Business Communication Skills: Guide to Arranging Meetings and Polite Responses

Welcome back to Business Communication Skills. This is the final module in our networking course, focusing on making arrangements and sending invitations via writing, text messages, and emails. You'll also learn how to accept or decline an invitation politely through email and how to follow up after meeting someone. In this first lesson, we'll focus on text messages, including how and when to send them in a business setting. Here are the learning outcomes for this lesson. Nowadays, people are always on their phones—and why not? Phones allow us to do so much, but we must be careful, as they also present many opportunities to make mistakes, offend someone, or embarrass ourselves, which can be costly in business. Let's start with guidelines for using your phone to send business text messages.

By the way, texting during a meeting is not a good idea, as shown in the picture. In module three, you learned that being clear and concise is important when writing emails, and the same applies to text messages. Since text messages are short, they should be brief and clear. Here are two examples. Which is clearer? Of course, the second one is clearer and easier to write. While texting abbreviations are common among friends, overusing them in business may appear unprofessional, and the recipient may not understand them. Using widely known abbreviations is acceptable—for example, BTW for 'by the way', FYI for 'for your information', or W/E for 'weekend'.

Even if you understand them, the recipient might not. It's better to spell out words like 'you' and 'later' instead of typing 'u' and 'L8R' to maintain professionalism. Auto-correct helps, but always double-check your message to prevent embarrassing mistakes. For example, one contact intended to write 'Are you surprised?' but auto-correct changed it to 'Are you stupid?' Because texting is short and direct, it should only be used for simple, routine topics.

Text messages lack body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice, making them suitable only for simple topics. Emojis are fine among friends or close colleagues but not for professional messages. Delivering bad news or negative comments via text is inappropriate. When texting someone for the first time, include your name at the end, or set up a signature in some messaging apps.

Text messages typically expect prompt replies. Even a simple 'okay' is better than no response. Instant messaging apps allow longer messages and multimedia, but the same guidelines apply.

Text messages are useful for making arrangements due to their brevity and speed. Compared to emails, texting allows quicker responses and the ability to send links or maps. Incomplete sentences are acceptable in texts, and texting is convenient when plans change, such as being late or finding a venue full or closed.

For cancellations, a phone call is better than text to ensure the recipient received the message and to arrange alternative plans. Here's an example dialogue showing polite rescheduling.

When deciding between texting and calling: texting is less disruptive, calling is better for explanations or urgent responses, and first-time contacts are best reached by call or email. Text messages are suitable for previous contacts after hours or when talking is inconvenient. Now you know how to write and appropriately use text messages in business while maintaining a professional image. Let's finish this lesson with a short exercise on writing text messages.