What do you see in Figure 1: a young woman, an older woman, or both? If you can’t figure out this optical illusion, check out the answer on National Geographic’s YouTube Channel.

Now, consider our written communication. What we believe our work is expressing and what our readers take away from their reading of our work may be altogether different messages. Digital communication has become the norm, and with many of us working from home during the pandemic, our audience must be able to decipher our emails, memos, reports, and school essays. Unfortunately, mastery is easier to hope for than to achieve.

Why Bother

Let’s face it. Writing isn’t fun for many, and it’s easy to come up with a litany of reasons to expend minimal effort at the keyboard:

• Writing is hard.
• It’s boring to be tethered to the computer and to have to decide what to say next.
• If readers don’t get it, they’ll be back in touch for clarification.
• It’s a big waste of time—most people probably don’t read half of what they receive.
• Worrying about quality writing sounds old-fashioned, nitpicky, and pedantic.
• We learned all that writing stuff in school, years ago.
• Writing quality is subjective anyway, and who is qualified to judge our work?

How We Interact through Language

Before we dismiss the importance of improving our written work, we should consider the illusions inherent in the communication model, shown in Fig. 2. The essential purpose of communication is to share ideas through our words. The communication model depicts a feedback loop in which the sender transmits information to the receiver. But first, the message must pass through a landmine of virtual linguistic filters. Because our words are converted into images and then back into words by the receiver, a different meaning than the one intended may well be received.

As with optical illusions, our brains interpret and try to make sense of our words. And even though our words should be able to convey a clear message, often they don’t, especially if we incorporate abstract concepts without explanation, slang, or language worded in a way that makes understanding difficult. These and other roadblocks make the communication process even more difficult in the digital age. But written communication involves an additional brain-twisting challenge—the lack of accompanying body language, which accounts for as much as 70% of message communication. The body language that so richly enhances verbal messaging is stripped from our written words.

Hidden in Plain Sight

Visual illusions are popular and fun to interpret, but not when they derail our message, causing miscommunication that leads readers to throw shade on our prose. Sometimes, we don’t even know the reasons for the disconnect, which may include:

• Learning the wrong way to write—or not learning well.
• Failing to master the basic rules of grammar in school.
• Not knowing why we’re misunderstood.
• Not realizing that we’re misspeaking.
• Adopting business-speak as our writing guide.
• Not understanding the syntax issues in language.

Language constantly evolves, and writing customs have become increasingly casual and conversational over the years. Social media also offers platforms to push misinformation and disinformation wrapped in twisted but compelling ideas that we inadvertently pass along in our messages. The dynamic unfolding of language creates meanings out of what we see around us by introducing new words or different ways to express what we’re thinking. As these changes occur, we must also refashion our language to maintain a clear message.

Banish Writing Illusions

The computer screen has essentially become our BFF for working solo. To be a communication superstar with a clear online presence in this digital age, remember the communication model and beware of illusions lurking in written work. Here are some ways to minimize writing distortions:

• Develop an awareness of the denotations and connotations of messages.
• Read your work out loud to hear where you should clarify words and sentences.
• Treat punctuation like semaphores to direct and guide readers through your documents.
• Use the spell check, editor, or dictate features of software programs and grammar checkers to identify issues such as misspellings, grammatical errors, and writing conventions.
• Have a writing buddy read your work and provide a reality check for coherence and organization.
• Set up a feedback system to replace helpful watercooler input about your written message.
• Take a writing course—and write.
• Avoid sending messages in FULL CAPS, the equivalent of shouting.
• Remove any possible slurs, insults, or stereotypes.
• Take a deep breath, and refrain from sending inflaming emails.
• Follow any organizational formatting guidelines that will add clarity to document preparation.
• Donate your time and share your writing talents to help someone else improve their written work. You’ll benefit too!

Mignon Fogarty (aka Grammar Girl), in her Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing, reminds us that “We’re all ‘professional’ writers these days because our coworkers, friends, and family judge us on our writing, and we all secretly fear that we could do a better job.”

Why learn about writing? Why indeed!

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Mary Meadows is the author of Teach Me to Write: Four Steps to Great Documents, available on Amazon. Reach her at Teach Me to Write, LLC

SWOT analysis is a popular tool for assessing an organization’s goods and services on an operational or strategic level. The SWOT technique can yield valuable insights for further research, analysis, and decision making. The grid is useful for businesses and industries of all sizes, as well as nonprofits and community-based organizations.

