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[edit] Legal Issues and Communication

Unfortunately, there are many corrupt companies and organizations in the United States. It has become law that every email must be achieved and saved for 7 years due to poor company choices. Therefore, the government can go back in a company's achieves and use any information sent or received in this time period against you in a lawsuit.

[edit] Constraints

As you gather information for backing your arguments, you should learn about any expectations, regulations, and constraints that could limit what you are trying to explain. Expectations and regulations affect what you are trying to communicate. Tone, the use of abbreviations, tables, use of margins and the length of your document can also affect your communication. Usually the length is said to be given as a maximum and not a minimum. These factors all play an important role in writing correct and clear professional documents.

Many times constraints are set in place according to the industry, but they can also be set in place by your employer. Constraints may be based around a company's image or their goal in sales. A children's toy company, like LEGO, would not want to be associated with a technical document that includes slang or words that could damage their image. This is to protect their business legally. Since all documents can be used in court, companies assume that any written document with the company name includes nothing but the professional image they are trying to portray.

Many companies also like to form a "custom" way of writing. Companies like Microsoft want all their documents to be written in the same style. The only way to do this is to teach the writers the "correct" way to write like Microsoft. What many people may not know is that Microsoft does do this to cover themselves in a legal trial. If every single document is written using the same format, they can make sure that the customers understand the entire document and do not run into trouble with inconsistencies.

How do you know if you are following the correct constraints? The easiest way to understand how to write in your specific field is to look at documents written by your company and other companies in the industry within the past few months. This will allow you to see their style and how they make their argument. Some companies even publish style guides for writing. By seeing your company's regulations, you can begin to draft your argument. Make sure to follow your company's guidebook (if they have one) to be sure that your style is correct, or one day you may be wondering why you are no longer employed.

Remember that in professional writing you are trying to persuade the reader using an ethical style. This means to avoid using wording that will not stand up in court, especially since people file lawsuits for everything these days. Make sure that the documents you write for your company are persuasive while also preserving your company's competitive edge.