While there are many kinds of business documents best managed by professional writers on staff or by outsourcing to professional freelance writers, many people in professional positions have to write a business document at least on occasion.
Often, the result of their efforts doesn’t stand them in good stead with colleagues or even their supervisors.
That all starts with the technical or executive professional having no idea of how to go about writing an effective business document.
There are plenty of documents best left to professionals, such as those that address more than one audience group or those that need to have a structure that a writer only learns to manage through practice.
But, there are some documents that others must write in the context of other professional positions. And that often becomes a frustrating experience all around.
Literally, the first element of the problem is that such individuals often have no idea where to begin. In reality, most writers who become professionals experience this same issue early in their careers. It’s just that learning to overcome it is both part of their professional dedication and part of their job.
So, for this blog post, I thought I would write a little about where, when a ‘layperson’, so to speak, has to write a business document that writer should begin.
The first consideration to take into account in planning, and subsequently composing, an effective business document lies in understanding the nature of the audience the writer aims to reach. In tandem with that, the writer needs to identify what it is the writer wants that document to “do” for the recipient.
This starts the writer off at the very beginning thinking about the piece of writing she will undertake couched in the needs of the reader rather than the viewpoint of the writer or the magnitude of the data. This is why many of the best courses in business writing place a strong emphasis on audience assessment throughout the program.
That is why this in-tandem consideration of the audience “need” from the document with the identity of that reader rises to the top of the priority list of useful techniques for developing strong, effective business documents such as customer letters or progress reports.
This defines the purpose of the document, and the purpose has a strong influence on driving considerations in terms of both the most effective organization and effective style the final document should take.
Knowing what the starting point should be in writing a business document should go a long way to taking some of the aggravation out of the process for those called on to write such documents on a reluctant, “must do” basis.
Not sure how it is with other professions, but I know that In law school we had lots of attention paid to legal writing, of which there's an awful lot. In fact, sometimes it seems that the bulk of a lawyer's work is reading and writing pleadings, affidavits, contracts and countless letters. My wife, however, tells me that in her Speech Pathology and Audiology degree program, there was virtually no instruction about writing reports and professional letters and such, yet a large part of her job involves such writing. Fortunately, she has an in-house editor.
ReplyDeleteHi, Tom:
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.
Tends to depend on the type of degree it is.
Many of the more technical or scientific Majors have almost no training in writing.
Even in some liberal arts programs, the strong emphasis on audience and how that ties into purpose are usually not emphasized unless you go specifically into a Business Communications course: and even then, not always until you get past Bachelor's Degree level.
This is the sort of thing I've seen management level people or technical people struggle with all the time.
That's why I wanted to include some of those kinds of tips in the blog for people who have to do writing on occasion.
For a while, I was employed at a small internet startup primarily as a general in-house editor. It was nice to be at a place that understood just how important clear writing is, and how difficult it is for most people to write clearly. Even those who can invariably benefit from a reading by fresh eyes.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is very difficult for most to write clearly.
ReplyDeleteI have classmates from my Software Technical Writing program who just about always had jobs with in-house editors.
I, however, always seem to land jobs where a great deal of self-editing was expected and I had no professional editor to review the work. I sometimes had technical reviewers who were good with the English language or supervisors that had some marketing function and had a good understanding of what the documents needed, but not actual professionl editors.
Self-editing skills became very highly valued in the Tech Communication world.
I have found that starting with a clear thinking process is the key to doing that successfully. That's why the structured documentation course I took is actually called "Functional THINKING and Writing."
Outlining is also very important.
ReplyDeleteWhen did you take the STW program? Was it at MCC? I took it in 1996. At that time it was called the Software Technical Writing Program (STWP).
ReplyDeleteHi, Susan:
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments.
The STW program I took was at Bentley, through the Continuing Ed division. I was working full-time and taking the course part-time. Bentley actually changed the program to more of a general Business Writing program when I had only one course left to complete, and was able to issue the Certification under the older program since I had completed all the technical courses by then and the Writing course I had left was the same between the two programs.
That was in 1988. However, I had a specialized seminar my then-employer sent me to in I believe 1999: Corporate Standard Functional Thinking and Writing, which is a kind of offshoot of the Information Mapping Method.
In Corporate Standard, in fact, they actually teach that for professionl business writers that while planning is important, getting away from the formal outline process is beneficial.
We're taught to much more effecitvely plan things by using information "chunks" or "modules" [Or "maps"in Information Mapping] than a traditional outline.
When I write web content, for example, I will just write out Subheads and write a section around each subhead. Then go back and do an Introduction last.
Some SEO writing clients will give writers a structure and-or subheads to write, and you write around those.
I do agree that outlining works well for some types of writing, such as more academic or scientific writing.
The modular, or "chunk-ing" method works as well or better than traditional outlining for a typical business report document when a professional writer does the writing, and is generally much faster than a traditional outline. Outlining may still work better, however, for those who must write such documents only occasionally.
You are correct, however, in terms of the essence that these methodologies share: no less than 33%, and up to 90%, of the success of a good business document comes into play in the planning of the document versus the actual writing.
I thank you for your comments. Even to outline well, a writer needs to have an idea of audience and of purpose to construct the outline.
I've been deliberating on my next post to address useful tips, and your comments brought up a couple points that would have value to cover in the upcoming week.
I am assuming that MCC is Middlesex Community College. That program is highly selective, and I did not fare well in the mathematically related portions of the aptitude testing. I believe that program is regarded as "best in the nation." As such, your feedback is valued.
Bentley [at that time] was the next choice for those who did not make it into the MCC program.
Yes, Middlesex Community College and it was an excellent program and hard to get into. I enjoyed a wonderful 16+ year career as a software tech writer after that. Unfortunately my job, like many others, was outsourced to India.
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