In this age of electronic communication, understanding one another depends on good writing skills. Many people now work from home, logging in to their work site with a home computer. Without face-to-face contact with fellow employees, most of their communication is through emails or text messages.
Writing Skills Matter
Written messages may include work assignments, or directions and procedures to follow. Not everyone has the skills needed to get their meaning across with the written word, and automatic spell checks do not always work as intended. Misspelled words, bad punctuation, incorrect verb tense or misuse of certain words will not only cause confusion but could result in tasks being performed incorrectly or not at all. Yes, it is very important to know the difference between there, they’re and their.
Writing Reflects You
Sending emails to fellow employees is not only a part of working from home, it is also an important mechanism for communicating with people who you may have never met. If your boss tells you to relay your plans for a new project to the vice president of sales, who also works from home in a different part of the country, your email will serve as a reflection of yourself. Your level of attention to detail can reveal more about who you are than you might realize. Correct spelling and punctuation not only give the recipient understandable information, they tell that person that you are reliable, and probably proficient at your job too.
Writing Style Help
Anyone who communicates by writing, whether it be emails, text messages, blogs, or Twitter should have a book of writing style on their desks. There are many books available that can help with grammar, punctuation, spelling, and sentence structure. Elements of Style; Lapsing into a Comma; Eats, Shoots and Leaves; Woe is I; and Origins of the Specious are just a few of the books that can help improve your writing style.
Not everyone needs to strive to become an author of best sellers, but keeping a good writing style book close at hand can insure that your presentation of yourself, through your writing, gives the best impression and provides clarity and effectiveness to your communication.