Information overload is the bane of our working life. Where to start? Where to end? When your bandwidth is exhausted, doing nothing can seem a surprisingly attractive option. But can ghosting really solve anything? Or do your problems multiply? You know the answer.
So why don’t we do something about it? Since when has stressful overload helped anyone, anywhere? It’s about time people started to react and look at the problem with a view to solving it. Because whether we acknowledge it or not, poor communication affects the bottom line too.
The best way to see where the problems occur is to dig deeper. Where does the stress kick in? Time to question:
Is it that we’re stressed at knowing where to start?
Is it because other people are wasting our time with messages that quite simply confuse?
Is it because we’re not flagging up to managers that they need to get helpful guidelines in place?
Let’s look at how we can start to put things right, once we identify what’s going wrong and where.
Step 1: Why are we writing?
Sounds obvious? You’d think.
You matter as much as the organisation you work for. Your linguistic fingerprint, so to speak, should shine in whatever you write. It’s a brilliant way of showing you care and making your mark as a professional.
But it’s not a given that you’ll be looking at it that way. And that’s where you can be going wrong from the outset. If we don’t work that out individually and collectively, and organise our thoughts, then, just as with AI tools, what happens? Well, clearly: poor input, poor output. As people, we need to program ourselves.
It alleviates stress if we identify right at the start:
Why are we writing?
How do we get to the point and build in the right ask, to save ourselves and our readers precious time?
How do we achieve the right tone to engage the readers in question?
That we understand the importance of accuracy, authenticity, and professionalism.
Step 2: Once you know the why, get to the point
Once you start to get organised, every writing task gets easier. It applies as much to instant messaging as technical writing and sales and marketing communication.
When you start on a journey in your car, you’ll be looking for signposts or your sat-nav to get you to your destination. You won’t be asking for unnecessary diversions, will you?
So why act differently when it comes to workplace writing? Ditch the distractions, the chat, or missing and irrelevant information that leads nowhere. Get to the point. Highlight the information that matters. Make clear the ask that you might need to make. What’s the time frame involved? Who’s involved? Have you kept them in the loop?
Signpost it all. In this way you help everyone achieve the outcomes needed.
Step 3: Be a person, not just a sender
Increasingly that’s what your audience craves.
Of course AI is going to help us all with much of our writing tasks. It’s great at organising things for us and can provide a useful springboard that kicks off our writing process.
But why ditch our greatest assets as humans? Our human uniqueness. The personality that makes us ‘us’. Our critical thinking skills. Our ability to collaborate, to create, engage, influence. Our dedication to professionalism, to writing accurately and personably.
The moment you stop and actively think about this as an important base to your written messages is the moment you stop seeing writing as a chore.
Step 4: Now see the results flow
The following framework will help you get to the point, by stopping to think before you write, while you write, and after you’ve written:
People: You, your company, your audience, all matter
Process: Plan, Personalise, Write, Succeed
Tools: Use AI to help but provide your own personality and critical thinking
Reader experience: Human, Accurate, To the point, Professional, Polite
