Writing a Purposeful Message: Testing your
Purpose ask yourself the question, “Is it the right time to give
After eliminating the writer’s block, you are ready to
begin the writing process. Just like all other writing
tasks, the first step to business writing is defining
and checking your purpose. Defining comes
naturally. If it is a message meant for someone at
work, it may range from purely informing a person or
a group in a department about company related
events to requesting for something from someone
from another department. Likewise, if it is a message
for an outsider, it may extend from inquiring for other
company’s services, and replying to a business
message to announcing something.
However, what is more difficult and perhaps more
important is checking the validity or justifying the
need to write in the first place. According to Bovee
and Thill in their book, “Business Communication
Today,” after identifying what and why you need to
write, the next thing that should be done is assess if
you should really write. Also in the book, there are
four (4) qualities of the purpose that are said to be
tested:
Given your purpose for writing, you have to check if
it is realistic, timely, appropriate, and acceptable.
First, to know if your purpose is realistic, you ask
yourself the question, “Is what I want my receivers to
do after reading my message something doable?” If
what you want your recipient to do is simply not
executable or impossible, like asking for something
that can be done in one week, and you ask it to be
ready by tomorrow, then you may want to consider
checking your purpose again by changing it or better
yet, not write at all.
Second, to know whether the purpose is timely, “You
the message?” it is possible that what you want is
executable, but if it is not of importance to your
receiver as of the moment perhaps because there is
an overlap in your deadline with other deadlines that
they have to comply with, then it may not be timely.
Another example is if you request for something that
simply cannot be produced because the department
does not make it at that time of the year, then it is
not timely. This is perhaps the reason why most
companies with seasonal products are often found
to produce commercials only on months when the
product is greatly needed.
Third to check is if the purpose is appropriate. In
order to know if your purpose is okay, ask yourself
the question, “Am I the right person to give the
message?” a purpose may be executable and
relevant but if you are writing even if it is not your
responsibility to do so, your message, when it
reaches the person you wish to communicate with,
will be useless. A person who receives a command
from the wrong person will not do as ordered.
Last is acceptability. To know whether the message
is acceptable, you ask the question, “Is it the same
stand of the company?” Being a person who works
for a company, anything and everything that you say
or write will always represent you or the
organization; therefore, before writing something, try
to examine first the company’s stand regarding the
message you are writing and check if what you are
writing is just a mere reflection of what the company
as a whole would also be saying. Or better yet,
check if it does not violate any of the company’s
policy if it coincides with the company’s stand.
All four characteristics of a good message justify
your need for writing. The absence of one is an
indication that you have to either stop creating the
message or redefine your purpose. Once the
purpose has been defined and assessed, the next
step is analyzing the audience.
References:
Bovee, C., & Thill, J. (2008). Business Communication Today. Upper Saddle
River, New Jersey: Pearson Education.
Guffey, M., & Du-Babcock, B. (2011). Essentials of Business Communication.
Pasig: Cengage Learning Asia Pte.
Guffey, M., & Loewy, D. (2008). Essentials of Business Communication.
Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning.
Vizconde, C., Dayao, H., & Engracia, J. (2017). Reading & writing in the
academe and workplace. Quezon City, Philippines: Abiva Publishing
House, Inc.