Proper Business Communication

8 Rules for Proper Business Communication
By Justin Elza

In today’s business environment, we rely more and more on technology to communicate with one another. Our ability to communicate has been greatly enhanced, and our choices for communication media are ever expanding. From cellular telephones, to Email, fax machines to Palm Pilots, communication devices are linked to the way we do business now more than ever before. This new technology has had many positive benefits for the business world. Unfortunately, since the range of options has expanded at such a quick rate, many people seem to be unaware of how best to use the devices they now have. It is essential to develop an awareness of how technology should best be used to avoid negative outcomes for employees and the workplace in general.

In the last two decades, communications technology in the United States has developed at an extremely rapid rate. Twenty years ago, people did not even know what “Email” was. Now, phrases like “IM me” or “Google it” are commonplace, household terms that seem inseparable from our personal or business lives. But most people don’t know how to properly use these new advances. Take Email for example, misuse of this medium has led to the demise of executives such as Credit Suisse First Boston tech banker Frank Quattrone, Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst Henry M. Blodgett, as well as senior executives from Enron.