Communication through words may be in writing or oral. Written communication entails transmission of message in black and white. It mainly consists of diagrams, pictures, graphs, etc. Reports, policies, rules, orders, instructions, agreements, etc have to be conveyed in written form for proper functioning of the organization.

Written communication guarantees that everyone concerned has the same information. It provides a long-lasting record of communication for future. Written instructions are essential when the action called for is crucial and complex. To be effectual, written communication should be understandable, brief, truthful and comprehensive. The main advantages and disadvantages of written communication are as follows: -

Merits of written communication

• It ensures transmission of information in uniform manner.
• It provides a permanent record of communication for future reference.
• It is an idealistic way of conveying long messages.
• It ensures little risk of unauthorized alteration in the message.
• It tends to be comprehensive, obvious and accurate.
• It is well suited to express messages to a large number of persons at the same time.
• It can be quoted as legal evidence in case of any disputes.

Demerits of written communication

• It is costly and time consuming.
• It becomes difficult to maintain privacy about written communication.
• It is rigid and doesn’t provide any scope for making changes for inaccuracies that might have crept in.
• It is very formal and lacks personal touch.
• It boosts red-tapism and involves so many formalities.
• It may be represented in a different way by different people.