Introduction
Workplace writing is the most common form of writing outside of one’s school career. It is specifically directed towards results that are direct, brief, and clear. Workplace writing falls in the categories of instructional, informational, persuasive, and transactional writing. These formal forms of communication have three basic purposes: to inform, to request or persuade, and to build goodwill. Most of these forms of communication have more than one purpose.
Forms of Workplace Writing
Instructional business writing is used to provide the reader with all the information they need in order to complete a certain task. The writing could be used for future reference or for a task that may need to be done immediately. This type of writing usually will break down a task into simple steps. Examples of instructional business writing include a user manual, technical documents that provide an outline of a product, and memos which are short notifications that usually include direct instructions. This form of writing is used to inform others.
Another form of writing that is used to inform others is informational business writing. This form of writing does not need much action but instead is a large bulk of writing that is used for records. Informational writing is extremely important for predicting future work as well as marking progress. Forms of writing that fall into informational business writing are reports and financial documents.
Persuasive business writing is direct writing that is commonly connected with sales. The goals of this form of writing is to reveal information and to persuade the reader that the information given offers the best value. Sales emails, press release, and proposals are great examples of persuasive writing in the business workplace.
Everyday communication in careers fall under the category of transactional business writing. Majority of this form of writing is by email but can also include dismissal notices, forms, and official letters. Transactional writing can have multiple purposes since they are used to send development of broad operations.
Grammar
Grammar is the study of words and they are used to form sentences. Knowing how to address grammar errors is one of the greatest challenges that come along with writing. Grammar mistakes in business writing can give off a poor first impression. If you own a business, your company could be seen as unprofessional or careless if you have grammatical errors in your website or advertising. Common grammar mistakes include subject-verb agreement, parallel structure, sentence fragments, and common English grammar mistakes.
Subject-verb agreement
Subject and verbs must agree in number when constructing a sentence. Meaning, if a subject is singular, its verb must also be singular; subject is plural, then its verb also has to be plural.
Parallel structure
Parallel structure is the repetition of a chosen grammatical form within a sentence. For example, a sentence that is not parallel would be, “Ellen likes hiking, the rodeo, and to take afternoon naps.”. to fix that sentence you would have to change the grammar forms within the sentence to, “Ellen likes hiking, attending the rodeo, and taking afternoon naps.”
Sentence fragments
A common mistake made in writing is the use of sentence fragments. Sentence fragments are simply just incomplete sentences. They usually are sentences that have been detached from the main clause. The easiest way to correct them is to remove the period between the fragment and the main clause.
Its/it’s
A confusing pair of words to write out is its and it’s. Its is a possessive form of it, that means belonging to it. It’s is a contraction of the words it is or it has. To figure out which one is correct for your writing it’s best to read the sentence out loud, if it’s can’t be replaced with it is or it has then its would be the correct form to use.
To/Too/Two
The confusion between to,too, and two usually happens because the three words are pronounced exactly the same. If you are able to replace the word “also”, use too. If the word is a number than you use two. Any other case you would use to.
Your/You’re
This is the most common mistake made in all English writing. Your is a possessive, meaning something belongs to you. You’re is short for “you are.”
There/Their
Their is the possessive case of the pronoun they, for example “They left their shoes in the car.” There is also used as a pronoun when introducing a sentence or clause, as in “There is still food in the fridge.”
That/Who/Whom
That is used for both a person and a thing/idea, but not when being specific. Whom should be used to refer to the object of a verb or preposition. Who is used when referring to people or when we want to know the person.
Led/Lead
Lead is used as a verb and means “to guide or direct.”. Led is used in writing as the past tense version. The sentence “I am going to lead her to the room.” and “I led her to her room.” are examples of the two words used in the correct form.
Punctuation
Typical punctuation mistakes can make your writing unclear and make your reader confused. Lack of correct punctuation can leave you looking unprofessional to those in your workplace.
Hyphen vs. Dash
A hyphen is a punctuation mark that joins two or more words together while a dash is a punctuation mark that separates words into parenthetical statements. Individuals often confused the two because they look so similar in size, but yet their usage is different. Hyphens are not separated by spaces between words and a dash has a space on either side of the words.
Excess Exclamation
In workplace writing specifically, the overuse of exclamation marks should be avoided. Using too many exclamation marks will not only overwhelm the audience, but it can weaken the emotion behind the text. It’s best to stay away from exclamation marks if you’re in an academic or professional setting.
Unnecessary Quotation Marks
Writers often mistake using quotation marks when trying to emphasize a specific part of a message. Quotations marks are only used for when quoting something. If you want to emphasize a specific part of your text, it’s more appropriate to use bold or italicized font.
Comma Usage
Grammatically incorrect comma usage originates from using to many commas. One common example of incorrect comma usage is a comma splice. A comma splice happens when you connect two independent clauses with only a comma instead of a comma followed by a coordinating conjunction. Other examples include using semicolons/commas interchangeably and remembering not to place periods and commas outside of quotation marks.
Run-on sentences
Run-on or fused sentences are when two or more main independent clauses are joined together without a word to connect them or a punctuation mark to separate them. A run-on sentence can be simply fixed by breaking the fused sentence into two separate sentences or by joining the two clauses with a comma and a coordination conjunction.
Word Choice
Many writers in the workplace desire to “sound smart.” This is mistaken to mean that we should replace word choices with more high-level words. The best way to make your writing efficient is by using certain words precisely for the context of the subject.
Transitions
Transition words and phrases are vital for writing used in the workplace. They provide connections between ideas, paragraphs, and sentences. Transitions help make the writing flow better by turning disconnected pieces in writing to giving them a better flow.
Unnecessary Jargon
Jargon is special words that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand. Strict word choice is beneficial in professional writing, but only should be used when a basic word would be less suitable.
Choosing Words That You Do Not Understand
Selecting a word because it sounds “smarter” can result in words being used the wrong way, which can degrade your writing.
Editing and Revision
Editing and revising a paper go hand in hand. When revising a paper, you are looking at the bigger picture to make sure that you got your point across and that it’s crisp and clear to the reader. Editing is what you do after the revising. This is when you look deeper into the paper to check the clarity of your writing. Editing and revising a writing are key points to sharpening up your work.
Taking Time Off After Writing
The most common mistake that writers make is trying to edit a paper right after they are finished. When editing and revising a paper right away, the text is still too familiar to your brain which can cause you to skip over some errors. Putting the paper aside for at least an hour can give your brain a break so it’s able to catch every mistake.
Editing and Revising All at Once
Your concentration could potentially wander off if you try to sit and proofread your entire text at once. It’s best to edit in sections to make sure you catch every error in sight.