The importance of effective written communication

Ineffective writing is also a pandemic !

Research across the top 1000 corporations shows that about 30% of written communications are requests for clarification of a previous written communication. This represents a great loss in productivity, but worse poor writing can cause costly or even deadly mistakes. Poor writing can lower staff morale, damage a company’s image and cause loss of revenues and customers.

During the years I worked as a management consultant, analysing huge business problems, nine times out of ten the root cause was a communication problem. Huge disasters such as the oil well explosion in the gulf of Mexico have been attributed to unclear written communication.

But why does this happen ?

During my work in executive development I discovered that most people, even with university educations, have not been taught to write, other than creative writing at school – sadly this not what is required in a business environment. So when we land in a new job or our first career post we tend to look around and figure out « how things are done around here ». Then we tend to adopt (cut and paste even !) the predominant writing style of that organisation. In this way ineffective, over-telegraphic or over- bureaucratic and pompous writing styles are perpetuated. Another epidemic is the frequent use of acronyms – a major source of misunderstandings, mistakes and alienation of readers.

In some organisations I have also noticed that people with a high level of education like to show their prowess by using long words and erudite phrases that are not in everyday vocabulary. I also know from research that the higher a person is in an organisation the more they prefer simple direct written communication.

What should we write ?

Know that, when your client, or your boss or colleague receive a written communication (Report, email, memo, proposal, letter….) the first thing they do is ask themselves three things :
1. What is this about ?
2. What are you telling me ?
3. What do you want me to do ?
So be sure to answer these points clearly, logically and directly.

Finally the golden rule is to write for the reader and do not make the reader have to figure things out.

At VIRAK we have designed an effective writing workshop for business professionals and executives which can change your life in half a day. See here for details:

For the first time, VIRAK is happy to propose a half-day training with an expert of communication, public speaker and experienced trainer in English writing skills. Thanks to the workshop format, you will actively participate and have a chance to improve your skills. The number of places is limited.

This half day virtual learning experience is designed for professionals who have to write proposals, reports, memos, letters, instructions, handbooks and executive summaries in English, whatever their mother tongue. Through short modules about the science of effective business writing, hands on practice and group work you will learn how to plan, structure, write, analyze and edit great business writing for maximum impact.

By the end of this half-day workshop you will:
• Know the basic science of effective written communication
• Recognize writing styles that communicate well
• Avoid common errors of style and language
• Write to a logical structure
• Analyze and improve your own writing
• Reduce the time you spend writing
• Add impact to obtain the results you want

Participants are asked to submit a one-page sample of their business writing before the course, that will be used during the workshop and will allow each participant to get personal coaching.

The proposed agenda is 3 hours as follows, delivered using ZOOM platform:09:30 am to 12:00 am
• Introduction, Protocol, Icebreaker, Objectives
• Why bad writing is bad for organizations and why it happens
• Reacting as a reader – participative workshop
• Four stage strategy for writing business documents
• Selecting your audience and material –using your case studies
• Planning your document – structure and layout –using your case studies
• Writing for clarity – hands on writing session
• Editing for readability –using your case studies
• Anchoring learnings – wrap-up

About your trainer:
Sally-Ann Moore is a BSC graduate from the university of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. After which she attended INSEAD and completed a masters. She worked on strategic techno-economic planning programs for 6 years at the prestigious Battelle European Research Institute, during which time she became interested in executive skills development. She went on to become head of Learning and development of Digital equipment corporation EMEA, and became a leading world expert on eLearning and competence management. She has published several papers on these topics and is a well-known international keynote speaker. Since becoming a management consultant Sally-Ann had developed and delivered numerous management seminars and workshops across Europe, Middle East, Asia and the USA.

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