Business English Global Project: June 2008

25 June 2008

Improving Email Writing increases daily Productivity

Project Management tasks including collaboration, and teamwork extend beyond national boundaries and cultures. Careful use of Business English helps fulfill project goals by promoting team understanding. Because the project teams span international boundaries intercultural knowledge of interpretation and understanding influences team productivity. Improving the writing competence level frees more time for team communication and other open issues, conducting necessary meetings and phone calls, including co-operative and project tasks.

What does an Email contain?

What are the important sections?
What belongs in these sections?

What is the difference between Letters and Emails?

Emails developed in an effective and productive project management dialogue between scientists, engineers and technicians. They provided an almost shorthand communication style that bound the readers with informality and friendliness. In the 90’s project management moved emails into business where it rapidly spread because of its efficient use of time. The 90’s changed the informal, efficient nature of emails; giving them structure and style. It increased the overhead (more bloat or verbiage and style) to make it amendable in business communication.

Previously faxes played the leading role in carrying the principle stream of business communication. This was an advantage because faxes permit more corporate styling allowing more individuality. They implement graphics more readily, which clarifies complex issues easier. The reader can confirm the legality of signatures in contractual documents. The recipient cannot manipulate faxes. Combining fax and email traffic still optimizes project management communication. However fax traffic significantly decreases in favor of email. Email writing should consider the loss of corporate styling, individuality and compensate to explain complex issues. Memos complement faxes and emails internally. They document the results of conversations, decisions, and project management communication. They also pass along questions in the absence of the recipient.

What are the essential Email Functions?

Each email should fulfill an essential purpose by answering the pertinent questions. It should efficiently target the purpose without requiring excess reading or processing time. Answering the questions help to pinpoint the email contents to its target audience and efficiently fulfill the communication needs without excess verbiage or circulation.

Questions to restrict the email to the essential functions.

- Who is the email for?

- What should it accomplish or activate?

- What is the essential information needed to activate?

What style meets the requirements? As pointed out the original minimal style adapted to fulfill the formalized business needs. Three basic styles flood the world communication channels. The original techies are still at it. Their shorthand technical jargon is still to be found. Project management fosters an informal style that pinpoints targets and deadlines. Clarity and precision pervade to meet team goals. Business does not provide a formal email standard. Each organization or company has it’s own style and guidelines. The guidelines below fit a neutral style to will meet typical requirements. Each author must consider individual company style stipulations.

Considering these questions points the writing session towards the directed target.

Implementing the Key Elements

Subject: write a concise, accurate and interesting subject. The email competes with countless other emails. It competes for the reader’s attention. Detail the subject to get attention.

Reference: list accompanying documents or documents to provide decision or background information.

CC: Short for “Carbon Copy”. This lists all recipients who receive the email. Be considerate and only send the email to those needing it to action or for information. Don’t broadcast to the world.

BC: Stands for “Blind Copy”. The names do not appear on the list of recipients.

Greeting. The greeting differs in informal and formal correspondence.
Introduction. Summarize the problem, what has changed or the need. By the way English cultures appreciate politeness in the form of thanks. Mention it in the introduction.
Body. Develop the questions asked by the introduction.
Conclusion. Summarize all tasks, deadlines and requirements discussed in the body.
- Action. Listing all actions and responsibilities avoids misunderstandings.
- Closing. A positive and friendly closure helps to promote team motivation. Asking for any open questions initializes a response where uncertainty remains. It may prevent mistakes or misunderstandings.
Signature Block including title. What is a title? An informal style requires no signature block just the name. Usually use your full name. In a very informal email only your first name suffices. Formal company requirements dictate Signature Block requirements. To be formal it should include the full name, and job title.

Enclosures: This block lists enclosures.

How do the Key Email Functions appear in correspond3ence?

