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There are few things in business that aren’t done based on a plan. For anything related to spending, there are budgets. When it comes to employees, there are performance plans. Any significant undertaking is based on a project plan.

Have you ever been frustrated by the detailed answer someone gave you to a simple question? Today’s society values brevity. People send short but frequent text messages to update others on their whereabouts and happenings. Few people listen to an entire State of the Union Address, but instead prefer to be informed later by the summary sound bites provided by the news media. This is not a new phenomenon created by technology, however. 

Typically communicating change within an organization is a one size fits all and a one-way experience. In other words, leaders communicate information about a change that will be occurring the same way they do other general information. Announcements are made by email or the information is shared in a meeting. Rarely are feedback mechanisms in place, messages crafted by audience or sent by the most influential people. I call it “vanilla” messaging - very generic and not really impactful or comforting during times of change.

I don’t know about you, but I often receive emails that are confusing and unclear. After reading them, I still don’t know what the author wants from me. If you have experienced this, or have noticed this in your own writing, then read on for a few tips on streamlining your writing, which can be applied to any form of business writing (emails, reports, proposals, etc.)

Communication is successful when all parties share the same meaning. Shared meaning happens when everyone pictures the information as similarly as possible.