Page 173 - The Voice of Authority

Figure 9.1
Competent Communicators Must Write Their Way
out of the Garbage Bin.

Booher Communication Survey on E-mail*

The Glut Hitting In-Boxes:
71% report writing between 10 to 50 e-mails daily
23% receive more than 50 e-mails daily

Time Involved to Respond:
79% say they spend 2 hours daily on e-mail
47% say they spend 3 hours daily on e-mail
21% say they spend 4 or more hours daily on e-mail

Biggest Complaints about E-mail Received/
Opportunities to Excel:

Disorganized, irrelevant, missing information 47%
Too many 20%
Too long 18%
Poor grammar (unclear) 10%
Too technical 3%
Discourteous, blunt tone 2%
* Number of organizations surveyed: 20; number of respondents: 658.

ahead. Stephen Reder, a linguist at Portland State University
in Oregon, has worked with the U.S. Department of Educa-
tion in measuring how American adults’ verbal proficiency
affects their economic success over a lifetime. The results:
Those in the highest quintile in writing ability earn, on aver-
age, more than three times what those with the worst writing
skills make.

Does Your Communication Make You Look Competent? 161