2 Reaching the Destination

Whenever you are communicating in writing, your first priority should be to ensure that your message actually reaches its destination.

Suraj was asked to prepare a bid for County Council funds to allow the Multi-Racial Educational Resource Centre to open four evenings a week instead of two. He drew up what he thought was a very convincing case, and faxed the document through to the Equality Committee on 21 June, two days before the deadline.

A fortnight later, having heard nothing, Suraj phoned the Committee secretary to ask if his bid had been considered. The secretary knew nothing about it: the fax had gone astray and, since the deadline was now past, the bid could not be considered.

The fax is an important channel of communication, but it has its drawbacks. For example, when someone sends a fax it does tend to disappear into an electronic void? Did it go to the right number? Did it get through at all? Did it reach the right person? A really important letter can always be posted by recorded delivery, with a guarantee of arrival, but this isn't the case with a fax.

When fax transmission was introduced in the early 1980s, receiving a fax was a rarity. When one arrived it was always given a high priority and rushed to the addressee. Nowadays faxing is so commonplace and routine that faxed documents are much more likely to be mislaid or ignored.