Assignment – Firm Communications

Module 04 Content

1. Title: Firm CommunicationsPurpose of Assignment: The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate an understanding of communication etiquette and communication best practices in the workplace.Course Competency: Conduct Professional Communication with Diverse AudiencesInstructions:Content:
   • The firm is continually growing, and with an increase in employees, there is an increase in communication differences. Your supervising attorney has tasked you with creating a new communications policy for the law firm’s employees. You should research sample communications policies, communication etiquette and working with diverse groups, and compose a communications policy for the firm. At a minimum your policy should include information on the following topics:
   • A sample phone script for the firm Rasmussen Law Firm, PLLC, and a discussion on phone etiquette
   • A written document policy including the firm’s sample business letter template
   • An email policy including a sample email template
   • A policy pertaining to communicating via social media

     Communication Etiquette

• Communication is an important part of your job as a paralegal. One of the most popular forms of communication these days is through email. However, email is an imperfect way to resolve differences. Unlike oral communication, it is difficult to understand the writer’s tone or inflection in an email. As a result, some poorly or too quickly written emails can create misunderstandings or disputes. If email communication leads to miscommunication or escalates a situation, the best thing to do is to end the back-and-forth and speak by telephone or in-person. Some email etiquette in a law firm includes:
  • Never forward without permission. It is inappropriate to forward an email to a third party without permission.
  • Always assume that recipients will forward your communications without permission. As such, you should never send an email that you wouldn’t want showing up as a court exhibit. This, of course, does not apply to sharing privileged information with a supervising attorney, discussing weaknesses of a case, etc.
  • Choose the language in an email carefully, and in a professional, well-worded manner
  • Avoid the use of profanities in emails or other communication, even if you have a close relationship with the recipient.
  • One should generally stay away from trying to insert humor into emails. Even if you have a close relationship with the recipient, it is unprofessional and can lead to misunderstandings.
  • Not taking the time to proofread an email before sending it is disrespectful to the recipient. All email communications should be proofread and should use proper spelling and grammar, with no “texting” slang such as the use of “u” “thru” or a lower-cased i.Each email should be started with a salutation including the recipient or the addressee’s name, insert the content below it, and end with a valediction/sign-off. This is the case even with a short email exchange. For example:Mark:I agree.Thank you,KellyIt clearly designates who the message is intended for and who the author is in the body of the message.While texts, emails, other forms of written communication are beneficial, speaking on the phone or in-person is perhaps most effective at passing on your message. This allows you to hear the speaker’s tone of voice and avoids issues such as sounding passive-aggressive, jokes being taken the wrong way, or sarcasm being interpreted as serious thoughts. Some phone etiquette includes:
  • Refrain from putting the call on speakerphone, while being distracted with other tasks
  • If you have the call on speakerphone with another person in eh room, inform the other caller so they are aware of who is the recipient of their message and don’t believe they are just speaking with you.
  • Avoid eating or drinking whilst on the phone
  • Refrain from having a conversation with another person in the background
  • Be careful to avoid interrupting the other party