As the new communications manager for International Gadgets, you have come across many examples of ineffective communications, including some older directives that were never carried out, mostly because of their unclear nature.

One example included an email stating that the recipient (within the R&D team) was to “create a presentation discussing the new product and send it to interested departments.” Others included a request from Sales to Technical Support for “a list of the biggest problems with our hot products” and a memo from Finance to all departments to “reduce the number of suppliers being used to better control costs.”

In a memo to your team, describe what is wrong with directives such as these and how to improve these messages so that they are delivered to the recipient with clarity and conciseness.