Introduction
Generally written communication can be referred to any kind of communication, which is based on the use of the written word. Communication is a key to any attempt of interaction involving more than one person. Written communication became one of the leading communication forms in the modern world, and it keeps on developing for the present moment in the history of humankind can be definitely called the “information age”. Written communication is also the basic form of business communication. Thus, developing written communication skills and encouraging of the employees to improve their writing style is one of the primary tasks for both the owners and managers of an enterprise connected with public relations. The new age in the society development has changed most of the ways in which people communicate and put an increasing emphasis on writing when compared with oral communication.
The perpetually increasing use of computers and Internet for organization and transmission of information inevitably leads to the necessity of competent writing skills development.
The key to any kind of communication (and to communication in public management as well) is to express the idea by means of words as accurate and precise as possible. People usually do not read business correspondence just for pleasure. They read it in order to receive instructions or useful information which could be potentially used when making decisions. Thus, the highly literary prose cannot be considered as the proper style of written communication in public management. On the other hand, formal prose can also prove to be not productive by seeming unfriendly to a reader or simply wordy. Thus, the key to successful written communication in public management is in finding the so called “golden medium” between formal and informal style of writing.
Written Communication in Public Management
Any communication process (and written communication as well) begins when an idea or a fact attracts the attention of a person. That person transforms his observation into a message, which is later transmitted trough some communication media to another person or a group of persons. The former person is commonly called the sender, the latter one – the receiver. The task of the receiver is to interpret the message and provide the feedback to the sender letting him know that the message has been understood and the appropriate action taken.
Thus, “good communication should be complete, concise, clear, concrete, correct, considerate, and courteous” (Murthy& Hildebrandt). The communication should ask the basic questions, which a potential receiver might have. Such questions commonly include the basic information, like “who”, “when”, “where”, “why” etc. The information provided through written communication has to be appropriate to any specific case and not overly wordy. The message contained in written communication should directly address the receiver and take into account his or her scope of interests. Only relevant specific facts and numbers should be used in written communication. It is also a significant advantage for written communication to include examples. And one of the basic requirements for written communication is to be tactful, good-natured, accurate and …