Hi Dr Miles, I find your website extremely useful and very user friendly. A question for you: Is it appropriate to write in business e-mail correspondence without the appropriate grammars? i.e. instead of "I would like to have this meeting at 8:30", i typically write "would meet at 8:30". I believe even in its short form or not grammatically correct, it does convey the message. However, it looks very informal. Any thoughts?
A lot of people are writing in abbeviated or 'note form' these days. I am concerned about this for a number of reasons.
Firstly, if a writer is using note form, the reader may lose confidence in the message. The reader may conclude that: - the writer was too busy to think through the objectives and plan the message - the writer may have missed out key words.
Ultimately, the reader may feel that the writer is being disrespectful by not giving the message, or the reader, the attention they deserve.
Secondly, for a message to be effective in note form, both the reader and the writer have to have a greater shared knowledge and a greater tolerance of error. This means that they need to be working within: - the same professional field - the same workplace culture - the same geo-social culture - a close personal relationship.
We need to be extra careful. This is because, if we are communicating in English in Asia, we are likely to be working within a cross-cultural environment. We can't assume that our reader is able to fill the gaps in the message.
Thirdly, and finally, writing in note form requires skill. Few of us are equipped with those skills.
I hope I have managed to convince you that while writing in note form appears to save time, it can have a negative impact on your relationships at work. It can even lead to misunderstandings and damage to your business.