SWOT stands for:

• “S” = internal strengths (Our products have highly desirable features.)
• “W” = internal weaknesses (We have serious supply chain issues.)
• “O” = external opportunities (Customers want services like ours in this environment.)
• “T” = external threats (Knockoffs of our premium product are flooding the market.)

The purpose of SWOT analysis is to identify, match, and maximize an organization’s internal strengths (S) with external market opportunities (O) to help reach its mission and goals. Likewise, an organization needs to identify and address internal weaknesses (W), but perhaps even more important, keep them from harmful external threats (T).

But SWOT analysis can also be a valuable—even critically important—personal tool for assessing written work such as emails, memos, reports, and student term papers. When we apply this insightful technique to our documents, especially in today’s radically changing job landscape, we can uncover strengths to match market opportunities, and weaknesses to alert us to potentially dangerous job threats.

The Online Migration

The COVID-19 pandemic has ejected millions of workers from workplaces and resettled them in home offices. You may no longer benefit from the clarity provided by invaluable face-to-face collaboration. Instead, you might receive the hurried email missive: “Just finish and send it to me asap.” You may also be working with unfamiliar teams instead of enjoying the camaraderie of trusted coworkers.

Many believe the work from home situation is unlikely to end soon, if at all. Derek Thompson, staff writer at The Atlantic, points out that: “In March, tens of millions of American workers—mostly in white-collar industries such as tech, finance, and media—were thrust into a sudden, chaotic experiment in working from home. Four months later, the experiment isn’t close to ending. For many, the test run is looking more like the long run…What’s more, for many workers, their emotional relationships with colleagues have changed because their spatial relationships with those colleagues have changed.”

Strong Written Communication = Job Strength

Your employers may not have hired you as a writer, but they will likely expect you to bring strong written communication skills to the job. A recent Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) survey of corporate recruiters stressed that “Strong communication skills have always been and will continue to remain important.”

In another survey, GMAC reported that “Certain skills are essential to your success regardless of job level. For example, the vast majority of b-school alumni at the entry-level (91%), mid-level (94%), senior-level (95%), and executive/c-suite-level (95%) say communications is a skill set essential to being successful.”

The message is clear: Having strong writing skills is a key to job success, and the digital transformation makes strong written communication invaluable. Employers want employees with strong communication skills in the “S” (strengths) quadrant of the organizational employee profile. If employees’ communication skills fall into the “W” (weaknesses) space, the enterprise’s success could be at risk.

But Good Writing Is Hard Work

As adults, we may think that we’ve already absorbed the necessary conventions about written communication. What we learned was adequate for the job. We may have also believed that our written work was not important enough to require skill redevelopment, especially with many other job training requirements. But now, faced with the turmoil of a post-pandemic landscape, we’re locked into home-based written communication that can be intimidating or make us fear that we lack some essential writing skills. And when we don’t have confidence in our writing, we stress over the online delivery of our work or worry that our weaknesses will be exposed.

For many, the fear of writing—and writing well—is real. In his book On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction, writer William Zinsser remarked that “Fear of writing gets planted in most Americans at an early age, usually at school, and it never entirely goes away.” Zinsser also pointed out that “Countless careers rise or fall on the ability or the inability of employees to state a set of facts, summarize a meeting or present an idea coherently.”

On top of our writing concerns, the dangers of COVID-19 have upended our lives. The grim task of concentrating on writing documents becomes even more challenging when mixed with family challenges, job problems, and social unrest. We must also face the reality that some post-pandemic job losses will be permanent—perhaps even our jobs —and that once-thriving industries, the engines of robust hiring, will wither into the past.

If you’re concerned that you didn’t absorb the essential skills of written communication and that your work may reflect more weakness than strength, take the following SWOT test to identify and consider making changes to your writing.

Apply SWOT Analysis to Your Written Work

Adjusting to the new normal workplace may be an opportune time to assess your communication by reviewing a sample of your emails, memos, reports, or school papers. Use the following statements about your work as a starting point for developing your SWOT and add other issues as applicable to your situation:

1. I like to write.
2. I have graphophobia.
3. I excel in critical thinking and project analysis.
4. I didn’t learn how to write in school.
5. I read a lot.
6. I’m overloaded with work and have no time for writing reports.
7. Our company encourages us to work from home.
8. I have to write my supervisor’s reports for him to submit to his managers.
9. My department is being downsized.
10. I have bilingual writing skills.
11. My supervisor corrects all of my emails to customers.
12. I give helpful feedback to my teammates on our writing projects.
13. I procrastinate with writing tasks.
14. I prefer to communicate digitally because I’m an introvert.
15. I’m overwhelmed with past due reports.
16. I’m intimidated by what others may think of my written work.
17. I’m moving to a new work team next month.
18. Friends tell me their company is hiring.
19. I never gave much thought to improving my written communication skills.      

