5 Basic Crieteria for Effective Message

5 Basic Criteria for an Effective Message
Businesses rely on effective communication to achieve their goals. Advertising must communicate clear messages to customers about sales or the business brand. Supervisors must communicate clear tasks and objectives to subordinates. In many cases, though, communication breaks down in the absence of effective messages. Effective messages must meet five basic criteria.
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Clear
The effectiveness of a message hinges on the clarity of the message. The recipient needs to receive the intended message, or the ambiguity will force guesswork. Superiors who lack confidence sometimes couch the messages in hints or innuendo or attempt to use third parties to convey messages secondhand. Obscure messages can convey a lack of commitment to the idea behind the message or doubt that something needs to happen, both of which can translate into inaction on the part of the recipient. Clear messages allow the recipient to know the speaker’s or writer’s expectations and respond accordingly.
Complete
An effective message provides the reader or listener with all of the information he needs to both evaluate the message and to take action in response to the message. Incomplete information often makes it difficult or even impossible for the recipient to carry out an appropriate action. For example, a manager might ask a subordinate for an inventory report. If the business uses an established protocol for organizing and formatting such reports, the recipient gets a complete message to act on. If the business does not use established protocols, the message is incomplete. It leaves the subordinate to make decisions about organization and formatting that may not align with the manager’s expectations and could result in friction.
Correct
In written communication, the message should contain no typographical, grammatical or structural errors. Delivering error-free messages communicates the writer sees the message as important enough to handle in a professional way. Typographical and grammatical errors convey that the writer rushed, which implies the writer saw the message as unimportant. This can lead the recipient to dismiss the content of the message outright or diminish its relative importance.
Saves Time
You should design your messages to minimize the time necessary to receive the message and maximize understanding. Writing techniques, such as bullet points, can make it easier to grasp essential points. Verbal cues such as "first," "then" and "next" can help a listener to understand procedures or the order in which to do tasks. Focusing the message on a single point at a time allows the recipient to digest the information more quickly than messages that provide information haphazardly.
Establishes Goodwill
Ideally, the message should help create goodwill between the person delivering the message and the recipient. Messages that treat the recipient as a human being go a long way toward fostering goodwill. Messages should also aim to speak to the recipient at an appropriate level. If, for example, your business employs high school kids, talking to them with high-powered language only an MBA could understand will diminish goodwill or even create resentment.