Effective Writing for Business and Industry

Transcription

1 Effective Writing for Business and Industry An e-learning course: 6 weeks and 8 CPD credits 8 March 16 April 2016 Course Description Good written communication remains the cornerstone of successful professional and business practice. Whether you are sending an , writing a report or making a proposal, you create an impression. In business, you cannot afford to make the wrong one. Since the writer is rarely present when the item is read, s/he must convey the information accurately and unambiguously. The technical and financial content with its related special vocabulary should never obscure the essential message. Thus, to convey a message simply and clearly through the written word is a process for which the writer must develop a variety of skills. Some of these skills are: selecting and organising information for the reader writing coherent sentences and paragraphs having a sound command of English grammar and vocabulary providing graphics where appropriate creating a readable and presentable document. This course covers these skills and it describes the requirements in terms of style and format of the different documents commonly written. These are reports, business proposals, letters and s, agenda and minutes, and curricula vitae and letters of application. Course Lecturer Associate Professor Jane English convenes courses offered by Professional Communication Studies (PCS). She lectures on effective communication at the (faculties, Research Office and the GSB) and consults to public (e.g. Cape Town City; Coega Development Corporation; Parliament) and private sectors (e.g. Aurecon, GIBB, Anglo Platinum, Special Investigation Unit; Hulett Aluminium; Stewart Scott; Murray and Roberts; PetroSA). She has a PhD (Construction Economics) from Glasgow Caledonian University; MPhil (CEM) from and an Industrial Editing Diploma, British Association of Industrial Editors. Jane has produced and co-authored several publications for research and training tools for teaching (including the presentation skills DVD SpeakEasy and the textbook Professional Communication: Effective Written and Spoken Messages). She has been a keynote speaker and has presented at numerous conferences - the Tripartite Meeting on the Construction Industry in the 21st Century, Geneva; and the annual international CIB conference. Prior to academic life, she held positions as the company editor for the Chamber of Mines; Syfrets and Southern Life Association. See her webpage: New Engineering Building, Upper Campus,

2 Course Information Who should participate? This course will be of benefit to all those who write or oversee the writing of business documents and correspondence. Applicants from all disciplines may participate. A minimum of matriculation is required. Format of course This is a part time, e-learning course that will take place over 6-weeks, commencing 8 March You will need to spend approximately 13 hours a week on the course. Each week comprises a separate module: Requirements for Effective Writing Grammar and Style Work CVs and Letters of Application Management Needs/Skills: Negotiation and Ethics Management Needs/Skills: Meetings Business Proposals and Business Plans Reports Reports (continued) Graphics Each module is grounded in a chapter in the VirtualBook workbook and supported by practical exercises, self-marking activities, online assignment and submitted (by ) assignments. The course content is delivered via VirtualBook, an easy-to-use book-like interface that facilitates simple electronic delivery of interactive, multimedia-rich content. VirtualBook allows you to do most of your studying offline. You will go online every now and again to submit an assignment by or to link to an online assignment on the VirtualAssessor platform. New Engineering Building, Upper Campus,

3 Study Aids, Navigation and Search In VirtualBook : You can create, save, search and delete your own Notes and Bookmarks. Highlighters are provided to highlight important text. A Spell Checker and Thesaurus are provided. A Timer clock helps manage study time. Glossary popups provide explanations and definitions. Context sensitive Help is available at the click of the mouse. You can search the text and your own notes and queries. VirtualBook navigation is driven by hyperlinks. Sections can be accessed directly from the Table of Contents, by a floating table of contents, by using the forward and back arrows, or through links within the text. Seamless links to the Internet and external applications and the exam site are included. The VirtualBook provides a comprehensive search engine. Hyperlinked extracts provide context for the results. New Engineering Building, Upper Campus,

4 Activities and Assessment There are a variety of activities and assessments that are either completed in the VirtualBook, submitted via for marking or completed on the VirtualAssessor exam platform. System Requirements Pentium II or better, running Windows Vista/Windows 7/ Windows 8 (Pro) with 64 MB RAM, graphics card with at least 800x600 resolution. Access to the Internet is required. The VirtualBook 4.0 Reader will require approximately 80 MB of hard disk space. An additional 277 MB of free disk space will be required for the installation of the Effective Writing content. New Engineering Building, Upper Campus,

5 Cost The fee for the course will be R per person. The fee includes: The download version of Effective Writing for Business and Industry VirtualBook. You therefore have access to this book after the course is completed. Access to the exam site for the duration of the course Discounts for staff and students of UCT, and students of other tertiary education institutes are available under certain circumstances. Payment information is available on the application form Dates Commences 8 March and ends on 16 April Certificates A certificate of participation will be awarded to all course members who participate in the full 6-week course, but who do not qualify for a certificate of successful completion. A certificate of successful course completion will be issued to those who have participated in the full course and receive an overall minimum result of 50% CPD Credit Requirements The course is registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa, and is accredited for the award of 8 CPD points. CPD points are required for continuing professional registration. The ECSA course code is UCTEWB16. Applications and cancellations Registration forms are available on the website In order to ensure a place on the course applicants must complete and return a signed application form to the course administrators: Heidi Tait or Sandra Jemaar: Confirmation of acceptance will be sent on receipt of an application form. Payment is due one week before the start of a course. Cancellations must be received one week before the start of a course, or the full course fee will be charged Administrators CPD Programme Phone: Fax: ebe-cpd@uct.ac.za New Engineering Building, Upper Campus,

6 Course Programme WEEKS WEEKS 1 & 2 WEEKS 3 & 4 WEEK 5 & 6 SUBJECT: Each module is grounded in a chapter in the workbook and supported by practical exercises, self-test and assignments both short and lengthy (at the end of the course). SUBMIT exercises as you complete them, but definitely by the end of the fortnightly module. Requirements for Effective Writing Selecting appropriate information Pitch appropriately to your reader Planning the message Producing the document Grammar and Style Getting back to basics Mistakes we all make Using MSWord effectively to help your reader Style and tone Work Style and tone in Format, purpose and style Types of correspondence Memoranda and Faxes etiquette CVs and Letters of Application Types of Curriculum Vitae Solicited and unsolicited letters of application Covering letters Management Needs/Skills: Negotiation and Ethics Building effective teams Persuasion and negotiation Ethics at work Management Needs/Skills: Meetings Running meetings Agenda and minutes Business Proposals and Business Plans Proposals in business and industry Writing a business plan The visual impact of text Reports Types and nature of reports Structure and sections Styles for reports Reports (continued) Language and style of reports Feasibility reports Evaluative reports (includes major writing assignment) Graphics Using illustrations in writing Types of table Types of figures New Engineering Building, Upper Campus,