Write It Well

“[A] seven-person team of statisticians, machine-learning experts and computer engineers …. was the longtime frontrunner in the contest…. The Netflix contest has been widely followed because its lessons could extend well beyond improving movie picks.”  – Steve Lohr, “Netflix Awards $1 Million Prize and Starts a New Contest,” New York Times, September 21, 2009

Finally…!  Someone who knows how to use a hyphen!  Lohr hyphenates “seven-person ” and “machine-learning” because these two-word phrases come before the nouns they describe – “team” and “experts.” There’d be no hyphen if either two-word phrase came after the noun: “They were experts in machine learning.” 

For more tips on how to use hyphens correctly, see Write It Well’s book Professional Writing Skills: A Self-Paced Training Program.

If you followed our tips for writing effective performance objectives, the task of reviewing an employees’ performance – or your own performance – will be easier and more rewarding. Acceptable performance documentation includes enough information and uses specific, objective language.  Here are the criteria for acceptable performance documentation:

• Describes behavior, performance, and results the evaluator has observed
• Describes behavior, performance, and results that other have observed
• Explains, illustrates, and supports the evaluator’s conclusions about the employee’s rating or ranking
• Documents agreements
• Tells employees clearly what they are doing well, and what they need to improve
• Documents learning plans or other expectations for growth

Here are several sets of statements taken from performance documents.  For each one, use your imagination to rewrite them so that the follow the criteria above.

1. Cecile’s clothing is inappropriate.
2. Daniel is very reliable.
3. Josh is very unprofessional in his dealings with clients.

Here’s one way to rewrite the statements so that they follow the criteria for effective performance documentation:

1. Cecile often wears jeans and sandals or sneakers to work, although she has been told that the dress code prohibits such casual cothing for customer service staff.
2. Daniel is at his desk ready to work by 8:30 every morning.
3. Three times during this performance period, I overheard Josh telling off-color jokes to clients.

Here are some training providers to visit: 
Data Directions, Inc. – IT Training : Customized, instructor-led custom training for IT developers, specializing in DB/SQL technologies
The Kilgore Group : Executive, management, supervisor training, coaching. Communication skills, soft skills
The Negotiation Skills Company : TNSC builds provides tools for negotiation, conflict resolution & decision making.
Competitive Solutions, Inc. : A leadership training and consulting company that specializes in business scorecards.
The Quest Team, Inc. : World-class sales, marketing, and customer account team training and development.
True Solutions, Inc. : Project management consulting and training services, PMP exam prep, PMI PMBOK 3rd edition, PMP exam
LodeStar Institute – dfss, Lean, Six Sigma, Statistics : LodeStar Institute – Lean Six Sigma, dfss, statistics, process improvement, exceptional training
Online Event Registration Software : Premium Event and Training Registration Management
Train The Trainer : Train the Trainer Program (T3) for managers, supervisors, and new training professionals.
The Training Bank : Customizable training in Management, Leadership, Customer Service plus great range of online courses
The Pincus Group, Media & Exec Communications Tr : Premiere customized training for executives in speech, presentation, media and crisis communications
Green Peg – Metrics & Training : Management Training, Leadership Training, Customer Service Training, Metrics, BSC, KPIs
CBA_Link : Performance Improvement Technology for manufacturing, financial, and service organizations,
Learning and Performance Solutions : We work with companies to improve individual performance and management and leadership effectiveness
Eogogics Inc : Eogogics provides technology and soft skills training and services
Henderson Training : Solving your people problems
Assessments : DiSC, Emotional Intelligence, iSight, Via Strengths and Coaching
Laurel and Associates, Ltd. : We specialize in helping technical trainers design and deliver effective classroom training.
DiSC Profile Assessments – Online or Paper : DiSC profile assessments. Choose self-scored paper or use online DiSC for instant results.
Merit Training Corporation : Training and consulting for corporations and government institutions.
ContactPointe Training and Classrooms : ContactPointe Provide Professional Training Services and Classrooms for Clients in North America
Walt Slaughter Associates : Public and in-house sales training with an emphasis on Value Selling and Cracking New Accounts
New Directions Consulting : Team building training and consulting, coaching and leadership development
Dr Rick Goodman : Dr Rick Goodman is an Author ,Speaker and Consultant on Leadership, Healthcare and Customer Service
The Effectiveness Group : Trainers and developers of courses in engagement, leadership, team building, Conversity, etc.
The Training Registry: Training Resources Directory: Courses, Consultants, Speakers, Trainers, Facilities, Coaches, etc.

Write It Well’s very own Janis Fisher Chan was quoted in an article in the San Francisco Examiner about e-mail etiquette and the recent blunders by Sarah Palin, Mark Sanford, and Elizabeth Becton. Read Janis’ tips for avoiding problems of your own.

