HOW TO WRITE A PROFESSIONAL WITHIN A BUSINESS. The Business World

WRITE LIKE A PROFESSIONAL PROFESSIONALISM.

US Department of Health and Human Resources Guide How can you make sure your s get the right kind of attention? Use the following rules from the US Department of Health and Human Resources #

Step 1: The Subject Line Provide clear, specific subject lines that help the receiver identify what he or she must do. For example, if you want someone to give you a job, try this: “Requesting information about job openings." If you want someone to approve a funding request, try this: "Please approve SLM spectrophotometer purchase." Put key information at the beginning, limiting text to five words when possible. Modify the subject line when appropriate; do not continue using the original subject in your reply (or replies) if the subject has changed. Alternately, start a new if the subject/recipients have changed and/or if the string is unmanageably long.

Step 2: The Salutation/Greeting Use "Dear title and last name.” For example, use "Dear Dr. Smith," but NOT "Dear Dr. Rhonda Smith," "Dear Rhonda Smith," "Dear Smith," or "Dear Dr. Rhonda." If someone signs an with his or her first name, you have permission to address that person by first name in subsequent s.

Step 3: The Body Be clear about whether you need something from the recipient. Is this just to give someone information, or do you need a reply? Limit the message to one subject. If you need to raise multiple issues, clearly state this in the first line or in the Subject line. Example (in the body of the ): "Please see below for two questions about our proposal." Keep it short. People may be reading s on mobile devices and may not scroll past the first screen.

Step 4: The Closing Sincerely should be used in a formal sent to someone you have never met, as when applying for a job. However, include a friendly closing if the is for a regular business communication within a company where you are employed. In that case you may choose from the following: Regards, Best regards, Best wishes, Thanks, and Have a great weekend (if the weekend is coming!).

Miscellaneous Business Suggestions Send messages TO the individuals you want to take action; CC those who just need to know what is going on. Use "BCC" when you are writing to a large group and don't need all the recipients to see everyone else who received the message. (blind carbon copy) Use "reply all" carefully and remove those from the list who don't need to see the reply.

Miscellaneous Continued When naming attachments, be sure the name is professional and meaningful. Re-save a file with a different name, if necessary, for the purposes of e- mailing it. Avoid religious comments in both signatures and in the body of the . For urgent matters, respond within 24 hours or apologize for the delay. If you are out of the office or inaccessible, create an "out of office" message. Reserve "urgent" (urgent s are marked by an "!"in Microsoft Outlook) for truly urgent or time-sensitive matters. De-select "!" when replying to an urgent request if the situation is no longer urgent.

Grammar and spelling count!! Read and edit your s before sending them. Spell-check is not always enough. Sometimes, reading them aloud can help you see what you may have forgotten or what is hard to understand. YOU REPRESENT THE COMPANY AND YOURSELF IN YOUR ! If you send an with misspellings, grammar errors, and abbreviations such as lol, b/c, tia, etc. it makes you appear uneducated and unprofessional. correspondence is just as important as regular correspondence.

Sample Business To: Irene Hanna From: Michael Adams Subject: Pilot timeline status Dear Irene, What is the status of the pilot timelines? Last week you mentioned that you were waiting for Henry to send you the development timeline for the pilot, and that you were working on communication and planning documents (including timelines) for the pilot. Your assistance in expediting this information would be appreciated. I am planning for the pilot in Asia Pacific and need these dates to initiate discussion with the countries. The pilot will be a topic of discussion on our weekly status calls next week. Thanks, Michael