The SWOT Reveal

Use the responses to your previous questions to create a personal SWOT matrix as the accompanying example shows. Some SWOT items will belong in more than one quadrant. Assess where your work is strong and where you should focus future efforts to develop a more powerful personal branding. Scan for opportunities that could pay off using your existing skills and study weaknesses to avoid the threats of shifting market conditions.

Next, create a plan of action for addressing what’s wobbly about your written work. Here are some ideas to beef up your writing skills and build your digital transformation:

• Hire a coach, tutor, or trainer.
• Take writing courses.
• Read articles and books on how to improve your writing.
• Read for continuous learning.
• Create a buddy system and connect with trusted confidants to give and receive feedback.
• Collaborate in problem-solving specific issues.
• Develop a learning plan based on your SWOT findings.
• If you previously commuted, use the travel time saved to improve your written work.
• Accept that retraining, especially in written communication, is integral to personal success in the modern work landscape.
• Embrace the new way of working online.
• Face any fears about writing.
• Practice, practice, practice writing!

Be SWOT Smart

Employers are becoming aware of the need for better employee workplace skills, and you should be mindful of these changing attitudes. In a New York Times article by Steve Lohr titled “The Pandemic Has Accelerated Demands for a More Skilled Work Force,” the teaser text states that “Even groups that regularly disagree on labor issues said there should be significant public investment in programs that can upgrade the skills of American workers.”

You might suggest that your employer set up an employee retraining plan for developing strong communication skills that explore and solve pressing workplace issues. All signs point to the work from home movement as continuing, so employees who offer increased value through written communication will add value to a company.

Organizations of all sizes and types use SWOT analysis to monitor and improve operations. Employers also place a high value on strong worker communication skills. The importance of this skill set to the organization has been magnified by the work from home movement and the increased online delivery of communication. You, too, can apply SWOT techniques to analyze and develop a personal improvement plan to make your written work a strength that opens new opportunities.

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Mary is the author of Teach Me to Write: Four Steps to Great Documents, available on Amazon. Reach her at Teach Me to Write, LLC.

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable defines firing on all cylinders as “working or functioning at a peak level. A metaphor from an internal-combustion engine; a cylinder is said to be firing when the fuel inside it is ignited.”

We can also apply this maxim to our communication—memos, letters, emails, reports, and school essays—since all must deliver optimum performance to showcase our job skills. By editing our work before we press the Send button, we eliminate damaging errors that can lead to misunderstanding our mission or even misinterpreting our message. In today’s online world, our written work often presents itself without the added benefit of face-to-face contact, or the accompanying body language that adjusts for miscues, leaving our message to travel solo to its destination. And since our brains aren’t wired for multitasking, we should undertake editing as the last phase of our writing process, after we’ve gathered our content, prepared a structure, and drafted the text.

Why Edit?

Editing involves a re-viewing of our work to uncover the flaws tangled in our prose. It’s only natural to want to rid our desk of a completed work report or a major school assignment. It’s also tempting to speed through the editing process and move on to the next pressing task—but the document isn’t roadworthy until its final tune-up.

Reminding writers of the importance of editing in business writing, Purdue University’s popular Online Writing Lab (OWL) emphasizes: “For short, routine business communications, you may be able to write quite easily with little or no revision. However, for most business writing—especially longer, more complex letters and reports—you should expect to revise, sometimes substantially, to ensure that you’ve said exactly what you meant to say in a manner that the reader will understand.”

Sloppy writing caused by poor editing can make us the talk of the virtual water cooler, causing recipients to snicker at our grammatical flubs. Further, in increasingly remote work cultures, our bosses may also notice grammatical misfires in our online documents. In his article titled “I Won’t Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar. Here’s Why,” Kyle Wiens, CEO of iFixit and a co-founder of Dozuki, comments: “If you think an apostrophe was one of the 12 disciples of Jesus, you will never work for me. If you think a semicolon is a regular colon with an identity crisis, I will not hire you.” Wiens continues: “Good grammar is credibility, especially on the internet. In blog posts, on Facebook statuses, in e-mails, and on company websites, your words are all you have. They are a projection of your document in your physical absence.”

Accordingly, whether your work needs minor adjustments or extensive revisions, here are some suggestions to steer you in the right direction.