Here are some general guidelines from Univ. Trieste

Internet Reference Key Letter/Fax Writing Functions. http://www.sslmit.univ.trieste.it/katan/traduzione%202/basicfax.doc

Greeting and addressing the recipient’s Name properly

If you know the name: If you don't know the name: To a company

Dr. Dear Sir/Madam Dear Sirs (fml)

Mr./Ms Dear Sir/Madam

Mrs./Miss

(Miss is seldom used.)

or first name + surname

Reference

Subject: be specific and detailed in the email header_____________________. Using emails for effective business communication.

Reference: above the email body ___________________. Global English Project Blog.

Introduction

Thank you for your fax of...

Thank you for the prompt reply. With reference to your request for...

Thanks for calling. Further to our telephone conversation yesterday/of 21st September...

In reference to ….

With regard to our meeting on ...

Conclusion

I am looking forward to working closely with you.

I appreciate your efforts to …

It’s a pleasure working closely with the team.

Closing

If you know the name: If you don't know the name: To a company

Best regards, (inf.)

Yours sincerely, (fml) Yours faithfully Yours faithfully

Use of Informal and Formal Emails

Use formal emails instead of letters. They assume an equivalent style. Informal emails communicate with people you know through working or associating with them. Do not send informal emails to someone you have not met, unless they use an informal style in correspondence to you.

Tip: using Emails for Project Communication

Project Communication puts the emphasis on clear understanding of the problem, identifies the goals. It defines the steps to completing the solution. It documents these steps. Further it documents any implementation problems arising and distributes them to manage the solution. It considers and complies with working time constraints. Time restraints take precedence over grammar and perfection of writing style; but not of clarity.

Review the guidelines for writing an email. Consider that there are at least the two types of formal and informal emails. Ensure that you can differentiate between the use of formal and informal. International communication forgives incorrect usage of grammar and vocabulary. But to be taken seriously; your correspondence should differentiate properly between formal and informal styles.

Write me an email forwarding any questions you have on email writing or any topics to be handled in more depth. We will be going into depth to improve style, productivity and effectiveness in future sessions.

Now in writing future emails check your emails with the checklist of essential Email Functions. Ensure that you covered all necessary functions properly. Send me an email when you have questions or get stuck.

Online Help. If you want “public” help or discussion in the text or exercises, feel free to use the blogger as your medium of choice. If you have questions, or need help in using the collaboration platform at Google Docs [Google >> Mehr Text und Tabelle, send me an email at: mailto:Gary_Gabriel@web.de?subject=Online Help

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18 June 2008

"National Treasure": Characters show Migration Paths to understanding Differences in Business Cultures

How can the traditional Characters help to understand ways to improve Business Communication?

Stefan Lovgren in Los Angeles
for National Geographic News November 19, 2004

Internet sources provide you the opportunity to improve your business English skills. These sources have been marked. Please regard their requirements for permission and copyright.

Reading the National Geographic Article

>>> http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/pf/98426770.html

Proposal

I would like to propose that the story characters take the lead in developing answers to better business and project communication.

What is successful business communication?

What does successful business communication require?

What can be achieved by successful business communication?

Let’s review the characterization and background once again and see what pointers they give about attaining progress in improving business communication.

Background

“Set against the conflict of a fairy tale relating to the serious conflicts of the Crusades and the potential riches that war promises”; this background indicates that business mixes entertainment and show with the seriousness of (armed) conflict. On the one side; one should not take the background too seriously. But on the other; each side fights for the advantage. The skills of war apply to successfully meeting the requirements of business.

Freemasons

The Freemasons establish value for themselves and the culture that they embed in. They take traditional values to guide their activities and strive to implement them. But they so not show everything. They maintain secrecy as a strategic weapon to gain the initiative, and to hide their activities. It provides them freedom of movement. They combine strategic partnerships to network and build power.

Descendent of a Carriage Boy

Hard work and conscientious effort develop qualities. They are not inherited. Believe in what you can do, and it will succeed.

He demonstrates using native intelligence and shows the courage, and the belief in himself to crack the codes.

