Written Communications—Creating and Responding
Have you felt intimidated about putting something you need to say in writing? Do you worry about what to say and how to say it?
Somehow, putting our communications on paper in black and white seems formal, perhaps final—and sometimes a little scary when there can be legal consequences.
Most of us find it a little easier to communicate verbally. We can alter or correct mid-sentence. We have the added advantage of being able to see or read how others are receiving our messages when we are face-to-face. And even on the telephone, there are signals that can alert us to how we are being received.
Often when I work with clients, they need to create a written document or to respond to one. Examples might include:
Personal:
- Writing an offer or a creative proposal to someone
- Writing a refusal to an offer
- Writing an apology and/or asking for forgiveness
- Responding to a complaint or grievance
- Requesting to work out an issue or problem with someone when you can’t call them
Business or Organizational:
- Policies and procedures, job descriptions, or employment agreements
- Mission, Vision, Principles and Values statements
- Written directions to an individual or a team on how something is to be accomplished, including project objectives, requirements, timelines, resources available and budget guidelines
- Responses to investigations, personnel grievances or customer complaints
- Employer communications that document performance evaluation, supervision, correction, training and/or terminating an employee or position
- Employee response to employer documents regarding performance evaluation
I can help you with these writing requirements.
My decades of experience in public school site administration, human resource administration, grievance investigation and processing, representation of labor and management in negotiating, and writing policies and agreements have provided a lot of opportunity to create and respond to written communications. Good personnel work requires good documentation.
I am not a lawyer and I do not give legal advice. However, in my career positions I was able to observe and learn from the skilled attorneys who advised me and those who advised my adversaries. It was an on-the-job training opportunity that has been helpful in identifying potential pitfalls and better options to consider.
I have training as a certified ghost writer for business building books. And as a conflict and spiritual life coach, I have assisted people who were courageous enough to confront issues that were complex, difficult, transitioning and resolving within themselves and with others. This required all levels of communication including written documents.
If you have questions about meeting your communication needs in writing, let’s talk about it!