Chapter 04

PLANNING AND ORGANIZING BUSINESS MESSAGES

WRITING AS A PROCESS
These means that writers may differ with the process they use to complete a writing, they act in similar ways
to start a piece to end up with a good writing. Example of this process are; organizing/ thinking an entire
message in their heads/minds, writing down on paper, or doing the variations of both.

PREWRITING
In this phase, what writers do is to think about, plan, and perform any research that is needed.
Planning has 3 factors: Audience (reader, listener or anyone whom the writer addresses his wok), purpose
(memo, application letter, speech etc.), and timing of the message. (This is where the form of planning varies)
Also this 3 factors determine what occurs in the prewriting step. Taking the example from the book;

PROCUREMENT
TEAM'S PLANNING IS
VICE PRESIDENT SENDS
DIFFERENT FROM THE PREPARING
PLANNING TEAM
A MEMO TO THE
PROCUREMENT TEAM
(THIS IS WHERE THE OF THE
TIMING OF THE
MESSAGE WILL TOOK REPORT
PLACE)

Note: Audience, purpose, and timing of the message SOMETIMES differs depending on the situation where the
message is needed.

WRITING
This is where the creation begins, writers will compose sentences and paragraphs based on the
thinking/outlining done in the prewriting step. Therefore the idea that come up in the prewriting will be
elaborated in this step.

REWRITING
This is the step where the writers revise their works, from the word rewriting means writing the work again
eliminating errors such as misspelled words, unnecessary punctuations, the scrutinizing(inspect or study. In
tagalog pag aakma) the word choice, margins and the tone of the message. Also, this is the best time to review
and analyze the thought and if it is effective to the kind of audience that is about to read the writing.
Some writers prefer to edit their works during the writing step, some will read it aloud to their selves to identify
mistakes, others choose to write everything first before pulling out errors, and there are some that they chose to
set aside it first before editing though sometimes this is not advisable especially if the basis is urgent. Revising
your work is crucial and therefore must not be leave out, although the method of the writer is not that important
to as the evaluation of the work.
ANALYZING YOUR AUDIENCE
Audience refers to the person/people who will read or hear a message, which has two levels; the primary
audience which to whom the message is directed, and the secondary audience are those whom where the
message is relay/pass by the primary audience.
Audience analysis is a task often performed by writers to assess what kind of people will hear and read their
writings and to sure the information that they will provide is appropriate. This include two classification that they
must accumulate:
DEMOGRAPHICS PSYCHOGRAPHICS
*AGE *RELIGION
*SEX *OPINION
*EDUCATION *INTEREST
*INCOME LEVEL *LIFE-STYLES

This 3 questions if answered will help in determining your word of choice, writing style, communication medium
and the format of the message.
1. What is the audience’s organizational relationship to you?
2. What does this audience expect, want, or need from you?
3. What idiosyncrasies (uniqueness or in tagalog katangi-tanging ugali), values, and concern have you observed
in this audience?
This questions will make it easier for the writer to analyze the audience because of the information that it will
provide from their audience.

ORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS

These refer to your status and position compared to others in the organization. These relationships may
produce upward, downward, lateral, or radial communications.

Example:
Upward Communication – Subordinate to Superior
Downward Communication – Superior to Subordinate
Lateral Communication – Employee to Agent outside the Company
Radial Communication – Writer to Several different Audience
The writer’s role with these different audience will influence how he/she writes the messages. The
writer must also analyze the expectations, wants and needs of each different audience before choosing what
will the writer say and how she will say it.

AUDIENCE EXPECTATIONS, VALUES, AND BELIEFS

Every audience has expectations of a writer. If the message does not give the reader what is expected,
confusion will result and additional communication will be needed to correct the problem. Examples of
audience needs are:
1. Information to make a decision
2. Information to improve or alter performance
3. Information, simply to understand what is happening in the organization and
to feel an important part of it.
Understanding an audience well will result the writer to not inadvertently (unintentionally) write or act in
ways to offend it. We usually group or categorize audiences but we also look for those things that makes each
individual member unique, such as;
* If a person/audience is a stickler (perfectionist) for detail, a writer should include more than the usual
details in a message.
* If a person/audience is not a much reader, the writer should produce a work that will fit the certain number
of page and guidelines the audience prefers to read.
* If there’s a competition in power in the organization, a writer must provide the message without any
context that would appear of favoring (bias) anyone over the other.
Remember: Audience Analysis guides all types of communication is a crucial step in the prewriting process.

ASSESSING THE PURPOSE OF YOUR MESSAGE

PURPOSE is defined as the goal/objective of your message, after learning the needs of the audience, you
must make your broad purpose mesh/ visualize the purpose based on the needs of the audience. Generally,
there are 4 purposes for writing messages:
1. To Inform – Presenting of information in a sequence that is logical (reasoning, insights, or thinking) for the
particular audience.
(Easier to organize than others because it fits your purpose with the needs of the audience)
2. To Persuade – These messages can be fairly easy to prepare if the audience is open to
persuasion/convincing about the topic of the work. If the audience resist then the writer must make a
different strategy.
3. To suggest or Recommend- depending on the situation, these messages are usually sent if you have
something to consult or advising for a change.
4. To Entertain- these messages are often sent to subordinates in the form of newsletter or magazines.

DETERMINING THE TIMING OF YOUR MESSAGE

Timing may be defined as selecting the proper moment to transmit a message at the best medium by
which to transmit it. Meaning the content of the message and the timing would depend on the
situation where the letter is needed.
CREATING A THESIS STATEMENT
This statement, a one-sentence description of what the writer hopes to do in the message, will
control what is actually said in the finished message. It’s either in the form of a brief memo to note,
longer document for writing the entire statement of the purpose.
PLANNING THE MESSAGE: OUTLINING
Outlines give order to our ideas and help us to remember the important points we want to cover
when we write a memo, letter, or report. On the other hand, the agenda of a lengthy meeting,
requires a more formal outline because there are more ideas to present.
OUTLINING: TWO TYPES OF STRUCTURES
Formal outline falls into two types: standard structure or technical structure. This type of
outline uses only Arabic numerals to indicate the relationships among ideas.
Other prefer the standard structure which uses Roman numerals and letters as well as numbers to
indicate the same relationship. These structures are both acceptable since both serve the same
purpose which is to ensure that all ideas are treated logically.

Remember that when selecting the outline structure, it is advantageous to use the structure
preferred by the company.

DEVELOPING THE STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

Statement of the purpose is a simple thesis statement that finishing your document containing
your real purpose. It is usually found in the last part.
DEVELOPING THE OUTLINE: BRAINSTORMING
This term means searching for new ideas by giving your mind free reign, allowing the thought
processes to move in any direction without evaluation.
USING FIRST-DEGREE HEADINGS IN OUTLINING
First, look for the most important ideas from the brainstorming list. Then look at the numbering
of the two types of outlines. The numbers 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and so on in the technical outline are
called first-degree headings, indicating the most important points to be covered when writing
the final document.
DEVELOPING SECOND-DEGREE HEADINGS
Anything that enhance a first-degree heading is called a second-degree heading.
DEVELOPING THIRD-DEGREE HEADINGS
Third-degree headings give increased detail to an outline and are developed in the same way as
first- and second-degree headings.
ORGANIZING THE OUTLINE:
STRUCTURAL PATTERNS