Most common types of business reports and proposals

Most common types of business Reports and Proposals:

Informational reports:
-Reports to monitor and control operations
-Reports to implement policies and procedures
-Reports to demonstrate compliance
-Reports to document progress

Analytical reports:
-Reports to assess opportunities
-Reports to solve problems
-Reports to support decisions

Proposals:
-Internal Proposals (Requests decisions from managers w/i the company)
-External Proposals (Requests decisions from parties outside the company)

Informational reports use topical organization, arranging material according to one of the following topics:
-Comparison
-Importance
-Sequence
-Chronology
-Spatial Orientation
-Geography
-Category

Analytic Reports must be written according to how likely your audience would react:
-Receptive audiences (direct approach)- When you expect your audience to agree with you, use a structure that focuses on conclusions and recommendations.
-Skeptical audiences (indirect approach)- When you expect your audience to disagree with you or be hesitant, use a structure that focuses on the rationale behind your conclusions and recommendations.

Proposal structures depends on your audience members like analytical reports. In general your audience may be more receptive with solicited proposals, because the problem and the solution have already been identified. Depending on the circumstances and your relationship with the recipient, the indirect approach may be a better choice for unsolicited proposals. When writing unsolicited proposals, you must first convince the audience that the problem exists and establish your credibility if you are unknown to the reader. To convince the reader your recommendations are solid and logical, you unfold your solution using the 2+2=4 approach or the yardstick approach. As you unfold your solution, you have 2 goals: to persuade readers to accept your idea and award your contract, and to spell out the terms of your proposal.

The value of diversity in the business world

Diversity (all of the characteristics and experiences that define each of us as individuals) can have a profound effect on the way business people communicate. This in turn brings us to intercultural communication which is the process sending and receiving messages between people whose background could lead them to interpret verbal and nonverbal signs differently. Your efforts to recognize cultural differences will open up business opportunities throughout the world and maximize the contribution of all employees in a diverse workforce.
Even if you never visit another country or do business globally, you will still interact with colleagues from a variety of cultures with a wide range of characteristics and life experiences. Over the past few decades, many well known companies have changes the way they approached from seeing it as a legal requirement to provide equal opportunities to seeing as a strategic opportunity to connect with customers and take advantage of the broadest possible pool of talent. Smart business leaders recognize the competitive advantages of a diverse workforce that offers a broader spectrum of viewpoints and ideas, helps companies understand and identify with diverse markets, and enables companies to benefit to a wider range of employee talents. When I say diversity that doesn't necessarily only mean religion and nationality, it also goes for age, gender, work or professional experience and military experience. All of these various aspects is what makes up diversity which in turn reaches out to a much more broader market.
In particular, making ethical choices across cultures can see, complicated, but you can keep your messages ethical by applying four basic principles:
-Actively seeking mutual ground
-Send and receive messages without judgement
-Send messages that are honest
-Show respect for cultural differences.

Pros and Cons- When writing and working in teams

Advantages of teams:
Increased information of knowledge- Pooling resources of several individuals, teams have access to more information in the decision making process.
Increased diversity of views- More than one perspective brought to the table as long as they have a shared goal.
Increased acceptance of a solution- Those who participate in making a decision are more likely to be enthusiastic about the decision and encouraging others to accept it.
Higher performance levels- Can unleash new amount of creativity and energy in workers who share the same purpose and mutual accountability. They can also be better then one top performing individual to solve complex problems. It also fills the individuals need to belong to a group, increases feeling of dignity and self-worth and reduces stress and tension between workers.

Disadvantages of teams:
Groupthink- If you have taken Motivation & Leadership then you probably know what this is. If you don't is basically making a decision because of pressure from other individuals on the group whether you think its right or wrong.
Hidden agendas- private counterproductive motives, such as trying to take control of the group or undermining others.
Free riders- Don't make any contributions, but take credit for the work just because they are in the group.
Cost- This is pretty self-explanatory. The more people and resources, the higher the cost.

