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From the Ask Tom mailbag:
Question:
How can you help someone improve on their writing skills? We use form letters most often in correspondence and there are not a lot of opportunities to write a letter/memo. Do you have any tips on how I as a manager could assist my direct report? (Aside from taking courses, etc.)
Response:
My best recommendation is practice. I would assign short exercises (3-4 sentences in length) on a periodic basis (1-2x per week) and then spend short coaching sessions (10 minutes) reviewing the exercise. My assignments would be verbal expecting a 3-4 sentence written response.
Before you get started, you will need to sit with this person and define the purpose for the weekly exercise. “We need to work on improving your writing skills so you can be more effective in your role. We are not going to beat a dead horse, but we are going to work on short improvement exercises, where there is no risk. As time goes by, we will shift from exercises to the real writing that our customers (or others) read.”
Using exercises in the beginning allows you to establish a performance improvement program without judging “bad work.” Understand, in the exercises, you are definitely judging, as a manager, the writing performance, but it moves the focus from “bad work” to “improvement” in a non-lethal environment.
It does make some sense, early on in the coaching, to ask “How is what we talked about today, influencing your real written communication with customers?”
Let me know how it goes. -TF
As a philologist, I think the best way to learn expression and writing is to read literature (preferably not management stuff). You will learn vocabulary and improve your general communication skills.
Best regards!
http://managersmagazine.com
Interesting post… my first thought was to not respond and just move on; check back in a day or two and see if there were any tips that I could use. For some reason this crazy topic stuck in my mind all day long. So here are my thoughts… Thanks Tom!
Plan
Although I find it difficult to routinely follow this rule, I know it’s the best way to start any project. Start with a plan. Ideally, a complete outline of the correspondence if you can, but if that’s not going to work, at the least make sure you have a clear idea where you’re going and how you intend to get there. Don’t ramble on hoping your reader will put it all together in the end. Believe me; they won’t get to the end.
Let the You Shine Thru
Remember that writing is personal; even technical writing has fragments of personality scattered throughout. Write naturally. But not necessarily how you talk – speaking and writing are separate crafts and are processed differently by the brain – endeavor to write using a tone and language that is natural to who you are.
Write with Power
Use active, forceful, powerful verbs. Use verbs that convey action, movement, and purpose; avoid verbs that are passive and simply indicate existence or equivalence (e.g. “Our company is a leading manufacturer of…†vs. “Our company leads in the manufacture of…â€). Never use a verb in a sentence that you wouldn’t do. For example, if you wouldn’t “interface†with a business partner, PLEASE don’t write it. A pet peeve of mine is the use of adverbs. Sure, you’ll have to use adverbs occasionally, but most of the time you should strike the adverb and choose a better verb.
Don’t Use Big words
As tempting as it may be, avoid excessive technical jargon. Be natural, not pretentious.
Take a Position
Be for something or against something. As in life, people can tend to avoid standing for something in their writing. Their language is too diplomatic. Boooo-ring! Stand up, build an argument, and convince your reader that you’re right. Loose the opinion words “thinkâ€, “seem†and “believeâ€; they are weak. Stand for something. Tell me what you know. Convince me.
Close em’
Have a conclusion. People spend excessive amounts or energy on introductions, and slack on conclusions. Tell your reader why they bothered to read your piece. Remember, the conclusion is the part your reader is going away with — make it count.
Make it compelling
Hook ‘em early. Start with the headline, which should say why I should read this. Then write a strong introduction that draws your reader in and makes them want to read on. Tell a story, make a bold statement, and offer up a surprising fact. Don’t open with “According to CNN…” or “According to top economists…”. YAWN!
Editor
Every good writer needs a great editor. If possible, have a trusted reader who excels at writing and specifically editing; fortunately for me, my wife is a prolific writer. Call her if you like, but she is a budding capitalist, and she now charges $575 an hour. If that’s not ideal for your budget, edit yourself. Walk away and let it rest for a few hours or even a day or two. You’ll be surprised how much crud you find when you approach your writing with fresh eyes.
Brevity
(My wife told me to stop here.)
And last but not least, remember that shorter is always better. Mark Twain one said, “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.†My personal thought on brevity is that the best writing gets the point across in as few words as possible. Don’t be afraid to rewrite when you’re done – in the world of writing they commonly use the phrase “first draft†for good reason.
Practice… Practice… Practice…
Ps. When I was done writing this, I searched the web on writing skills – WOW, there’s a wealth of information out there. I came across copyblogger.com that had tremendous amounts of usable information; don’t be afraid to explore.
I like this approach. It provides gentle training in the context of the person’s work, so it becomes more relevant and practical. Another possibililty is to combine this informal, in-context training with some self-study by the person you’re working with. Here’s a couple of good freebies that they could use:
* Technical Writing Courses from Wikiversity –
http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Technical_writing
These courses provide substantial background information and lots of specific, practical instruction, as well as links to tools (software, online resources, etc.) and practice exercises (including case studies). Examples and exercises are work-related and are useful for managers and professionals as well as technical doc writers.
* The Tongue Untied: A Guide to Grammar, Punctuation, and Style [Univ. of Oregon]
http://grammar.uoregon.edu/toc.html
A good place to go for a concise grammar refresher. The site gives clear definitions, several examples, practice exercises, and quizzes.
Either or both could be used to supplement your coaching!
And thanks for your great posts!
Mike Greer
The Best Free Training blog
Inspired Project Teams blog
Its really helpful and thoughtful to have a training session to improve the written skill of the person. And a review greatly helps in noticing how fast he is improving and also tips can be provided based on the feedback.
Regards
Thanks very much for sharing this interesting post. I am just starting up my own blog and this has given me inspiration to what I can achieve.