Published February 2001

Pop quiz: Does company communicate well?

Today’s rapidly changing economy combined with ever increasing competition means one thing: Every communication you have with your customers and your employees can make the difference in your company’s success. From e-mails and letters to personal correspondence and phone communication, good writing across the organization will differentiate your from your competition.

How well does your company communicate with prospects, customers and employees? I invite you to read and respond to the following questions, answering yes or no and/or ranking your response.

1. How many complaints from clients or referral sources have you received about the quality of your organization’s written communication over the past three months? 1-once a month, 3-weekly, 5-daily

2. Are the memos your employees send throughout the organization concise and manageable and less than one page? Yes ____ No ____

3. For managers: Have you read and reviewed all of the material on your company’s public Web site in the past two months? If yes, please rank the quality of the writing on the following scale: 1-outstanding, 3-average, 5-poor

4. Do your employees include a written thank-you note to your clients and prospects as part of doing business with them? Yes ____ No _____

5. For managers: How many hours per week do you spend reviewing material and coaching your employees on customer communication? Rank the number of hours on the following scale: 1-more than 10 hours, 3-three to five hours, 5-less than one hour

If you answered no to both questions and scored more than five points, your organization could have a serious communication gap. Here are some suggestions you might want to initiate.

Gather data. Gathering data is the first step in dealing directly with this issue. By asking the right questions, you can pinpoint specific writing concerns your employees are facing. Develop a questionnaire that addresses the different aspects of writing so that training can be focused, rather than the traditional scatter-gun approach.

Foster a culture. Develop a culture for good writing. When expectations are stated, people rise to the new level. Talking about what makes for good writing can relieve anxiety that is associated with this topic.

Provide good models. Having good writing models that mirror how you want your organization to be presented is important. Unless your employees know what constitutes good, effective written communication, they do not have a target at which to aim.

Designate an employee. Find employees in your organization who have good writing skills. Let them coach others to better writing. Designate different employees who have different skill sets. Perhaps one is an excellent proofreader, another great at catching grammatical errors.

Hire a writing coach. In addition to large-group writing instruction, hire a writing coach to work one-on-one with your employees. Faster results will be obtained as emphasis is placed on correcting specific writing problems.

Dr. Julie Miller has helped thousands of individuals and organizations transform their writing skills while reducing the amount of time spent on individual documents. She can be reached at 425-485-3221, or visit her Web site, www.DrJulieMiller.com.

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