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Number
71: September 29, 2004
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This week in Katydid:
What
One-third Should Know
Every time you communicate with another person, you're using marketing.
You use what you know and what you assume about the other person to
craft a message they will understand. You try to elicit some kind of
response, even if it is just to continue the conversation. In fact, one
of the biggest barriers to communication is that we don't listen because
we spend so much time constructing our message.
As professional salaried employees, you spend about two-thirds of
your time writing. That is aside from copywriting and other work
product. Two-thirds of your day is spent composing e-mails, letters,
memos, proposals, bids, contracts, reports, presentations, etc., and only
about one-third of us do it well.
The College
Board's National Commission on Writing recently surveyed 120 resource
directors in corporations affiliated with the Business Roundtable.
Sixty-four companies responded, representing nearly 4 million employees.
They
announced their results this month. According to the
report, writing skills are critical for personal success:
"Two-thirds of salaried employees in large American companies
have some writing responsibility. " All employees must have
writing ability-Manufacturing documentation, operating procedures,
reporting problems, lab safety, waste-disposal operations-all have to
be crystal clear," said one human resource director."
"A similar dynamic is at work during promotions. Half of all
companies take writing into account when making promotion decisions.
One succinct comment: "You can't move up without writing
skills."
Additionally, the survey found that one-third of employees write
poorly.
I'd say this was good news for me; however, no one hires a writer to
take care of their e-mail. Typically, the professionals aren't called in
unless the content is for public consumption. Instead, companies spend
about $3.1 billion to try to make up for sixteen or more years of failed
education.
Some of these business writing courses only make the problem worse
because they focus too heavily on arbitrary rules of writing. I find
that working with writers who have taken a class is often worse than
working with amateurs. The student of a typical business writing course
tends to fixate on the two or three rules they can remember, which they
apply torturously to everything they write. The amateur writer is
usually only concerned with getting his point across.
I should point out that the
College Board that funded the study stands to gain from the results.
They're trying to promote a writing assessment as part of future
scholastic aptitude tests (SATs). They believe that it will make the
test a better predictor of future success if it measures a subject that
business finds so critical. I happen to think they're on the right
track, but I wish them luck coming up with a test to measure writing
quality objectively.
Still, their results match up with a series of surveys over the
years:
1995 – Seventy-nine percent of surveyed executives said that
writing was one of the most neglected skills in the business world,
yet ranked it as critical for productivity (Grensing, Lin)
1995 -A survey of 402 U.S. companies ranked writing as
"the most valued skill of employees" (Associated Press).
1997 – Eighty percent of 443 employers surveyed said their
workers needed training in writing skills (Olsten Corp.)
1999 – Communication is ranked the number one required skill
of potential job applicants (in order: Communication, Work Experience,
Technical Skills, Enthusiasm/Desire, Education, Interview Appearance,
and Impressive References) in a survey of 44 large and small companies
in Wisconsin (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).
2000 – Writing is the most valued skill, but eighty percent
of employees at all levels need to improve according to a survey of
executives at 402 companies (Associated Press). In 1995 the survey
showed only sixty percent needed improvement.
What strikes me about these numbers is that despite the awareness of
the problem and efforts to solve it, the perceptions about writing have
not improved. The report from the Writing Commission suggests that this
is because the amount of writing has increased. Among e-mail, memos,
and cover sheets for TPS
reports, we just have a lot more to do.
So, if we're moving the ball but the goal posts are receding, what
can we do? First, realize that most bad writing is a result of good
intentions. You simply need to come up with a different approach.
For example, you want to be clear when you write. The fear of not
being clear may cause you to overcompensate with additional details. The
result is a laundry list of information the reader doesn't care about.
You can also go the other direction. Fearing that you won't be
understood, you write a series of simple, declarative sentences. The
remedial language makes you sound curt or condescending, depending on
the mood of the reader.
One simple technique will help. Let go of the fear by shifting your
focus from what you need to tell the reader to what the reader needs to
know. When you take your own ego out of the equation by focusing on the
reader's needs, you begin to drop the fear of not being understood.
This technique forces you to gather information or question your
assumptions about your reader, which is common when you're building a
million dollar marketing plan, but rare when responding to an e-mail.
Additionally, you should work from some kind of structure. When
sitting down to compose, start by typing some simple notes (three to
five words each) about what you're going to say. Then, put those notes
in order following whatever logic suits you. (Trust your instincts.)
Finally, start expanding on those points, deleting the notes as you move
along. You'll find they become milestones for your document.
With this technique, you'll find that you write fewer words and that
your transitions are easier to follow. It happens naturally because you
have the next milestone in mind as you write and you won't want to
linger too long in one place, which increases the likelihood that your
reader will.
Join
the Top Thirds
Most writing workshops seem to want you to become a professional editor
or proofreader. What you really want is to be more clear, credible, and
persuasive. I teach a writing workshop that focuses on coping skills for
the non-writers who are forced to write. I try to take the chore out of
writing by working with your unique voice and helping you find its best
expression. You learn to work within the skills you have and expand your
toolset. Check
out my course outline for more information.
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Kind regards,
Kevin Troy Darling
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