The Big-Picture Edit

Start by looking at the following major elements of editing. If you clearly determined what you wanted to say and presented it logically, your structural framework should be in order, and you may need to make only modest changes:

1. Thesis—As the heart of the document, the thesis should have a defined purpose undergirded by rigorous support such as robust research, data, and examples. Check that you’ve stated your thesis and included expert supporting arguments.
2. Organization—The document content should flow in an orderly manner to help readers follow the point of the message. Check that your document structure supports your outline plan and includes adequate content in each section.
3. Introduction/conclusion—Openings and closings should set the stage and draw the curtain on a work. It often pays to draft them during the document development and polish them after completing the body text.
4. Title—Consider one that meets audience needs and creates interest in reading your piece.
5. Formatting—Follow any required style guidelines concerning such details as typeface, fonts, layout, and margins, and check the accuracy of references and citations.

More Edits: Details, Details, Details

Once you’ve fixed any structural issues, focus on copyediting:

1. Words—Connotations, denotations, and tone all present a message, so make sure they’re what you want to share and that they’re spelled correctly.
2. Sentences—When we string words together, we want to make sure they form a complete sentence including a subject and a verb in agreement.
3. Paragraphs—Each one should focus on a single point in your document, developed around a topic sentence that supports the thesis.
4. Syntax—Check that you’ve correctly arranged the word order and phrases of sentences.
5. Cut it out!—Delete wordy duplications of text.

The Editor’s Toolbox

Finally, every writer should keep these essential editing helpers on hand for additional proofreading support:

1. Word processing software—Get to know your software’s valuable editing features, which may include automatically flagging errors in spelling and punctuation, and can often help with grammar.
2. Online writing resources—Some helpful programs identify errors in a written document and even explain proper usage. Purdue OWL offers such instructional material for writers.
3. Dictionary and thesaurus—These are essential for providing definitions of words and phrases, examples of usage, and etymology.
4. Grammar resources—Grammar books and style guides are available in different formats.
5. Editor buddies—We benefit from helpers who spot what we miss in our own work because we are too close to it.
6. Time—Time is a writer’s invaluable friend. Allow “soak time” during the process for the brain to develop clarity of thinking during the writing process.
7. Read out loud time—Read out loud to yourself or, to someone else, to hear errors that your eyes might not catch.
8. Saving work—Have a backup system for unanticipated computer disasters that strike—as they often will.

Follow the CODE Process

Because writing is a complex process, we benefit from developing our documents in orderly steps as the accompanying flowchart shows. Editing should always be the last step of the process. When you produce your work in this manner, you eliminate errors that may cause your message to fail.

Step 1—Create Content—Have all material on hand before you move to the next step.

Step 2—Organize Content—Set up the framework for inserting your content into an orderly structure.

Step 3—Draft Content—Write the first draft of your document.

Step 4—Edit Content—Complete the final step of writing a great document.

Travel in the Fast Lane

We want to get noticed for the write, rite, wright right reasons. Whether you’re looking for a promotion, a new job, or even a career change, your writing quality will reveal its own story about your abilities.

In his New York Times article “How to Edit Your Own Writing,” Harry Guinness reminds us that “Editing your work is at least as important as writing it in the first place. The tweaking, revisiting and revising is what takes something that could be good—and makes it good.”

Your document is the vehicle for message transmission, so no matter what you prefer as a mode of transport—internal combustion, hybrid, electric, or other, metaphorically speaking—focus on editing tools to ignite your work and show peak performance by firing on all cylinders.

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Mary is the author of Teach Me to Write: Four Steps to Great Documents, available on Amazon. Reach her at Teach Me to Write, LLC

When we undertake a new project, it’s all too easy to become so engrossed in the task that we overlook the big picture and dive right into the details. The same missteps can also apply to writing. When we’re crafting documents—memos, letters, emails, reports (or school essays if we’re also students), we can overlook the point and miscommunicate our intended message. With communication increasingly taking place online, the mastery of excellent written communication has never been a more critical skill for success as managers and leaders. But writing is hard work, and we have only our words on paper or on the screen to represent us. The communication model that illustrates the movement of a message as it travels between sender and receiver demonstrates the serious hurdles of successfully making the point. Accordingly, to help readers overcome the challenges of written communication, and to see the big picture of the message as well as the supporting details, follow the four-step CODE process for writing success:         

Step 1: Create the Content — “C”

The first and arguably the most important step in developing a strong document is to build a foundation on which to stake a claim. For that process to unfold, we need to retreat to our brains for serious thinking because meaningful content is essential to the success of the project. Some people can’t see the big picture of an assignment, while others don’t pay attention to the details. But writing requires both: The forest, the big-picture message, is supported by the main points, and the trees contain details such as data, research, and stories.

