Corporate writing and e-mail

Logical structuring, paragraph clarity and humanization

E-mail is the ideal vehicle for addressing highly complex issues or documenting detailed resolutions, thus requiring a textual architecture free of ambiguities.

The document should be opened with a friendly and personalized greeting, acknowledging the mood of the interlocutor before proceeding with the deployment of regulations or technical guidelines.

To illustrate, if an accounting audit firm must inform a contractor about a tax error in its returns, the analyst should not start the text by citing tax legislation.

He or she should open the statement by expressing regret for the concern generated by the numerical mismatch, and then segment the explanation into short, concise paragraphs.

This structuring mitigates the impact of bad news and facilitates the assimilation of complex instructions without cognitively overwhelming the recipient.

Avoid robotic tone in status notifications.

Automation and the use of templates, if not carefully edited, can generate icy communications that alienate the consumer.

Operational notifications should be written using plain language, assuming corporate responsibility without hiding behind bureaucratic mazes.

A fundamental requirement is to conclude each letter clearly outlining the subsequent actions, avoiding that the user is immersed in uncertainty about the future of his procedure.

Consider a transoceanic transport company that suffers the delay of a container; the message should not be limited to indicating a failure in transit.

It should specify that the logistics department has taken control of the manifest and that the buyer will receive an exact update of the coordinates within the next few hours.