A
ll of us communicate, and many of us communicate in
writing. We may not write books—or even annual reports
or business plans. But we write memos, letters, work
orders, presentations, directions, equipment orders, job evalua-
tions, responses to job evaluations, resumes, contracts, and a lot
of other attempts at assembling words in a logical order so they’ll
make sense—the sense we intend—for the reader.
But unlike professional writers who make their living by writ-
ing, most of us do a lot of other things every day. We can’t afford
to spend a lot of time with writing. We also can’t afford the time
it takes to do it over and to clear up the confusion and misunder-
standings created by poor written communication. Even if we had
the time, we may not be aware that our communications are not
communicating. Yet in a study conducted by Microsoft in 2005,
39 percent of workers cite lack of team communication as a time
waster responsible for decreased productivity.
To help those of us without formal training in the art, following
is some advice that may prove helpful.
Tips for Writing It Right—and Fast—the First Time
1. Start at the end
What is the purpose of your document and who is your audi-
ence? You should know precisely what you hope to accomplish
before you start writing or you might as well not bother. Answer-
ing these questions will enable you to determine what information