This demonstrates the typical American love for expounding the preposterous.

Equality pervades in business communication and it is more important to get the job done and do it right than to worry about the superficiality of correct grammar and well-coined phrases.

Knights Templar

Business is not only a matter of work, but it involves a sense of humor or the preposterous and should be fun as well. Take it easy and have a laugh once in awhile.

If you have contributions or disagreements to the interpretation of the role that the characters play in understanding the essence of the American style of business communication then email them to the blog.

Proposal

What are proposals?

- They identify needs.

- They deal with alternative solutions and the implementation to meet the needs.

- They must be written to illuminate a problem and describe the means to approach and solve the problem. It may present alternatives to discuss. It will present a solution and the reasons it provides the best solution.

- It describes the implementation.

- The implementation contains a roadmap to use for team motivation and management.

- Proposals generally fall into five types: problem resolution, research, research and development, project or planning, and sales.

An easy to use and practical proposal contains:

Solution: State the solution and summarize the plan to attain the solution

Benefits: Sell the solution and plan by presenting the advantages and benefits.

Introduction: Analyze the problem, what has changed and the consequences. Describe the background briefly.

Conclusion: Induce an implementation of the solution, the plans and initiate the team motivation.

Process and Schedule: Explain the processes involved, timeline and service or support.

Needs: summarize how the needs have been (best) met.

Costs: breakdown the costs.

An application of this proposal to attaining Business English Competence

Solution: Take a few moments with me to review the article characters and background to determine what requirements they define for business communication. You should consider how this proposal helps establish guidelines to write better business correspondence and proposals.

This proposal begins with 3 questions that lead the reader to consider his own needs and benefits.

- What is successful business communication?

- What does successful business communication require?

- What can be achieved by successful business communication?

Now formulate the answers to these questions based on the article characters.

Benefits: If you regularly invest this time:

- you will save time in writing the considerable amount of correspondence needed in project management and corporate business.

- you will write more precisely and avoid misunderstandings.

- your project management will improve because the team members understand the goals, tasks and deadlines.

- Your communication skills compensate for cultural differences and bridge the gap.

Conclusions:

- Work to attain business competency in your communication. Business English Competency does not target perfection of style, grammar or language. Experience proves that the biggest barrier to progress in Business English Competence is the belief that perfection is a requirement for understanding. Successful foreign speakers confirm that spontaneous use of the language promotes progress better. Learning by speaking seeks to attain clarity of understanding and precision of statement. Say what you mean how you say it. Native speakers automatically compensate for international differences.

What to look out for:

International English communication uses short sentences. It prefers the active over the passive. It uses the available vocabulary and language skills but intends to use daily tasks to improve and expand it.

- The background of the article shows that business is like the skirmish of knights where both sides confront each other with the intention of attaining the best advantage. Business Competency gives an edge.

- The Freemasons demonstrate that US Business approaches from the perspective of Customer Value and Corporate Value. The team or association should work to improve both. US business works with freedom of action to get the job done.

- The son of the carriage boy displays team equality and the informal nature of international business teams. Native intelligence and innovation replaces structured (established) processes and hierarchies.

- Business communication provides the guidance for hard, intense, directed teamwork.

- Like the Knights Templar; the right business communication builds a successful team. It encourages a lighthearted approach with a sense of humor that wields a team together.

Conclusion II:

Each session of Global English Project targets the means to attain competency and relax with the skills gained through application. It uses “learning by doing” which is also based in “Kaizen”.

Process and Schedule:

- Each week brings a new episode. Look in when you have time to polish up another skill essential for business clarity. Even better: plan the time weekly to improve your communication skills.

- Improvement requires continuity. Use the weekly exercise to improve another component of Business English Competency.

Schedule: plan about 1½ hour a week to invest in improving teamwork through communication and relaxing in the international arena.

