One thing is for certain: political pundits and CEOs alike understand
the role of writing in decision making, action, liability, consequences,
results, and rewards.
Would you yourself write "One of the consultants who have agreed to
discount the price is complaining" or "One of the consultants who has
agreed to discount the price is complaining"? What if your own job depended
on that decision?
If a colleague emailed you this message, "Chris Philips rejected the
supplier's tempting offer, which displeased the executive team" would
you know what upset the executive team? What if the statement were the
basis for your testimony in court? Grammatically correct does not necessarily
mean clear.
No doubt, the 9-11 Commission members found themselves
embroiled in a grammar brouhaha as they wrote their final report: Passive
voice seems
to be the structure of choice for bureaucracies who can't come to consensus
about blame: "Mistakes were made." To know why is to understand a major
issue in grammar and writing style. The active-passive decision is the
same choice every salesperson makes when writing "We appreciate your
business" versus "your business is sincerely appreciated."
Writing skills are not getting any better: A 2004 survey by the College
Board's National Commission on Writing asked members of the Business
Roundtable to comment on writing skills of employees from six sectors
(mining; construction; manufacturing; transportation and utilities; services;
finance, insurance and real estate). According to respondents, one-third
of US workers do not meet the writing requirements of their job. And
two-thirds of salaried workers in large companies have to write as part
of their job function.
~ Writing Is the Basic Business Act ~
How important is writing to the conduct of business of the organization
as a whole?
"We primarily do all our business by email. Our marketing information
is on the web, and they're putting our internal policies and procedures
on the intranet. Our people just don't write much anymore": a rather
odd, but common comment from a middle manager. What else do people read
on the web and in their email? Words.
More, not fewer, people write. And more people write more. Screen
or paper, it matters not.
In today's e-commerce, written communication makes the competitive difference
in overall organizational success. Customers, clients, and prospective
business partners often check out your website before they even phone
or fax you. If your website doesn't communicate what they need to know
or build your credibility, you'll never get a chance to connect with
them by phone or face to face.
Today more than ever, poor writing tempts a customer to click away,
doubting that your technology or service is any better than your communication.
An email, a web headline, or a product proposal with disorganized ideas,
convoluted paragraphs, intimidating layout, or grammatically incorrect
sentences tells the client that you won't service their engines well,
amortize their mortgage correctly, or interpret their insurance coverage
fairly.
Here are a few tips to make e-mail writing easier, faster, and more
effective:
~ Five Tips for Email Excellence ~
1. Strive For a Style Somewhere Between Stuffed-Shirt and T-Shirt
Like our work clothes, the preferred writing style has become business
casual. And just as the business-casual dress code has some people stumped,
so has the business-causal writing style. Those who write in a stuffy
style bury the meat of their ideas in passive verbs. They select weak
sentence subjects. They bury key actions. They add unnecessary qualifiers
and intensifiers to vague abstractions. Finally, they drape their ideas
in trite, verbose statements. At the other extreme are writers who send
email that could pass for a T-shirt slogan: Aggressive words, without
tact. Made-up words when precise words slip their minds. Rambling, irrelevant
details burying key ideas. Misspellings. Incomplete thoughts. Mixed metaphors.
You'll do well to select an appropriate style somewhere between these
two extremes.
2. Use the "So What?" Prompt to Turn Information
into Communication
When you write any document, imagine your reader
asking, "So what?" Then
add that answer to your document. Draw the conclusions. State what action
you want from the reader or what action you plan to take.
3. Avoid Stream-of-Consciousness Rambling
Just as the penny is the basis for the monetary system, the sentence
is the basic unit of thought. For the most part, one sentence should
convey one thought. If the email wasn't all that interesting to read
the first time, imagine forcing people to slog through it a second time
to catch your drift.
4. Be Careful with Knee-Jerk Responses
Email's greatest benefit can also be its greatest
drawback. When we sit down to the keyboard "to do email," our mindset
is typically to get through it all -- to empty our email box and get
back to business. That
mindset generates knee-jerk reactions to others' questions, solicitations
of opinions, requests, and recommendations. We open. We read. We reply.
Then we think -- or don't, as the case may be.
We nix a promising idea because it had a few glitches that we didn't
take the time to consider seriously. We turn down a request to provide
information because our day was already over-scheduled. We offer a make-do
explanation or assessment rather than a reasoned one because speed, rather
than thoroughness, was the goal. Be mindful of speed as a potentially
negative habit.
5. Tune in to the Tone
Brevity breeds brusqueness. Let's say you've just asked your boss if
she thinks you should consider working toward an advanced degree in night
school at a local university to pursue credentials that might position
you for a promotion. Consider the difference in these two responses:
Response 1: "No."
Response 2: "No, Terry, I don't think an advanced degree would have
any effect on the potential for promotion here." Brief is good. Blunt
is not. Sometimes an explanation adds a buffer to an otherwise cold,
foreboding, or intimidating tone.
~ Assessing Your Writing
What you write is what you get. And what you don't know may be hurting
you. You may want to have your writing professionally assessed. Check
out http://howyouwrite.com to
assess your own writing style. This free assessment takes about 20-25
minutes to complete. It measures effectiveness, productivity, and grammar/clarity.
So how do you know if your own writing is compelling? The assessment
also includes a 360-degree component so users can gather feedback from
readers of their documents. The peer assessment you'll invite colleagues
to complete about your writing will take about 3-5 minutes.
First impressions hang on for a long time. What's the pay-off when people
and organizations write well? Clear messages. Better decisions. Increased
productivity. Better image.
Copyright ©2004 by Dianna Booher. All Rights
Reserved. Please feel free to duplicate or distribute this file as
long as the article is not altered and this copyright notice is intact.
Thank you.
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