Do you take time away from valuable business development and strategy because you are busy correcting the writing of people who should know better? Do you spend time at home and on weekends red-lining the reports and proposals written by your subordinates? If so, you’re not alone.
Managers often lament that they spend too much time editing the work of their staff. In fact, problem writing is widespread. Almost 30% of college graduates have deficient writing skills, and corporations spend millions of dollars every year remediating writing.
When people write clearly, productivity and morale improve because people understand each other. And when the writing is rotten, people go around in circles trying to figure out what they are supposed to do and getting frustrated in the process.
Even if you think your staff members are the most writing-challenged of the lot, you can learn to save time for managing rather than editing. Just follow these three suggestions:
Clarify the Three P’s when you assign the task.
Whenever you assign a writing project, take a few moments to answer these questions for your staff member:
What is the purpose of this document? It may be to inform, to request, to persuade, or some other purpose.
What person will read it, and what is most important to that person? Understanding the reader’s needs and aptitudes helps the writer tailor the message to the person who must comprehend it.
What is the point? Clarify this in advance — don’t discover it halfway through a long, rambling email.
The few minutes that you spend answering these questions in advance will save many more minutes in the long run in the form of fewer rewrites and less misunderstanding.
Have clear standards about writing.
In most cases, your staff writers want to please you; they just may not know what you expect. Having a carefully considered set of ground-rules for writing will give them the security of knowing what you expect from them. Such ground-rules might include “Maintain an average sentence length of 20 words or fewer” or “Prefer the active voice”.
When staff members do not feel that editing is consistent according to principles they understand, they throw up their hands in frustration and decide that they will never be able to please you. That’s why it’s important to set the goalposts in advance and not move them.
Teach them to write.
Sometimes setting expectations isn’t enough. Your staff needs to know how to meet your expectations. That’s where training comes in. A customized training program will focus on your organization’s needs and on the knowledge gaps that plague you most.
Training may take place live or online; in either case, your enthusiasm for the program will impact the program’s results. When you offer writing training to your team, let them know that this is a skill that will help them move up in the organization. Praise them for attending. Ask them what they learned. Encourage them to set objectives for changed writing habits and follow up with them at their next performance evaluation.
An effective writing training program will free you from many of your onerous editing responsibilities, and free your staff to express themselves confidently, clearly, and succinctly.
Take action.
If you are spending too much time editing, don’t keep suffering. Take action. Get strategic about the way you assign writing tasks. Create a style guide or list of writing standards so people know the rules. And give your staff the gift of training so that they can hone the skills that have served you so well in your own career.
To learn what your options are for customized writing training, contact Elizabeth Danziger at lizd@worktalk.com for a complimentary 30-minute consultation.
©2018 Elizabeth Danziger All rights reserved
What does Worktalk do?
When communication is clear, business flows. When it is murky, the whole organization suffers. Worktalk enables businesses to harness the power of communication.
Our training programs support you in creating better business results through better writing. Employees learn to communicate clearly, purposefully, and correctly.We offer customized training programs in business writing and effective email. Courses may be delivered in person or online. Visit www.worktalk.comfor more information, or contact Elizabeth Danziger at lizd@worktalk.com or (310) 396-8303.
Read other Better Writing. Better Business blog posts:
Is Your Organization Having a Heart Attack?
The Magic of Listening Curiously
The $30 million Revision
Apologize and Be Forgiven
The Real Cost of Unclear Messages