Helen Wilkie

Business Writing Skills: why yours matter

Business writing skills are important for everyone in the workplace, particularly for managers. Poor writing skills affect both current job performance and future job prospects, so it's important to sharpen this essential business skill.

I'm often surprised when I hear people talk about "communication skills" and "writing skills" as if they were two separate attributes. Writing is a communication skill, and an important part of any communication skillset. Good writing skills are important for people at all levels in business, but perhaps more than most for managers.

The average executive spends several hours (very expensive hours!) every day reading letters, memos, e-mails and reports written by managers. Many of these executives are frustrated by how much of their time is wasted because the materials are so badly written they have to interpret them before they can absorb the information. In most cases, they will simply not make the effort, so they won't receive the information, nor will they be well disposed towards the writer. If yours are among those messages, it reflects badly on you and doesn't do much for your career prospects.

I've met many managers who spend an inordinate amount of time writing, because it's difficult for them to find just the right words to express their messages effectively. Most managers complain about lack of time, and if they are spending inordinate amounts of it casting about for words for their written messages they are certainly adding to the problem.

Since time is money, this writing problem contributes directly to the huge, and largely unrecognized, financial cost of poor communication in the workplace.

Here's another reason to write well. Let's say you have a great idea you'd like to put before senior management. Maybe it's a better way of handling a particular task or process, or something new altogether that would be good for the company. The best way to have your idea considered is to first send a written message to introduce the idea; the message would also include an offer to make a detailed presentation on the subject. Believe it or not, many ideas die unheard, because the people who have them can't express the ideas in writing at this early stage. Don't let that happen to you.

If your writing skills are excellent, they can help position you for success in your career. On the other hand, if you can't write effectively, that can hold back your career or damage your reputation. All in all, I strongly believe managers must develop and sharpen their writing skills, in the interests of both current job performance and future job prospects.

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