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Greetings!
Years ago I interviewed the director of a
public works department who bewailed the
writing skills of his employees. When asked
for samples, he could not supply them, but he
did let me meet with his employees.
They shared nightmares of micromanagement of
their documents: The director required them
to change everything, then on second review,
he told them to change it all back to the
original text.
You can adopt a more productive management
style by using these tips:
Be Complete in your delegation: I once
wrote
teacher’s materials for Newton’s Apple, the
science show. Their video was completely
unscripted, and likewise, they provided no
specifications to us. It wasn’t until we’d
produced 10 frustrating drafts that they were
happy. To avoid such a waste of time, provide
complete specifications and spell out your
expectations. If you have a template or model
in mind, share it.
Be
Consistent in your
comments: It doesn’t
matter how you want e-mail spelled (e-mail or
email), but you should establish and follow a
consistent style for writers to save your
sanity and theirs.
Be Clear in your
feedback and direction: A
comment like “put these words on weight
training” is cute, but it is much more
helpful to show how to replace “formulate an
argument” with “argue.”
Be Concise
in
giving feedback. Conciseness
always fights with completeness, but stating
your suggestions concisely will save your
writers time in reading your comments.
Be Correct. Often, manager’s
corrections can
be just plain wrong. How do I know? I consult
my Gregg Reference Manual, and you can
too,
to ensure correctness.
There you have it—the 5Cs applied to offering
writing feedback to writers whom you manage.
Just add a sixth “C”: Compassionate.
Before writing a comment, think: Is this
going to help the problem, or just create
resentment in your writer(s)?
To
learn more about managing the writing of
others, sign up for my webinar on February
15.
The Text Doctor's New Webinars
- Save time and money by receiving your
training
at your desk or in your work group
- Learn communication skills in short,
manageable
chunks of time
- Interact with the webinar presenter to
make sure
you learn what you need
- Provide cost-effective communication
training to
many employees for less cost than scheduling
in-person training
Learn More at www.textdoctor.com.
Learn more about managing the writing of others...from your own desk or conference room!
What's a Webinar?
It's practical, hands-on training you access
on your
computer, either by
yourself at your desk or with others in a
conference
room (viewing with a projected image from a
computer). You receive audio by telephone.
I'll ask
you to interact with me whenever possible,
and you
can always type in questions for me to answer
in the
webinar or after the class is over.
You'll receive copies of the handouts, too.
It's a new medium that is superb for delivering
fast, focused training on specific communication
topics. Yet I'm the only one, to my knowledge,
offering webinars on writing better.
UPCOMING TEXT DOCTOR WEBINARS
My goal is always to help you and your employees
Do more
Make more
Save more
Sell more
Thank you!
Elizabeth Frick
The Text DoctorŽ
Creating better writers
Now serving Minnesota AND Colorado businesses like yours!
phone:
303-527-2989
If you have questions, please call on my Toll-Free
Number: 1-877-839-8362 (1-877-TEXTDOC)
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