Strategies for effective team collaboration:
-Select collaborators carefully
-Agree on project goals before starting
-Give your team time to bond before diving in
-Clarify individual responsibilities
-Establish clear processes
-Avoid writing as a group (plan, research and outline together but leave the actual writing to one person or divide larger projects among multiple people)
-Make sure tools and techniques are ready and compatible across the team
-Check to see how things are going along the way

Some strategies you can use when delivering negative messages

According to research, negative messages usually benefit from the "indirect approach" because your audience will be disappointed. The "indirect approach" is putting the evidence first and then building up to the main idea. This approach strengthens your case as you go along because it not only makes the receiver more receptive to the eventual conclusion, but it also allows the recipient to be treated in a more sensitive manner to maintain as much goodwill as possible. Successful communicators take extra care when delivering bad messages. They often open with a neutral statement that acts as a transition to the reasons for the bad news. In the body, they give the reasons that justify the bad nes before they give the actual news. And they are always careful to close on cordial note. Most importantly the indirect approach is neither manipulative nor unethical. As long as you can be honest and reasonably brief, your better opening the delivery with a neutral point and putting the negative information after the justification. The challenge of delivering negative messages lies in being honest but kind. You don't want to sacrifice ethics, mislead your audience, or be too blunt. It end on a positive note, you want to focus on some aspect of the situation making the bad news a little easier for the audience to take.

Sample business messages- Strengths and weaknesses

Subject: Get Ready!
We are hoping to be back at work soon, with everything running smoothly, same production schedule and no late projects or missed deadlines. So you need to clean out your desk, put your stuff in boxes, and clean off the walls. You can put the items you had up on your walls in boxes, also.
We have provided boxes. The move will happen this weekend. We’ll be in our new offices when you arrive on Monday.
We will not be responsible for personal belongings during the move.
David Burke


Weaknesses:
The email, in my opinion seems to have some minor grammatical things I would have probably written differently. I also feel like the subject or the heading of the email could have had a more formal title in reference to the event. The title seems to casual and doesn't yell importance. It just sounds like its saying get ready, like I am going to the corner store or something. I can see that the email is referring to employees moving to a new location, but it should have pointed that out in the beginning of the email and mentioned the process of packing up afterward. Mainly the problem is that everything in the email is scattered around, when these points should be in a certain order.

Strengths:
It is letting the audience know the event that is going to occur.

The message should have been written more like this:

Subject: Regarding relocation to new office

I would just like to let everyone know that the relocation to our new offices will be taking place over the weekend. You will begin work in your new offices when you arrive on Monday. Please remember to clean out your desks and remove any belongings off of the walls. Please put all of your belongings in the boxes which will be provided to you. We will NOT be responsible for any personal belongings during the move. We are hoping to get back to work with everything running smoothly. We will continue to go by the same production schedule with no late projects or missed deadlines.

Thank You,
David Burke

Strategies for positive or neutral communication in the workplace

According to my research, the 3 step writing process is used, (1)starting the main idea, (2)stating the major points and (3)illustrating with evidence.

The main idea establishes the goals and the general strategy of the message. It demonstrates what you want your audience members to do or think and why they should do so.

The major points clarify and explain your ideas in more concrete terms. You can divide major points according to physical relationships, the description of a process, the components of an object or a historical chronology.

After you've defined the main idea and the major points, you are ready to illustrate each point with specific evidence that helps the audience understand and remember the concepts you are pointing out. The evidence is what supports the major points, but not so much that it becomes long and boring.

Farmation of business messages contributing to the success of a business

I believe when business messages are sent or received, the organization is taken more seriously. Not only does it show professionalism, but it provides structure and allows the company and/or brand to be reliable. For example, if I am sending a professional email to a company to apply for a job, the employer would not consider me if my email is written like I am talking to a friend using slang terminology. I wouldn't even be considered because it is not showing professionalism. If I am not showing professionalism in my message, then why would the employer believe that I would be professional on the job? Just like if I am paying for a company to provide a service and they send me a business message, then I would be more likely to take them seriously and be more dependent on the company providing that service.