Workplace Communication: Is Plain Style the Right Style?

When an employer is trying to communicate important information to hundreds of employees, it is important not to use prose style that can alienate certain groups of people. For this reason, official style wouldn’t be appropriate for emails sent to employees by their employer, nor would creative style. Both of these styles could lead to misunderstandings in a workplace. This is where plain style of writing comes into play. Plain style attempts to communicate in the most to-the-point way possible and it is commonly used in workplace communication, most significantly in emails.

My own place of work is a great example of this. The YMCA employs hundreds of people of all different backgrounds, many of whom are busy college students. Most college students have inboxes full of unimportant information and spam emails. This means most emails are quickly skimmed through to determine if they’re important enough to spend time reading or if they’ll be immediately deleted. This is why adopting a plain style of communication in all-employee emails is such a good idea for employers. In the section of the email above, the most important information is included at the very beginning of the email in large, bold font in bright colors. This way, even if an employee is quickly skimming through the email, they can easily gather the most necessary information. After reading just the first few lines, an employee knows what is going on and when. Someone skimming through the emails can quickly realize that this email has important information and might be worth a closer look.

This entire section of the email also maintains an informal tone. For many organizations, including the YMCA, one goal is to make sure that all employees feel like appreciated members of a close-knit community. This is another reason that the plain style of writing is used in emails and similar forms of communication. Employers generally don’t want to alienate any of their employees, and other styles of communication might not make employees feel as much like welcomed additions to the organization. An informal tone, created by the use of active voice, short sentences and paragraphs, first person point-of-view, and easy-to-understand vocabulary, helps establish the feeling of community in an organization. As an example, instead of saying, “Employees will be recognized . . .” the email says, “We’ll recognize employees . . .”, which makes employees feel more included and equal in the organization. In this section of this email specifically, this choice of prose style is especially effective. The email is informing employees of an event that is about the employees and for the employees, so it is important that no employees feel alienated or unwelcome prior to the event. 

The above photo is another excerpt from the same email. This section of the email follows the same format: the most important information in bold, large font in bright colors at the top of the section; short sentences and paragraphs; easy-to-understand vocabulary; and an informal, active tone. It is very important for employees to be aware that a paycheck wouldn’t be received on the regularly scheduled date, so that information is emphasized. If someone were to simply skim this section of the email, they would quickly be able to notice that paychecks would not be received on Thursday, but rather would be sent out one day later, on Friday. 

Other information about the payroll change is included in a format that is very much plain style as well. Rather than providing that information in one large paragraph and long sentences, bullet points break up each idea into its own section with bold font, followed by very short and direct sentences. There is very clear distinction between ideas. For any organization that employs large numbers of people, this is an effective way to communicate important information. Employers generally don’t want to cause issues for their employees, so it is important to make sure that every employee is able to understand this information, even if they might not spend a lot of time reading the email carefully.

Overall, the email from the YMCA conveys important information that all staff members are required and expected to be aware of. For this reason, plain style is used so even busy college students who are quickly skimming the email can easily gather the most important information. Beyond this, the YMCA prides itself on building an inclusive and welcoming work environment, which is another reason to use plain language that would not alienate or exclude any staff member attempting to read the email. Plain style seems to be the most appropriate form of writing for workplace communication through email, and this is something that can be applied to most other email situations as well. If someone is trying to communicate with a large group of people at different education levels to convey extremely important information, plain style is generally the best choice of prose style.