Purpose

Purpose
As a student you communicate for educational purposes for example writing term papers or taking a written exam etc. In contrast as an employee you will communicate for instrumental purposes. Most of your communications will be designed to help your employer achieve
practical business objectives.

Example
At school, where your aim is to show how much you know, one of your major writing strategies
is to write as much as you can about your subject. At work, your communications should only
include the information your readers need. Extra information would only clog your readers’
path to what they need, resulting in

• decreased efficiency
• increased frustration

Audience:

• At school your interaction is only one person, the instructor. In contrast at work, you will often create communications that will address a wide variety of people with different backgrounds. The audience might include who are different in familiarity with your subject.
  

• The use they will make of your information
• The kinds of professional and personal concerns they will bring to your presentation

Example
Consider the report in which Naila will present her recommendations for improving the hospital
kitchen. Her recommendations might be read by her supervisor Mr. Nadeem, who will want to know what measures he will have to take in order to follow her recommendations. The vice president of finance, Mr. Altaf, will want to verify the cost estimates that Nalia includes. The
director of purchasing, Mr. Chauhan, will need to know about the new equipment he will need
to order. The head of personnel, Miss Sara, will want to learn whether she needs to write any
new job descriptions. And lastly the kitchen staff to assure them that their new work assignment will treat them fairly. So, writing for such a large and diverse audience requires skills that are not needed when writing only to your instructor.