"Lousy Letters Cost Firms Business"

So read the headline in a recent BBC News report. This was the summary of a recent survey conducted by Abbey bank. Over 2000 people were questioned in the survey. The use of jargon and convoluted sentences were frequent complaints.

Businesses spend enormous amounts of money on, for example:

• Sophisticated customer relationship management processes
• Developing the interpersonal and sales skills of their sales teams
  
• Training their people in presentation skills
  
• Investing in influencing and communication skills development
  
• Developing their people to be internal consultants

The reality is that business decisions are often based on the decision making group reading a report or proposal.

A salesperson may spend many hours influencing the potential customer in face to face meetings. The final decision, based on a proposal will often be made in their absence. What has been the cost of getting the sale to this stage? How much is riding on the quality of the written proposal?

The same is true for internal decisions within an organisation. For example, a decision as to which new computer system to install will often be based on a report produced by an in-house team. What are the implications of the wrong decision based on a poorly constructed report?

The power and importance of the written document is clear. So why is it that "writing skills" are often seen as a low priority?

Is it because there is an assumption that people in management or senior sales roles have well developed writing skills?

Maybe there is an assumption that the skills are so basic that little investment is needed? Is it because businesses do not realise what the real skills of effective report and letter writing are?

What is the objective of a report or proposal?

To communicate information that the reader does not already know, and to make a recommendation that you want them to agree with.

The easier it is for the reader to follow your thinking, understand why you have come to the conclusions you have, the more likely they are to agree with your proposal. Of course, the report must also be written in clear, concise language - however, without the logic in thinking the report contents will not be clear to the reader.

In summary, effective written communication requires:

• A thinking process that will result in a logically ordered and reasoned structure
  
• The ability to format the written document so that it reflects the structure and logic of the thinking process
  
• The use of clear, concise and correct language

Our sense is that there is a growing realisation that effective writing skills are important to a business. We have developed and facilitated learning programmes for construction companies, International law firms, accountancy practices and business consultants. As we work on an in-house basis all programmes are developed to a specific client brief, but incorporate the fundamental principles of effective report writing. These key principles are:

• The nature of communication, the coding and decoding process
• Separate out the thinking and the writing process
• Create context and relevance by structuring an introduction using a 4 point plan
• Build the bridge from the introduction to the main body via a summary
• Structure the main body using an "organogram"
• Translate the thinking process into a clearly labelled document format
• Write with the reader in mind
• Use clear, concise language

Are written communication skills important in your business? How could your external and internal communications be made more effective?

If you would like more information on our approach to "structured written communications", or if you would like to see some example materials please contact our training consultant Richard Moxham...

• E mail: richard.moxham@hrteam.co.uk
• Tel: 01435 865 711
• Mobile: 07836 221 297