Some considerations for creating content include selecting an appropriate topic that’s relevant and serves the document’s purpose, thinking both critically and creatively about the subject, conducting strong research, gathering data, synthesizing external and internal sources, and writing to the audience. The most important feature of the content is the thesis, the purpose for writing the document. The thesis is the document’s heart, the key that validates and supports its mission.

Content collection is complete when you have established your thesis (either you started with one when you identified your project, or you developed it out of your content gathering). The thesis, along with the supporting arguments, is the formational building block that helps prove your case and provides the genesis for the document. When you’re confident with your content collection, including your thesis, move on to organize content, the second step of document building.

Step 2: Organize the Content — “O”

The second step of writing persuasive documents is to group your content into logical categories. Review your thesis and main points and frame the content into section headings. A logical approach that your readers can follow might have the following construction:

• Paragraph Introduction
  • Opening statement of interest
  • Topic background
  • Thesis statement
    • Main points supporting the thesis
• Body Paragraphs (as many as needed to defend the main points supporting the thesis)
  • Topic sentence (which builds on the thesis sentence in the order that they are presented in the thesis statement)
  • Supporting content (which explains topic sentence)
  • Transition sentence to next body paragraph
• Paragraph Conclusion
  • Restatement or paraphrase of thesis statement
  • A brief summary of the body paragraphs
  • A close that attracts readers and leaves a clear message

The above template shows an example of how a short document might be constructed. Consider the length of your paper as well as other factors, such as type of project (a case study being one popular example) to determine if special circumstances are necessary in setting up the outline.

The carefully considered organization of your document provides a blueprint for readers to follow and helps to make your message meaningful. Accomplish your goal by exploring the thesis thoughtfully and defending it point by point in your writing. Check, too, that you’ve used all of your relevant gathered material. Once you’ve organized your content, you’re ready to write your draft.

Step 3: Draft the Content — “D”

Drafting involves weaving the content into the structure we created by writing paragraphs. A paragraph should focus on one point only and relate to the thesis. Every paragraph should also contain a topic sentence supporting the thesis and its main points, much like a mini thesis for that paragraph. In general, paragraphs consist of five to seven sentences with a beginning, a middle, and an end, and one paragraph transitioning to the next; however, a variety of lengths provide reading interest.

Introductions and conclusions are usually challenging to write, so a rough draft that serves as a temporary placeholder can be useful. Once your document is drafted by following the organization you created earlier, it’s easier to focus on crafting an engaging introduction and conclusion.

Executive summaries are often included with business reports, and like the introduction and the conclusion, drafted once the document has been written. Typically no longer than a page in length, the executive summary is like an abstract of the document accompanying it and helps busy readers determine whether they should merely skim the overview or study the entire document.

Step 4: Edit the Content — “E”

The last step of the CODE process involves putting the all-important finishing touches on a document in a clean-up operation. Two categories of editing that will make for excellent writing include editing for grammar and mechanics and reviewing the big picture of the document.

Grammar and mechanics errors reflect poorly on an author, so grammar tools such as grammar checkers, dictionaries, and grammar books are essential. This checklist is not all-inclusive but should include punctuation, typos, word spelling, subject/verb agreement, sentence fragments, word choice and tone, homonyms, and transitions as basics to master.

The other editing technique is a little broader in scope and involves getting editing help with peer reviews of the work, reading the work aloud to catch errors, allowing the document to simmer before submitting it, and creating checklists of document essentials. Of course, review each of the CODE steps to ensure that you haven’t neglected any part of your document requirements.

See It All

To avoid overlooking the forest or the trees of your project, ensure that you have gathered all of the relevant content, that you clearly understand the thesis you want to communicate, that you’ve organized your material in a manner that readers can follow, that you’ve drafted the content and included all key material in a logical order, and that you’ve edited out grammatical missteps. Employers tout excellent communication as a core business skill, and bad writing reflects poorly on the author. Follow these steps so that bosses and coworkers will take notice, and readers won’t get lost in your message. Make yourself stand out by beefing up your writing skills. Whether you’re delivering a brief memo or a lengthy report, your words on paper will represent you, and using the four-step CODE approach will help you achieve workplace success.

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Mary is the author of Teach Me to Write: Four Steps to Great Documents, available on Amazon. Reach her at Teach Me to Write, LLC.