| Employees' writing skills - or the lack of | | | | package for his corporate client read, "By |
| them - substantially affect the bottom line | | | | paying a 5% premium on wages, all employees |
| in ways you may never have considered. Here | | | | will be enrolled in the company insurance |
| are just a few. | | | | program." Who was supposed to pay the 5%? |
| | | | According to this sentence, the employees |
| * Badly written instructions can lead to | | | | would pay - but in fact the company was to |
| incorrect procedures, lost time, damaged | | | | pay. It should have read, "By paying a |
| equipment, lost customers - and lost profit. | | | | premium of 5% of wages, the company can |
| | | | enroll all employees in its insurance |
| * Ineffective letters, which often took too | | | | program." A big difference - and potentially |
| long to write in the first place, can create | | | | a deal breaker. |
| a poor company image, wasted time, bad | | | | |
| customer or supplier relations, lost | | | | A passenger broke into the flight deck on a |
| customers - and lost profit. | | | | commercial airplane. Subsequent investigation |
| | | | revealed that written regulations said, "The |
| * Interdepartmental miscommunication - often | | | | doors to the flight deck must be locked only |
| through incomprehensible e-mail exchanges - | | | | on takeoff and landing." What exactly does |
| can lead to fragmentation of the workforce, | | | | that mean? Must they be unlocked at other |
| loss of corporate loyalty, missed | | | | times? Or are they simply permitted to be |
| collaboration and innovation opportunities, | | | | unlocked at other times? Misinterpretation of |
| possibly lost employees resulting in more | | | | this ambiguous message almost resulted in |
| recruitment and training costs - and lost | | | | disaster. |
| profit. | | | | |
| | | | An airport terminal sign read, "No smoking |
| * Cold, impersonal "boilerplate" letters in | | | | areas available." Does that mean there are no |
| response to customers' problems or complaints | | | | areas where people may smoke? Or does it mean |
| can lead to loss of those customers, bad news | | | | there are areas set aside for non-smokers? |
| spread to their friends and colleagues, loss | | | | |
| of present and future income - and lost | | | | A company tried to cancel a contract, |
| profit. | | | | believing the contract allowed it to do so |
| | | | under current conditions. But because of the |
| Mangled syntax can cause expensive confusion, | | | | incorrect placement of a comma in the |
| inconvenience or even danger. Here are just a | | | | agreement, the other party contested the |
| few examples. | | | | cancellation, and successfully sued the |
| | | | company for $1.2 million. Expensive comma! |
| A consultant's proposal on a new benefits | | | | |