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Business Writing Skills

 
Background and Context

This training should support the Shared Services team as it designed to help them understand how consistent communication benefits the other business units.

In modern organisations writing skills have moved beyond the ability to create reports or emails. Written communication skills are key elements of improving systems, knowledge sharing and business success.  The ability to think about the reader and how they might interpret the message is a core competence in a knowledge-based organisation.

The sessions will be hands on. Ideally the participants will use existing case studies to edit and create documents.
 
Proposed Training Course Aims and Objectives

Having completed the training, the participants will:

  • Understand the principles of business writing
  • Practice some elements of business writing
  • Consider their documents from the end user perspective
  • They will appreciate the value of combining technical skills and interpersonal skills
  • They will create a plan to apply the new learning in the workplace

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    Proposed Training Course Content
     
    Elements of effective business writing:

  • Grammar
  • Precise vocabulary choice
  • Sentence structure – reducing complexity and redundancy
  • Brevity, clarity, and simplicity
  • Declarative, Passive and Active style
  • Clarifying your audiences’ needs
  • Impact of context on readers’ expectations
  • Importance of layout and design elements

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    Business email:

  • Email as a key communication tool
  • Email miscommunication errors
  • Knowing your reader
  • Conveying bad news tactfully

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    The process of writing business documents:

    1. Preparation
  • Establish the purpose- what do you want to reader to know or do
  • Primary or secondary purpose
  • Audience and Context
  • Understanding how the user will use the information
  • Scope and time limits

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    1. Research
  • Identify sources
  • Evaluating the data
  • Accurate note-taking

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    1. Organization
  • Sequencing the information
  • Chunking and linking
  • Layout and design
  • Tables and visuals

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    1. Writing
  • Importance of first draft
  • Illustrating instructions
  • Writing to guide your reader
  • Use Headings to indicate the goals of the actions

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    1. Revision
  • Editing mindset
  • Unity and coherence in writing
  • Getting feedback on your document