Write Better At Work

Three Tech Tools for Writers

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Forgotten passwords, mangled links, corrupted files, and spinning beachballs of death—misbehaving technology can drive the mildest-mannered writer to fury. Tempting as it may be to pound your computer into its component atoms, resist. Technology can also lighten the burden of a writer’s most onerous tasks.

Write or Die
Many writers find that motivation is their greatest challenge. Anyone who has expressed a desire to be a writer has received the standard counsel: ” The best advice I can offer if you want to be a writer is … write.  A lot.” That’s easy for Stan Nicholls to say. But how do you make yourself write when you don’t feel like it or  you can find dozens of more entertaining or more pressing things to do? Let Dr. Wicked motivate you.

Dr. Wicked, also known as Jeff Printy, understands how easy it is to put off writing because any negative effects of delay seem far in the future. His application makes sluggards feel the negative consequences of procrastination as soon as they stop typing. Users set a goal and choose their level of consequences. Gentle mode delivers a “mom-like reminder”; kamikaze mode eats your words as soon as you stop typing. Sounds harsh? You should have been warned by the name: Write or Die.

Readability Calculators
Write or Die is designed to spur writers to create drafts. A readability checker helps writers revise drafts to make them easier for readers to understand. If you use Microsoft Word, you can get a readability score each time you check spelling or grammar. Several checkers are available online. I prefer the calculator available at Online-Utility.org. It applies several formulas to calculate the difficulty of a writing sample. The Flesch-Kincaid score indicates how many months and years of education a person would need to read a sample easily. For example, understanding a passage with a Flesch-Kincaid score of 7.2 would require 7 years and 2 months of schooling. Many newspapers and popular novels are written at  about a seventh-grade reading level. Less commonly used, the Coleman-Liau index is a good choice for analyzing technical materials.

Although readability scores seem precise, they are based on algorithms that calculate sentence and word length. One formula scores E = MC^2 at a fifth-grade reading level, which ignores the complexity of Einstein’s theory of mass-energy equivalence. However, if your document scores higher than 10.0, readers will probably find it easier to understand if you shorten some sentences and prefer simple words to polysyllables. Online-Utility.org’s calculator suggests ways to make your writing simpler and more understandable.

Writer’sDiet Test
Another way to make your writing understandable is to avoid unnecessary words. However, once you’ve labored to create a draft, stripping out nonessentials can be painful. Experienced writers have developed strategies such as targeting sentences beginning with It is or tightening redundant phrases such as now at this present time. Beginners may have no clue about how they could tighten their writing. Writers at any level of experience can find out whether their writing is fit or flabby by taking the Writer’sDiet Test, developed by Helen Sword. Enter a sample of 100 to 1,000 words, run the test, and get writing results based on your “diagnosis.”

This entry scored “lean,” as shown below. After submitting a sample,  you can get editing suggestions by selecting How can the Writers’Diet Test help me improve my writing?

 

Notes

Stan Nicholls’ advice is found on his home page, stannicholls.com

Write or Die, available for several platforms, can be found at writeordie.com. Printy explains how he puts the “prod” in productivity in this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdLLo08cJKY

To check readability in Microsoft Word, choose your version’s Help menu or visit http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/test-your-document-s-readability-HP010148506.aspx

Online-Utility.org’s readability calculator is available at http://www.online-utility.org/english/readability_test_and_improve.jsp

The use and limits of using readability formulas are well explained in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Toolkit for Making Written Material Clear and Effective: https://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Outreach/WrittenMaterialsToolkit/Downloads/ToolkitPart07.pdf

Take the Writer’sDiet Test at http://writersdiet.com/WT.php?home

How much could you save by reducing email overload?

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Dr. Ian M. Paul was suffering from email fatigue. As a good physician, he wanted to understand what was causing his symptoms. So, for a year, the pediatrician tracked the number of mass distribution emails he received from the medical center where he works. The total: 2,035.

How much did this email overload cost, Dr. Paul wondered. He estimated that reading each email took 30 seconds. Based on the average salary of a doctor at his institution, the yearly cost of reading mass emails comes to about $1,641 per physician. Multiply that by 629 employed doctors and the cost exceeds $1 million.

And that’s not counting the costs of distraction or the consequences of important information missed amid the inbox clutter.

How many of the mass emails your organization sends are really necessary? Can employees trust that leaders’ emails will be clear and to the point? Would improving leaders’ writing skills reduce email fatigue?

You can download free tools to Develop Leaders’ Writing Skills here. This free 22-page whitepaper includes a job aid on writing emails that get action and resources for calculating the ROI on writing training or coaching.

