Tomasz Andrykowski Unit 20 Assignment 1
4 Different types of formal written communication
There are different formal written communication styles and methods used in public services for example letter, memo, standard operation procedures and internet.
Different places in public services use different styles to communicate depending on how much time they have, what’s the message, what’s the priority and who’s the receiver off the message.
Letters are the most common style used in public services as a formal written communication because it’s very easy to use and been around for a long time therefore everyone knows that it’s the best way to send a formal message across. Letters are very often used because they get to people quite fast and are straight forward and do not cost a lot, they also look very professional if written correctly.
Most letters in public services will be written in very formal way, this is because most letters in public services include procedures which have to be followed or very important information’s which are crucial so they have to be written correctly.
The language used in formal letters is often straight forward and the most important points are often outlined clearly or even numbered.
Demi formal letters are often used on a person to person basis for example someone saying well done for what have you done or thanking them for something.
A good letter should include:
- Security classification
- Recipients address
- Date
- Reference code
- Sender
- Information which is being communicated
A good letter should also indicate all points clearly so no mistakes are made during analysing of the letter. Spelling is very important in a letter especially in a formal one, spelling should always be checked at least twice as well as punctuation, if there is even a very small mistake in the text this could lead to a massive trouble especially in public services. The language is also very important when writing a letter, language used should be very easy and everyone should understand it even if their English language is only at low level, the person receiving the letter should know exactly what they need to do and how t do it after reading the letter because mistakes in public services can cause a very serious problems or even loss of job or worst.
The format of letter is very important and should always be followed, there are different layouts for letters, memos or emails and they all have to be written in the correct form otherwise it could lead to problems or mistakes. Dates are also very important especially in public services so date should always be used in formal letters, time should also be put sometimes as this might clear up a case if there is any so for example it could help a police officer to create a report of what happened this week and this would allow him to put very specific details on there. All of the pages of the letter should be numbered so in case the pages are swapped around it’s very easy to reorganise everything which helps to prevent mistakes, if there are any links of a specific letter to some other paperwork it should be well written and described at the back so again no mistakes are made. The documents should clearly show the sender details or the group that’s in charge of it on the main page of the letter so when person receiving it opens up the letter they know straight away who is it from. Security of the letter is also very important because some letters are very important or may contain very secret information’s especially in public services like police or army.
Memos are often used very often in the public services because they are very helpful, quicker than a letter and much shorter. Memos are nearly always sent internally within an organisation, they are very short documents which only state the most important information’s or just simply updating the staff with the latest news, procedures or actions they should take. The format of the memo really depend on the company as there are no set formats for it. Company for which you work for will most of the time provide you with pre-printed memo pads or pre formatted templates for word processing. These days people use less and less of memos as they prefer to send an email as you will get confirmation that the receiver has actually received the message, it’s also much quicker and many times it’s much more reliable.
A proper memo should include:
- Name of recipients
- Name of sender
- Subject of memo
- Main body of text/instruction
- Action expected of recipients
Memos can be written in first or third person style but most companies and people will write them in third person style because it maintains formality and emphasises the main points between the sender and the recipients. Memos should be written with single space in between the lines and should have an extra space between the paragraphs. Longer memos should also include sub heading but it’s not essential and should only be used if needed.
Standard operating procedures (S.O.P’s) are another style of formal written communication.
S.O.P’s can be stand alone documents or additional information provided for the workers in the public services. S.O.P’s are easiest described by saying that they are just guidelines or new rules to the current methods of operating various procedures. The aim of them is to reduce variability by helping employees make a quick decision, they are most often just a set of written sets of instructions.
Internet is probably the most used and most useful type of formal written communication. Internet is a worldwide computer network which can be accessed from many different devices like mobile phone, laptop, computer or PDA’s. It consist of millions of domestic, academic, business, and govt networks. It carries a lot of information’s as well as many files which are very useful. Internet provides you a simple access to many things that you wouldn’t have without it for example web pages, emails or file sharing which all of them are very useful in the public services like police or army. In the most basic words the internet is just a large database with many files, applications, information’s and helps a lot of people in different situations or problems like researching information’s. Most websites are up to date and are updated every day or even couple of times during the day so it’s a great way to get information’s or to get the latest news on your job or on the environment. Like any other types of formal written communication it’s very easy, fast and also looks very professional and it’s also very reliable as we know because it’s used basically everyday in the public services like in police when they research something or send emails for example.
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