Bad Words

How much does using the wrong words cost? According to IWCC Training In Communications, a consulting and training firm in Toronto, it can cost $4,258.60 for one employee's poorly worded memos for one year. Don't believe it? Here's the math:

54: Number of minutes spent planning, composing and editing a routine memo

4.2: Number of times a typical memo is rewritten

$81.90: Cost of writing the memo, based on an annual salary of $35,000

$4,258.60: Annual cost of one employee writing one memo per week based on the salary above

Or consider the case against e-mail:

Employees receive 25 to 30 messages daily and spend 60 to 75 minutes each day responding to the messages. Based on an annual salary of $35,000, at least $357.20 each month is wasted responding to poorly written or ambiguous e-mails and e-mails sent to the wrong people.

This article was originally published in the February 2000 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Bad Words.