Source: Paul, I. M., & Levi, B. H. (2014, March). Metastasis of e-mail at an academic medical center. Journal of the American Medical Association. Retrieved from http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/1812612

Bad writing costs money; writing feedback boosts productivity

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Josh Bernoff would say “Bad writing costs money” is an understatement. In his view, “bad writing is destroying your company’s productivity.”

What’s the basis for this claim? Bernoff surveyed 547 people who write at least two hours a week (in addition to email) on the job. On the average, they reported reading job-related materials 25.5 hours a week (including emails).

“A majority say that what they read is frequently ineffective because it’s too long, poorly organized, unclear, filled with jargon, and imprecise.”

Eighty-one percent of those surveyed identified bad writing as a significant waste of their time.

However, Bernoff also found that bad writers can improve with targeted feedback.
The Federal Bank of Philadelphia offered bank examiners a chance to participate in a voluntary writing program. After receiving detailed feedback on one or two pieces of writing, participants’ revisions showed a

  • 56% improvement in organization
  • 48% improvement in clarity

The bank didn’t quantify how much time and effort these improvements would save readers. But one or two half-hour sessions of feedback improved writing quality in two areas that reduced the amount of time readers needed to spend rereading or following up with queries.

How much time could cutting down on rereading or follow-up queries save you?

(For more ideas on providing feedback to business writers, see this free 21-page whitepaper, available at https://writebetteratwork.com/free-guide-whitepaper/)

Sources: Bernoff, Josh. (2016, September 6). Bad writing is destroying your company’s productivity. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2016/09/bad-writing-is-destroying-your-companys-productivity

Bernoff, Josh. (2017, February 21). Why your organization needs a writing center. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2017/02/why-your-organization-needs-a-writing-center

Improving leaders’ communication skills can boost the bottom line

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Poor communication can cost mid-sized companies thousands of dollars per year. Cost estimates can reach millions of dollars for multinationals, according to SHRM.

Now we know that improving writing does more than save money. A series of studies by Towers Watson over 10 years found that good communication by leaders drives financial performance.

“Companies that are highly effective at both both communication and change management are three and a half times more likely to financially outperform their peers,” according to Change and Communication ROI.

“A significant improvement in communication effectiveness is associated with a 29.5% increase in market value.”

Want to increase your leaders’ communication effectiveness? Find tools to Develop Leaders’ Writing Skills here. This free 22-page whitepaper provides reproducible tools you can use for individual coaching or writing training. You’ll also find resources for determining the ROI on your investment in writing training.

Sources:

Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). (2010). The cost of poor communications: A business rationale for the communications competency. Retrieved from http://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/behavioral-competencies/communication/pages/the-cost-of-poor-communications.aspx

Towers Watson.(2013–2014). Change and communication ROI—The 10th anniversary report. Retrieved from https://www.towerswatson.com/en-US/Insights/IC-Types/Survey-Research-Results/2013/12/2013-2014-change-and-communication-roi-study

Habits of the Most Productive Writers: Avoid Binge Writing

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Many people assume that writing is best done in long, unbroken blocks of time. Some writers may have that kind of stamina, but few people have the time or endurance to write for hours at a stretch.

Fortunately, the time you have available to write is less important than whether you

• write often

• set concrete goals

• track your progress

Psychologist Robert Boice found that if you write nearly every day, even 15 minutes can be productive. Some writers prefer to work for half an hour, an hour, or even two hours. Your limit should be how much you can do without tiring. Boice advises, “Don’t let writing become so fatiguing that you don’t feel like coming back.”

In a 1990 study, Boice asked writers who usually scheduled big blocks of writing time to work in shorter, more regular sessions. Compared to “binge writers” who wrote for hours whenever they felt inspired, the slow-but-steady authors produced four times as many pages. Those who wrote more frequently also reported getting new ideas more often.

Even more dramatic gains were achieved by those who wrote frequently and charted their progress. Those who also reported their progress to a writing buddy or supervisor were by far the most productive.

Writing Schedule in Boice’s 1990 Study

Average Yearly Output
  Binge writing (write whenever I feel like it)                 17 pages
  Write daily; keep progress chart                 64 pages
  Write daily; keep progress chart; report progress               157 pages

 

Notes:

A summary of Robert Boice’s research on Habits of Research Productivity can be found in Gail Sullivan’s “So You Want to Write? Practices that Work.“ 

This blog entry is an excerpt from Write More, Stress Less: From Getting Ideas to Getting It Done.