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