Business Writing

Business Writing

1. Instructional

   • For reference or record, less glamorous but still essential.
     • Reports
       • Allows the reader to easily grasp the content and, if applicable, make informed decisions.
         • Informational communication is also used by a psychologist to let others, whether it is the public, administrative employees, other psychologists or health professionals, know about their findings regarding a case or any situation brought to their attention.
           • An example of this would be the use of reports after every therapeutic session in order to inform about the progress and subjects addressed in that particular session, as well as possible hypotheses and interventions for future sessions. This is useful when working with a multidisciplinary team like psychiatrists and doctors, as well as when consulting other therapists.
     • Minutes
       • A summary of the proceedings of a meeting.

2. Informational

   • Provides the reader with the information needed to complete a task.
     • User Manual
       • A guide focused on allowing the customer to use a product.
         • This type of business communication is useful in the psychology field and widely used by all professionals. For example, we use manuals when applying and grade tests. Memos are not often used in a private office but are useful for psychologists that work in organizations or hospitals, for example, when sharing quick information about a patient, soliciting test forms or needed materials.
           • An example would be the Manual and interpretation guide of the HTP projective drawing technique which indicates how to interpret and analyze the different drawings of the test and what different elements and characteristics say about the patient´s personality.
     • Memo
       • A short notification of new information shared within a large group in an organization.

3. Persuasive

   • To impress the reader and sway their decision.
     • Proposals
       • Presents the project overview, benefits, timeline, costs, and competency.
         • This type of communication is probably less, but still, used in the psychology field, especially when proposing a way of intervention in a patient or community, or proposing a way of action regarding certain processes within an organization (for example mental health policies for employes of an organization), as well as when sharing the results of an investigation and inviting the readers to action (for example, proposing to change the hours of school for children after doing and investigation on stress levels of elementary school students).
           • A more concrete example of this could be when doing an investigation on the relation between diet and mental health and based on the result we propose to create a campaign about how healthy habits can improve mental health, this requires a proposal document, especially when asking for sponsors as well as collaborators.
     • Press Release
       • A text written for journalists and media presenting new information.

4. Transactional

   • To progress general operations.
     • E-mails
       • Documents used to quickly communicate information between staff or clients in business activities.
         • Transactional communication can be used by psychologist to share information between themselves and other professionals, their staff (secretary) and their patients.
           • For example, we can use dismissal notices with staff working in our office like secretaries. Another example is using e-mails to communicate with other professionals regarding meetings, or, in a more concrete case, when we as psychology students organize a conference, in order to have a speaker we need to contact a psychologist expert in the matter of the conference via e-mail, to ask for their time, assistance and participation in said conference.
     • Dismissal notice
       • This type of letter provides the official context and procedural details associated with employment termination.