Now go back and look at the proposal contents. Decide how useful it is for you by going through the example again. File it for future use if it fits your needs for a simple, practical and concise proposal format.

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12 June 2008

"National Treasure": Traditional Characters

What do the Characters treated in the article have to do with Business English?

Stefan Lovgren in Los Angeles
for National Geographic News November 19, 2004

Internet sources provide you the opportunity to improve your business English skills. These sources have been marked. Please regard their requirements for permission and copyright.

Reading the National Geographic Article

>>> http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/pf/98426770.html

The following portrayals do not express author opinion, but serve to provoke reaction and activate critical discussion to increase understanding of cultural differences and elements in business communications.

The film “National Treasure” uses traditional American characters and relates to favorites backgrounds in developing the story. Here is a brief outline of key figures.

Background

The background of: “Centuries ago an order of European Knights amassed a huge treasure of priceless artifacts from around the world.” relates to the cherished image of medieval knights guarding the Christian pilgrims on their pilgrimages to the Holy Land. Seeking to fulfill their religious duty, these knights implement the morals and values of the religion they guard. Resulting from their selfless duty, they open the means to a priceless treasure. This refers to the Crusades where the “knights of old” left to protect pilgrims fulfilling their religious obligations. It connects to images of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. This connection provides fantasy and fairy tale entertainment.

Freemasons

“the Freemasons, a secret society” The author successfully selects a secret society active in the American society today. While visible, the rites, beliefs and traditions belong more to legend then to the explicit knowledge of outsiders. Visibility of the activities convinces outsiders that the mores and values of the secret society intend to benefit the society it embeds in. The visible values and those alluded to belong to the traditional values that originate from the founding fathers. Common historical knowledge documents that 16% of the founding fathers were Freemasons. The Declaration of Independence contains a core of traditional American values. Some of these values occur in Freemason beliefs and probably the Freemasons influenced the use of these values in the Declaration of Independence. Historically the masons link to the Crusades and famous orders of knights. Massive treasures belong to part of the Oriental Bazaar fantasy of the Crusades. These orders of knights could bequeath this treasure to the (American) Freemasons and spice up the story.

American Ingenuity and Endeavor. Belief in Oneself.

The author chose the character of the great-great-great-great-great grandson of a carriage boy well. This dishwasher to millionaire story takes place in the dreams of Americans and others worldwide. This American Legend while true; belongs to the Great American Dream. A carriage boy belongs to the patriot atmosphere of the original 13 States and is an inherent figure in the literature of the time. He demonstrates the possibility of using native intelligent far beyond that of his masters by learning the secret vows and uses the clues to locate the map. He shows the courage to use his native intelligence to follow this courage, and the belief in himself to crack the codes. Where else should the map be? But- on the back of the Declaration of Independence. This demonstrates the typical American love for expounding the preposterous.

Knights Templar

King Arthur and his Round Table do get into the story in the form of the Knights Templar. Also a secret society. Believed to be do-gooders in the Crusades; and by doing good amassing a huge treasure. This treasure allowed them to assume world power. They and their inheritors may have continued to pull secret puppet strings in the centuries after the Crusades. Maybe still wielding contemporary power. Who knows what a massive treasure will buy? But they suit well for the rumors of a secret power block cursing around. Anyway legend likes to link up the Knights Templar to the Stonemasons of the Gothic Cathedrals who probably are predecessors of Freemason organizations.

Who is your favorite Character, Background or Situation in this article or the film?

America and American tend to polarize Germans and Europeans. Seen from a European vantage point the views about characters, situations or backgrounds appear different and impenetrable. They express different meanings when interpreted with European views, experience, traditions and values.

Pick one of the characters sketched above, or the background outlined. Or pick one that you have discovered in the article or know from the film.

In 100- 150 words:

Describe the literary object.

How does it differ from the traditional American view expressed above?

What does the object express for you?

What does it express about the difference or similarity between American and European (German) culture and beliefs?

Send it to me by email if you would like a reaction.

