This question gets
answered in all kinds of ways in the workplace, and experts who counsel others
in marketing have all kinds of theories about how to assess who other people
are. They do this often in terms of categories
like age, gender, level of education, and status.
Self-evident clues
like factual tidbits tell others something about readers and customers and
workplace colleagues, but they can’t solve the ultimate mystery of who other
people are for their needs and personalities and drives and mysterious
responses are as fluid as your own. You
can have a good day. You can have a bad day. Someone can be nice to you.
Someone can be rude to you. It could be your birthday or an anniversary—either of
which you would like to remember or forget.
The circumstances surrounding other people and the moments when they
intersect with the words you have written are as fluid as the stimuli—both inner
and outer—that affect the way you think and how you respond.
Does that mean you
can’t figure out your reader? Not
necessarily and it also means that you don’t have to figure out your reader
altogether. Writing with mindfulness about who is reading your work begins with
what all people share everyone and that is a need for respect.
Respect the job the workplace document needs to perform and fulfill that basic goal.
Respect the reader's time by providing that content efficiently and in a style that does not impede understanding what is meant.
Respect the reader by choosing words that fulfill the task of providing unbiased content.
Respect sounds
like courtesy.
Courtesy builds
relationships out of discipline and takes the guess work out of doing it right
or wrong.
To prove this
consider the format of a business letter.
Here are its inherent structural parts which exist for logic’s sake but
serve the nature of consideration called courtesy.
The return address: Tells the reader right away who you are and
how to get in touch with you.
The inside address: Acknowledges the reader and allows him/her to
see that you know his/her title.
The salutation: Achieve instantaneous connection with the reader just
by using his or her name respectfully (Rule of thumb: Use the last name with the title until you have
been invited to use the first name.)
First paragraph: Makes a connection by announcing the purpose
of the letter or connect the content of the letter to a question that has been
asked so that no one has to read your mind about the intention of the letter.
Body of letter: Provides the information that is required for
documentation purposes or solving of a problem.
Complimentary close: Supply a gracious good-bye--the kind you make in a
doorway before you leave. (Tip: Use a comma after the complimentary close, such as: Sincerely yours, )
Your signature: Make it plain who you are again and for
business purposes build your name recognition. (Be reminded that in social
settings when someone is introduced names are repeated back and forth in order
for people to hear the name again in case he/she misses it the first time. It might sound like this: Jim Davis meet Lynn Smith. Lynn meet Jim.) See how your return address and the signature at the bottom repeat this act of courtesy?
Asking the
question about who other people are in order to write more mindfully is a
process that never ends. You begin it and continue to do it, and people around
you who are aware of how important it is to signal respect and build
relationships in the workplace in order to create trust and increase
productivity make a habit of relying upon the discipline of courtesy to keep
the friendly exchange of information flowing with respectful good will. When
that happens you don’t have to solve all the mysteries of who everyone is; you
simply need to prove day after day that you are on top of your workload and
handling your responsibilities in a timely and respectful way.
The natural trust
that results from that discipline of professionalism will do the rest.
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