Effective Communication Strategies

Introduction

The Writing Factory Inc. (TWF) believes that quality writing is just one aspect of a three part approach to an effective communications strategy. Quality writing represents the "right content". The second aspect is the effective storage of the well written content. The third aspect is getting just the "right content" to the people who need the information when they need it.

Quality Writing

Quality writing includes "plain language". "Plain Language" is a movement started in the UK. Its basic principle is to use simple, everyday words instead of industry jargon. Government, lawyers and insurance are a few examples of where documents are often confusing and unclear.

There is no substitute for a well written procedure. It must be short, simple, and to the point. No one has the time to wade through volumes of information, even if it is well written. Information must be targeted and specific. Information must be written in a language and use terminology that is meaningful to the reader.

Quality writing makes employees more effective and more productive, reduces errors, saves time and increases profits. Quality writing is always worth the price.

Effective Information Storage

TWF knows that the "right content" is of little value if the user cannot find it when they need it. A centralized document repository must allow a user to "check out" information, use it and then "check" it back in again. Other users must be able to see who has a "checked out" a document. Document versioning must be controlled. Another value added option is multiple user-access allowing for collaborative input. The document repository must be flexible enough to disseminate the same content in multiple file formats based on user need. The search engine must inspect each file's content and meta data and display the results. In this way, technology enables the use of precise information when and where it is required.

Single Sourcing

Single sourcing is the concept of writing content once and then re-purposing it based on the user's need. However, TWF expands this definition by authoring content to meet a specific user's need ("conditional text"), identify the "conditional text" with mark-up tagging and then disseminating the content based on the condition. This expanded approach means our writers may author content more than once, but this allows for truly targeted information to the user's specific need. This reduces or eliminates editing and reformatting time, thereby reducing overhead.

Content Dissemination

The Writing Factory Inc. knows that providing employees with reams and reams of data and information only overloads them. With the pace of business today, no one has the time to sift through mounds of data just to extract the few "nuggets" they need. People need to access the data/information they need in a timely and cost effective manner. Therefore, select technology to meet your needs instead of the other way around.

All of the above tactics integrate together, like pieces of a puzzle, to form a more efficient and effective communication strategy.

The Writing Factory Inc. has the skills, the training and the experience to help put together a comprehensive, cost effective internal/external communications strategy for your company.

Your Next Step

E-mail or call to see how The Writing Factory Inc. can work with you in the developing an effective communications strategy.