Impact and affect

Business people have a knack for crafting new uses for words and phrases. We now “grow” our businesses. (Is everyone in farming?) 'Impact' is another abused verb, as in "The rising price of steel is impacting our bottom line."

While it can be used as a verb in limited cases, 'impact' is primarily a noun. Use 'affect' instead. Both are useful and effective, as we see here.

"The rising price of steel is affecting our bottom line."

"Rising steel costs are having a huge impact on our profitability."

How often have you fired off a message that says, “Send me what you have on [product X].”? Do you really want—and can you use—all that information? And do you want your employees spending valuable time researching all known facts and figures?

Get right to the point, and ask for just the facts you need. If all you’re interested in is sales information about a particular model during a recent promotion, ask for it. Or, perhaps you’d like an update on the marketing expenditures for that line. Or how many of each model are still in stock.

Be as specific as possible in your requests. That will minimize calls or e-mails from staffers requesting clarification. Use separate messages for each topic, and be sure to send them only to those employees who can act upon your request. You will save valuable employee time and receive more useful information in return.

copyright 2007

Whether communicating by the written or spoken word, it pays to analyze your audience first. This will help ensure your message is received as intended and that it achieves the goals you set.

1. Create a profile of your audience

Especially important when communicating outside your department or organization. Try to determine the size of your audience and their areas of responsibility. It’s also helpful to know of any cultural or language differences that exist.

Communicating to a larger audience usually entails a more formal style and format. Smaller groups, on the other hand, may be more comfortable with an informal approach. In either case tailor your message to their needs. Human resources managers, for example, need different information than production supervisors.

Audiences that share your expertise should understand your material with little difficulty. Those with different specialties, however, may require additional background information. While this may bore some in your audience, a worse problem is to leave others totally perplexed. Your goal is for everyone to understand your message.

Communicating to those of different cultures or languages requires special care. Minimize the use of idioms, jargon, and slang. Also, watch your hand gestures and body language. A common gesture in the United States may be offensive to someone from another country. Consult a specialist if you are concerned about how your gestures may be perceived.

2. Plan for audience’s reaction

The effect your message will have determines how you present your information. If your message is of a positive or neutral tone, you may offer your recommendations in a straight-forward manner and early in your message.

If you need to deliver bad news (plant closings, price increases, and such), provide more supporting evidence, and gradually ease into the material most likely to cause a negative reaction. Make sure your audience understands the reasons for your decisions and suggestions.

Also, anticipate the needs of decision makers and include any necessary data. This can include profit/loss figures, production quotas, utility costs, and so on.

3. Anticipate and address questions

After crafting your message, review it for any gaps that may generate questions. Find ways to incorporate the additional information in your material without detracting from your message. Follow up with an e-mail or memo as needed. A review from someone outside your depart-ment may identify particular issues or questions to address.

copyright, 2007

Proper use of 'they' and 'their':

In an effort to appear unbiased, many people use 'they' in place of
'he' and 'she' and 'their' instead of 'his' and 'her'. This is incorrect, because subjects and pronouns must agree in number.

The easiest solution involves changing your subject to its plural form. Then it’s acceptable to use 'they' or 'their'.

For example, "The customer must include his receipt with his return."

becomes

"Customers must include their receipts with their returns."

Better still, rewrite the sentence, and eliminate the pronouns entirely:

"All returns must include a receipt."

Do you know what UCOM, CAAT, and End Evening Civil Twilight mean?

Unless you have military experience, you might not recognize these. They refer to Unified Command, Computer Assisted Audit Techniques, and that time of night when it’s too dark to see with the naked eye. Government agencies are notorious for using acronyms and unusual terms.

Business people can be guilty of this as well. Conversations and written communications are sprinkled with industry jargon and company terminology. That’s fine when communicating with others in your field, but it can be quite confusing to an outsider.

Review each “inside” word or phrase in your text. What common words can you use instead? Consider asking someone outside of your department to read your copy. If that person doesn’t understand your comments, chances are your intended reader won’t, either. Replace trade lingo with common language when possible for a clearer message.