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20 Correspondence

We have discussed the importance of communication and the significant

part letter-writing plays in this function. Correspondence is, indeed, an
area where the office administrator should pay particular attention.
Letters are written to perform two main functions: (a) that of
communicating ideas and information; and (b) the recording of that
communication in permanent form. The record has two aspects, that of
the recipient and that of the sender. In both cases the letter serves as a
means of reference in future discussion or negotiation and because of this
it is important to take care in its composition.
Clarity and conciseness are essential in business and other letter-
writing and to this end the following points should be borne in mind:
1. Before committing anything to paper the writer must be quite clear as
to what is to be said. Woolliness of thought will give rise to vague,
indefinite communication which will do nothing to provide precise
information to the other party.
2. Complicated and verbose sentences should be avoided at all costs and
it should be the aim to keep sentences and phrases as short as
possible.
3. English is rich in synonyms, but very rarely will two words be found to
give precisely the same meaning. It is necessary, therefore, to choose
the exact word required to convey precisely what is meant. If a
writer's vocabulary is lacking a good dictionary or a dictionary of
antonyms and synonyms will be of great help.
4. Mistakes in business, and even litigation, arise because of ambiguity
in communication. In letter-writing this must be avoided at all costs.
Attention to 1 above will help a great deal, but in addition misun-
derstandings can be avoided if the writer tries to look at the letter
from the point of view of the recipient. Punctuation, as well as syntax
and the actual words chosen, can have an important bearing on
meaning.
5. As an aid to clear understanding by the receiver a letter should be so
constructed that the ideas contained in it flow logically from point to
point, the matter developing in an orderly and logical fashion.
6. In attempting to save time and to be concise many letter-writers are
brief to the point of abruptness, often to the point of seeming

E. C. Eyre, Office Administration

© E. C. Eyre 1989
280 The Services Provided by the Office

discourteous. This sometimes creates an unfavourable impression in

the mind of the reader and can result in a loss of goodwill. It is
important, therefore, to remember the common courtesies when
composing letters, whatever the subject matter.
7. It is good advice that letter-writers should visualise their correspon-
dents and compose their letters as though they were speaking to them.
However, this does not mean that slang expressions should be used in
business letters; these should be strictly avoided. The exception to this
rule is where accepted technical jargon is used in technical correspon-
dence. Similarly, hackneyed expressions should be avoided as far as
possible but not to the point of excluding accepted modern phrases.
Neither, however, should a writer use odd or unfamiliar expressions
in an endeavour to be different.
8. To aid the rapid handling of mail in the receiver's office it should be
made a rule to put the addressee's reference at the top of each letter
and to have a subject heading. Where more than one topic is to be
written about and different departments are involved, it will assist
those who have to answer if each topic is written about in a separate
letter, though despatched in the same envelope.

20.1 Types of Letter

Speed is of the essence in modern office administration and there are
several ways to achieve rapidity in writing and answering letters.
The first is the form letter. This is a pre-prepared letter in standard
form which has spaces left for the insertion of variable data such as name
and address, date, subject and so on. It may be pre-printed in ordinary
letterpress characters or in imitation typewriting, or it may be produced
on an automatic typewriter or a word processor. The variable informa-
tion may be filled in by hand or by machine.
This method is much used for the acknowledgement of letters and
orders, sales letters covering the sending of brochures and in similar
circumstances. At worst they are printed postcards completed in hand-
writing: at best they are cleverly produced facsimile type circulars very
carefully matched in with typewritten variable particulars. The growing
use of automatic typewriters and word processors is giving rise to the
increasing use of set form letters in which the static information is
indistinguishable from individual typing and the variable information is
matched in perfectly.
A second way to speed up correspondence is an extension of the form
letter concept. In this method several standard paragraphs are prepared
and numbered, these paragraphs being designed to cover any normal
circumstance within the area of responsibility of the person or depart-