In fact, organizations can often improve tangibly the quality of their staff’s writing output with some simple steps.
Here are four ways your team can start producing better writing fast.
1: Create an outcome statement before each writing project.
Think of an outcome statement as an objective coupled with a purpose, e.g., the objective of the document is to achieve X for the purpose of Y. Try to be as specific as possible.- Instead of: “I’m writing this document to educate my reader about X” (too generic).
- Try: “The purpose of this document is to convince my reader that X is correct action to take” (clear and direct).
For important writing projects, don’t leave the creation of an outcome statement to individual writers. Instead, work collaboratively to develop an outcome statement to fit the project and align with the organization’s larger strategic objectives. Leaders can even directly assign outcome statements alongside writing assignments to ensure the writer clearly understands what the writing needs to do for the organization.
2: Practice every day.
One easy way to improve writing is by writing. Yes, it sounds obvious, but many professionals don’t think of writing as a core job duty. It’s an add-on, a secondary task that they’re forced to do but otherwise avoid. That avoidance makes future work more difficult and deprives them of prime opportunities to develop their skills.Writing every day turns writing into a habit, enabling people to get comfortable with the experience of content production. That way, when a writing project is looming, people who have a writing habit will be less likely to delay or procrastinate. If you’re a team leader, consider assigning writing projects frequently to make sure your team is getting ample practice and building healthy writing habits.
3: Make the most of the revision process.
Almost no one, regardless of what they may believe about their own writing skill, can produce a perfect document on the first try—and they shouldn’t be expected to. Editing and revision are a natural and important part of the writing process. Don’t think of revisions as “extra work” or as a mark of failure. As author Roald Dahl said, “Good writing is essentially rewriting.”However, don’t let the revision process get lost in minutiae or unimportant elements, either. For example, editing for “personal style” rather than the substance of the writing is often a waste of time. If it won’t change the clarity, effectiveness, or impact of the piece, why spend extra time on it? Plus, hair-splitting can result in unnecessary resentment from the writer. Many writers view comments from reviewers as derisive, and a comment we often hear is “I don’t know why I should learn to write because my boss/supervisor will just change it.” These situations arise mostly when the edits are based on style rather than substance.
4. Get training.
If poor writing is an issue in your organization, or if your team simply needs to learn new strategies to write more effective documents in less time, you should consider corporate writing courses.However, it’s essential to choose a training company and program that approaches writing from a strategic and customized perspective, instead of focusing solely on technical and generic writing skills. In other words, the best trainers are also great consultants who can assess, triage, diagnose, and treat underlying issues in the writing and review process.
To learn more ways to quickly improve your unique team’s writing output, contact Hurley Write for a custom, no-obligation consultation.