sentence can express more accurate than a lengthy sentence. If whiter writes any big or complex sentence, he has to break it down into simple sentence to make the meaning of the voice clear in the letter.

After the invention of writing system, written communication has been used. Since then it has become one of the most reliable way of communication. Everything which have advantages, also have some limitations. Therefore, written communication has some limitations along with its advantages. But these limitations are very few against the advantages. Proper and sound written communication must have to be ensured to reduce its limitation.

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