First Draft Informational Report

Writing in the Management Field

Joseph DeSio

Rhet: 1030:0055

            Many, if asked, can think of the most stressful writing project he or she has done.  Perhaps a ten page creative writing assignment, or a three page college admissions essay that required an in depth evaluation of skills.  Imagine writing an in depth business report outlining your personal vision for the company while under consideration for the position of Chief Executive Officer.  This is the reality for those at the height of the management career.  When composing a piece of writing such as that the author must be armed with not only the knowledge of proper grammar, usage, mechanics, but also a knowledge and understanding of how business works and how best to successfully convey that knowledge through writing.  Business writing is a vital part of any management career and a dynamic style of writing that depends on several different variables and can vary extremely depending on the subject and the audience.  Through an interview with a former CEO and the use of several sources I have obtained a better understanding of the inner workings of writing in management professions.

When writing in the management profession it is necessary to keep the audience in mind and think what it would be like to be reading the piece of writing being composed. My idea of good business writing prior to doing my research was proper grammar and linguistics.  Without proper grammar a business report will lose much of its effectiveness because the audience will lose credibility with the author.  I also thought effective business writing was efficiently conveying information that the audience is able to easily take in.  In an interview with a former CEO (which story at the beginning was his reality) one of the most surprising answers I received was after I asked the question, “Over your career in what ways has your writing improved the most?” The answer,“later in my career I tried to incorporate more ‘story telling’ or anecdotal information that supported my case but did so in a more reader friendly manner.” The interviewee went on to say that in the beginning of his career he was more likely to just focus on the information being conveyed and not think about the article from the audience’s point of view.  Yet, the more as his career progressed and until he did more business reading himself he did not turn to a more narrative way of writing.  The more interested in the writing the audience is the more likely they are to read the report closer, and to retain more information conveyed in the report. In the modern business age it is vital that the audience is able to retain the information given to them in a report, because of changing technologies the speed and volume of information has greatly increased in the business world.

            Changing technologies have greatly changed business writing as it pertains to management professions.  In recent years the frequency and speed at which companies communicate has accelerated due to ever improving technologies. What was once done by pen, paper and the post office then could be done by the fax machine and today can be done instantaneously by email.   In a study done by The Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing examined companies in several countries across the world and studied the technologies used to communicate as well as the frequency at which they communicated.  The study showed that companies with more advanced technologies had no greater communication and productivity then those companies just using phone and email to communicate. Face-to-face communication done over the internet and “meetings” in which people around the world can meet as if they are all in the same room showed no better results in productivity. “We also found that increased frequency of phone and e-mail communication among partners in a dyad tends to improve the performance of the relationship, while the use of the internet does not improve performance.”  This study shows a clear importance on business writing still in the modern world. Although it is hard today to guess how technology will change in the future and how those technologies will effect business. It appears that written information will continue to be a part of how information is conveyed in the business world for far into the future. It is necessary today to be able to receive and send out business writing as soon as possible, especially when at a high level in the management field.

            A career in management requires a large amount of business reading daily.  A managerial profession requires that you intake and retain large amounts of information in a short period of time. There are many aspects of the company that must be made note of internally and also a large amount of reading that must be done dealing outside of the company. Depending on the company a manager must be aware of changing conditions of the market as well as changing regulations that have effects on the company.  In a study done by Health Services and Delivery Research a number of CEO’s were “shadowed,” daily activities were monitored, for a four to six week period.  In a passage from this article gave an example of the sheer, broad amount of research required for a managerial position. From the article, “the number of documents gathered for each site varied greatly, from thousands of pages to approximately 100. Such internal documents were supplemented by externally available information. This included, for instance, annual trust reports, news articles and regulator documents (2014.)” This study shows how busy a CEO will be on a day to day basis just with reading and retaining information. Also a good example why note taking and planning skills are essential for a managerial position.  In the interview I conducted the interviewee tied reading in business closely to writing in business citing reading as the number one way his writing improved.

Being a manager requires a high amount of skill in a great number of genres of writing in addition to the amount of information they must take in on a daily basis. In an article by Demand Media a number of a CEO’s duties were outlined.  The list included writing jobs such as; writing procedures and policies, detailed written reports for those in the board of directors and other coworkers, and future planning for the company.  The article goes on to include writing press reports and dealing with public relations (2012.) This study is a good example of the sheer number of genres that a CEO or manager will have to be literate in as part of their profession.  It is a vital part for any manager to be able to convey information affectively with both those inside and outside of the corporation. It is also vital to write well, because as manager at a company the author is not only representing himself but the entirety of the company.  The importance of the writing and the frequency at which a manager must write make writing one of the most important skills to a manager with any profession.

All of this shows that this is why writing paired with a deep understanding of the ever changing business world are necessary skill in a manger profession. Perhaps, the most difficult part of writing as a manager is the wide variety of writing that must be done for a wide variety of audiences.  Throughout the research process and through my interview and sources my idea of business writing as it pertains to professions in management has changed greatly.  What I thought before to just be analysis and summary of a never-ending amount of data and spreadsheets is instead a dynamic form of writing intended for several audiences. Because of the changing genres and changing conditions the writings for a manager will never be the same.  Yet, the same challenges remain; to present information in a clear way that is easily able to be consumed and retained by the intended audience. 

References

Chelariu, C., & Osmonbekov, T. (2014). Communication technology in international             business-to-business relationships. Jnl of Bus & Indus Marketing Journal of   Business & Industrial Marketing, 24-33.

Joyner, J. (2012, August 23). CEO Job Duties. Retrieved September 15, 2015.

Nicolini, D., Powell, J., & Korica, M. (2014). Keeping knowledgeable: How NHS chief           executive officers mobilise knowledge and information in their daily work.                       Health Services and Delivery Research, 1-96.