Communication directly affects performance. There is every reason to make the best of it. In a busy life many communication errors, inadequacies or omissions occur not as a result of lack of knowledge or understanding, but as a result of a lack of thought. Matters are skimped. Memos or reports are sent without being given the benefit of proper preparation. Meetings are run ad hoc, without clear objectives or agendas. And things are said on the spur of the moment that people live to regret. Much of the problem is time. Other pressures seem to intervene and rushing something else is seen as a maybe unfortunate necessity. Yet sorting out what occurs if things go wrong takes tune too sometimes more than can be saved by rushing. Of course, communicating well takes time, but there is no need for it to take much more than it would to communicate less well. What is more, any small amount of extra time so spent can be easily justified in terms of the impact it has on the individual, those around them and the organization as a whole. Communicating effectively with people means understanding and thinking of both what makes communication work and how others view and respond to the whole process. It is to the latter that we turn in the next chapter. Meantime, the key issues here are: (1) never to underestimate the power of communications for good or ill; (2) to realize that everyone has a personal responsibility for communicating well and that mistakes or excellence by the individual can have wide impact; (3) to see communications as something needing study and care and to be actively worked at (it is all too easy to assume communications are straightforward, forget to engage the brain and suffer the consequences).

Preparation is a vital part of communicating. At its simplest it is merely a moment's constructive thought. More often more is necessary. Here we go further and consider elements that are absolute fundamentals to getting it right. Much of what is said here is generic: it helps any communication. Beyond that, there is a necessity to adopt specific approaches to specific tasks; so writing a report, for instance, has some unique elements to it.

It was J.K. Galbraith who said, 'Meetings are indispensable when you don't want to do anything.' Then it is said that the ideal meeting involves two people with one absent. If there is one thing in business life that is a mixed blessing, then it is surely meetings; and technical people are likely to have little patienee with them. Yet so much time is spent in them (and that means they cost). and they are an important part of organizational communications, consultation, debate and decision-making. We all need them, or certainly we need some of them; but we must get the most from them, and we do not need too many, or those that are longer than necessary or, above all, those that are unconstructive. What is more, good, effective meetings do not just happen. If it is assumed that some deep law of meetings means you must put up with the bad ones in order to get an occasional good one thrown in, then nothing will be done to create a culture of effective meetings. Everyone in an organization needs to work actively at it. Everybody's role is important, whether they are running a meeting or attending one.

I saw Annabel (aged six) quoted on the Internet: 'If you want a hamster, you start by asking for a pony.' This sums up superbly the concept of negotiating, and in this chapter we focus specifically on this key communication. The following defines the process and reviews both strategy and tactics, showing how to plan and conduct successful negotiations and secure the deal you want. Negotiation, the process of making a deal and agreeing the terms on which it is arranged, is an important, and ubiquitous, business communications skill Annabel, quoted above, says something that sums up much about the negotiation process. Perhaps she has some inherent knowledge or insight into the process that may stand her in good stead in later life, because negotiation bargaining, to put it simply is used in so many different contexts in both private and organizational life. It is essentially an interactive communication skill, one that must be deployed in many different circumstances and at every level of organizational life. It is a close partner of persuasive skills; it is as much used on the other side of the sales process, in purchasing, and may need to be utilized in a wide variety of business dealings, from union negotiation to corporate takeover and merger arrangements. Negotiation skills are not only necessary to deploy in doing many jobs successfully, but are also among those needed if someone is to be seen as fully competent; excelling in these areas enhances the likelihood of career success. Negotiation may also be needed to obtain the best deal a remuneration package, for instance for yourself. Good negotiators are in a strong position to make a good impression and a good deal.

In a busy business life, writing anything can be a chore. There are surely more important things to be done: people to meet, decisions to be made, action to be taken. Yet all of these things and more can be dependent on written communication. A letter or memo may set up a meeting; a report may present a case and prompt a decision; a proposal may act persuasively to make sure certain action is taken or a particular option is selected. But reading business papers can be a chore also, and they will not achieve their purpose unless they are read and understood and do their job well enough to prompt the reader to action. Business writing must earn a reading. You are probably both a reader and a writer of business documents. Consider writing with your reader's hat on for a moment. Do you read everything that crosses your desk? Do you read every word of the things you do read? Do you read everything from the first word through in sequence, or do you dip into things? Almost certainly, the answers make it clear that not all writing is treated equally. Some documents are more likely to be read than others. Of course, some subjects demand your attention. Who ignores a personal note from the managing director? But the fact that some things have to be read does not make their reading any easier or more pleasurable. Good writing, which means, not least, something that is easy to read and under stand, will always be likely to get more attention than sloppy writing. Yet we all know that prevailing standards in this area are by no means universally good. Why is this? Maybe it is education or lack of it. Often school assists little with the kind of writing we find ourselves having to do once we are in an organization. Maybe it is lack of feedback perhaps managers are too tolerant of what is put in front of them. If more of it were rejected and had to be rewritten, then more attention might be brought to bear on the task.

Any written business document must stand up to analysis, and its only real test is whether its reader finds it does the job it was intended to do. This means it must have a clear purpose, and that what it says, and how it says it, are understandable; indeed, that it exhibits any other characteristic that it needs to meet its specific intention and such as has been set out in the last chapter. This chapter looks at the approach necessary for different types of document It should be noted at once that there is no one right way to write anything. A variety of word combinations and of style can be appropriate, but there are some things that must be done in particular ways and there are certainly things to avoid.

Numbers can confuse or clarify. The job is normally to make sure they do not confuse, when they should make things clear though perhaps it should be acknowledged that sometimes numbers are thrown around precisely in order to confuse. For example, someone in a meeting might rattle through a mass of disparate costings in the hope that just how expensive a plan is will not be dwelt upon. Similarly, the complexity of figures may be used on a grander scale: in marketing, people talk about 'confusion pricing' a pricing structure of such complexity that it makes it difficult for a customer to undertake comparison with competitors (mobile-phone tariffs are an example of this with which many people are familiar). That said, the concentration in this chapter is on the positive, using numbers effectively in the course of meetings and more routine corporate communication.