New York  Times reporter Adam Bryant interviewed Richard Anderson, chief executive of Delta Airlines about what’s important in today’s business world.  Communication skills are high on his list.  Here are three quotes from the article about the importance of strong written communication:

“…when you write e-mail, you need to express yourself very clearly.”

“People really have to be able to handle the written and spoken word.”

“More and more, the ability to speak well and write is important. You know, writing is not something that is taught as strongly as it should be in the educational curriculum.”

With Write It Well’s facilitator materials, you can deliver the workshop yourself!  For less than $20 per person per day, you can deliver an excellent workshop (and wow your boss). Reduced printing costs have allowed us to discount the prices on our popular facilitator kits (Effective E-Mail and Business Writing).

Lists are more effective than paragraphs because they:

• communicate information quickly
• save valuable writing time
• reduce the chance of grammar and punctuation errors 

Here’s an example of text in paragraph form.  Read on to see the same information presented in list form. 

PARAGRAPH

The task force found that the customer service representatives need training in how to respond to problems and complaints.  There is widespread unhappiness about the quality of food in the cafeteria, indicating the need to find another vendor.  How to implement flexible hours without creating logistical problems requires additional study.  Finally, field representatives need more powerful laptop computers, which have not been included in this year’s budget.  These are the primary areas of concern the members of the task force believe they need to address during the next six months. 

LIST

Below are the primary areas of concern the members of the task force believe they need to address during the next six months:

• The customer service representatives need training in how to respond to problems and complaints
• There is widespread unhappiness about the quality of food in the cafeteria, indicating the need to find another vendor
• Additional study is needed to determine how to implement flexible hours without creating logistical problems
• Field representatives need more powerful laptop comptuers, which have not been included in this year’s budget

 To make sure your lists are easy to read, follow the guidelines below. 

1. Introduce the list.  Every list needs an introductory statement, if only a few words, that tells readers what the list is about. Make sure that you leave a space between the introductory statement and the first list item. 
2. Make sure that all items belong on the list.  All items on the list should be directly related to the introductory statement.
3. Keep lists short.  If you have more than five or six items in a list, you should consider creating more than one list.
4. Be consistent with initial capitalization and end punctuation. List items that are fragments of sentences do not have to begin with capital letters (unless the first word is a proper name).  If you capitalize the first word of one line, capitalize the first word in every item.  End punctuation is only necessary if an item contains more than one sentence. It’s not wrong to use end punctuation but if you use it for one item, you must use it for all items.
5. Keep the list parallel in form.  All items on the list should be presented in the same form.  For example, if one item begins with an “ing” verb, all items should begin with “ing” verbs. 

An article in the Washington Post quotes a recent Lexus advertisement: “The Lexus loaner turned out to be a GS Hybrid. To say it was an upgrade from the battered Crown Vic I’d driven with the LAPD would be an understatement.” It hardly sounds like an advertisement, does it? In noir page-turner style, the advertisement / serial novel goes on to seamlessly brand a work of fiction.

Facing a younger generation that finds traditional branding rather patronizing and extremely annoying, the world of alternative advertising has blossomed into a $2 billion business. Creative writing skills are more useful than ever — and there’s even less tolerance for inflated jargon and business-speak.

Good grammar rules make our jobs easier: they help us communicate clearly and professionally. But there are many mistaken grammar notions that do nothing but get in the way and make us feel insecure about our writing. Philip Corbett, the deputy news editor at The New York Times, points out some of these grammar hobgoblins this week in After Deadline. Here are two:

• None: singular AND plural. Under the mistaken impression that none was a contraction for “not one,” many grammar advocates insist we use none with singular verbs. Actually, none has been both singular and plural since its birth as the word nan in Old English. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary of English Usage notes that King Alfred the Great used it as a plural back in A.D. 888.
• Beginning with but or and. Conjunctions like but or and give us a short way to say “however” or “in addition” when opening a sentence. However and in addition often sound awkward and overly formal. And none of the major style guides have a problem with conjunctions starting a sentence.

Social media has captured everyone’s attention these days, especially businesses who want to capitalize on personal networking. In a recent article on The Morning News, Margaret Mason lists fourteen ways to use Twitter politely. She divides Twitter users into two types: those who broadcast, blog-style, and those who use the service to chat with each other. Some of her tips:

• Remember everyone can hear you. This goes not just for Twitter, but for Facebook and even e-mail.
• What’s rude in life is rude in Twitter. We feel a certain imaginary invulnerability when using the Internet. Being mean will come back to bite you.
• Think twice before Twittering in an altered state. Again, this goes for any type of communication that doesn’t require stamp-licking effort.

Whether you’re Twittering on a corporate account, starting a blog, or just shooting your co-worker an e-mail, take the time to polish your writing. Electronic communication is marvelously easy — which means broadcasting your mistakes is marvelously easy, too.