One of my major problems as a business major was my inability to write and communicate concisely. For my entire life, I was known to be too wordy in my writing, using a lot of fluff in the work I produced. This was a problem because it did not adequately provide the reader with a clear understanding of the problem at hand and they had to investigate my paper to really find a clear purpose.
For example,the first copy of the memo, I received a 5 out of 40. The reason for this was because my need was unclearly defined and the paper was too vague and wordy. Granted, this was my first writing assignment of the term and business writing was something that was completely new to me. The 5 out of 40 was definitely a rude awakening for me and showed how far away my writing was in comparison to what the expectation for business writing was.
However, my improvements on writing communication have increased dramatically. The final writing assignment of the year was an executive summary and my grade on this was a 37 out of 40. Not only did the grade dramatically increase however the quality of writing also increased. The fluff and vagueness of my first paper had disappeared and I became a lot more concise with the writing as a whole. Although it isn’t perfect, my writing has shown major signs of improvement and the conciseness of the writing has visible increased between the two papers.
I was demoralized after writing my first memo draft and seeing it completely destroyed by the graders. I thought I was a decent writer however my understanding of business writing was completely wrong. Although I was dejected in the beginning, throughout the term my improvements were visible and my effectiveness in getting my point across increased dramatically. Through more practice, time and experience, I know I will continue to develop my written communication skills. I still am too wordy at times and don’t provide enough details on certain situations, however the improvements between week 1 and week 10 are night and day different and I am proud of my efforts.