Does this have anything to do with Business English? You better believe it. First learning about the differences in viewpoints makes it possible to bridge them for your success. Experience shows that some of the differences present significant problems for Europeans. Second it improves your communication because these figures were selected because their influence still pervades. If you understand the influence, then the typical American communication practices become more transparent. It makes it easier to communicate in business. Your project management communication skills improve.

Grammar Insights: Articles a, an, the

English articles reduce in simplicity compared to the equivalents in the European languages. Speakers only have to deal with 3 different articles. Some grammar sources add the “0” article to make a fourth.

This article demonstrates the use of the definite article “the” and indefinite “a”.

Look at the first 6 paragraphs of the article (to the title “Freemasons”).

The author uses primarily the article “the” to discuss specific characters, qualities or objects. If he would use the article “a”; then he would refer to any of a number of possibilities. Reread the paragraphs replace “the” by “a” and see what it makes for a difference in meaning.

Grammar Summary: as an aid to practicing the articles use “the” as a reference to something specific or defined. It must already be defined or the reader obviously knows what the section talks about. Use “an” to refer to a category. It generalizes and refers to the nature or quality of an object.

The “Zero Article” is the use of no article and precludes articles before:

- Mass nouns used to generalize or in general statements. Masses exercise no power in dictatorships.

- the names of many places and people do not need articles. Holland, Germany. Bill Gates, Sun, IBM, California, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The following links explain more specifics in the use of articles.

From Online English Grammar

Definite Article The Definite Article >>>>

Indefinite Article A/ An Indefinite Article

These exercises from better-english.com improve your use of the articles making texts more precise and accurate. To learn more try the following exercises:

Definite Article “The” The >>>

Try your luck on “The/ A” >>> The/A

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03 June 2008

"National Treasure": Freemasons, Fact, and Fiction

Stefan Lovgren in Los Angeles
for National Geographic News November 19, 2004

Reading Comprehension

>>> http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/pf/98426770.html

Before you start reading; the vocabulary makes understanding the news story easier. It extends your vocabulary reach of descriptive, traditional story-telling words. The story tells about a film that uses US and European History. It deals with traditional American characters that make the reading fun and interesting.

If you want to look up the words, then use this link >>>> The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English

Otherwise use the tips provided to enable you to interpret the word meanings yourself.

Loot: they looked for the loot and treasure …….

Freemasons: the Freemasons are an old and traditional brotherhood originating from a medieval guild.

Benjamin Franklin: one of the famous founding fathers.

Masons: the inheritors of the Freemasons today.

Great-great-great-great-great-grandson

A carriage boy: a traditional American and English character who took care of the horses and carriages.

U.S. Declaration of Independence: the originating document enacting and defining political freedom.

Preposterous? : the preposterous suggestion was actually accepted.

Yarn: he loved to tell yarns about how hard it was starting his own company.

Bona fide recipe: if it’s bona fide; it’s been proven.

Conspiracies: the traitors in the conspiracy were hanged.

far-out plot: the story was so far out that it was unbelievable.

Runaway bestseller: the success shot out of bounds

Shadowy alliances: the shadowy alliance included unethical members.

Interplanetary treaties: agreements among aliens

Medieval guild: brotherhood of craftsmen

Stonemasons: stone crafters or craftsmen of stone

Fraternity: the fraternity of business was closed to outsiders

Tenuous link: the tenuous link to the truth was easily broken

Holy Land: the Holy Land is the center of a number of the world’s religions

Many Freemasons today say they are the spiritual descendants of the knights.

A forgotten relic: a remainder and attachment to a key out of the past

Join with other like-minded mavericks: a maverick goes his own way because it is his way

Personal redemption or universal good: a personal turn to attain a moral stand. If everyone sought personal redemption; it would achieve universal good.

Suppressed: the government suppressed the news until it was resolved.

It was that novel's main plot twist

"Mostly we set out to have a rollicking good time,"

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