Communicating Concisely Using A Positive Language Tom is the general manager at Glorious Solutions, a content development company. He was impressed with Stephanie's work and considered promoting her to the position of team leader. To judge her

Question

leadership qualities, Tom decided to ask Stephanie to handle a sensitive issue at work and see how she performs. Tom wanted her to handle the case of Alan, a proofreader in the same company, who was on uninformed leave for two weeks. He asked Stephanie to send an email issuing Alan an ultimatum. Stephanie was not used to such situations and did not know how to handle it. She sought James's help. James is a team leader at Enumerations Corp, a multinational corporation, and a close friend of Stephanie. Being a team leader, James is used to handling such sensitive issues in a constructive manner. Discuss in detail the suggestions James made to Stephanie to reduce the sting from the sensitive message.

Answer 1

Projecting a Positive, Tactful Tone

TO: Stephanie, Glorious Solutions

FROM: James, Enumerations Corp

DATE: xxx

SUBJECT: PROJECTING A POSITIVE, TACTFUL TONE

You should present your main points using a positive language. Rely mainly on positive words: words that speak of what can be done instead of what cannot be done, of the pleasant instead of the unpleasant. Avoid referring to Alan in second person when stating negative ideas. Use second person for presenting pleasant ideas and third person for presenting unpleasant ideas.
I would also suggest that you use passive voice to convey negative ideas. Presenting unpleasant thoughts emphatically would make it difficult for you to maintain a professional relationship with Alan in the future. However, you could continue using active voice to promote positive ideas. Just as emphasis on negatives hinders human relations, emphasis on positives promotes human relations.
As this is a sensitive issue, you could improve the tone of the email by using subjunctive mood. Subjunctive mood often includes a reason that makes the negative idea seem less objectionable and thus improves the tone. Tone is important, but clarity is even more important.