Articles

Many professions from forensic scientists, to engineers, to performing artists to legal practitioners quote the expression ‘the devil is in the detail’. It’s the idea that although something may appear simple or insignificant, there could be hidden problems. There have been many cases where lack of attention to detail has cost organisations as well as individuals millions of dollars, reputational damage and emotional distress.

Poor written communication is a piece of the puzzle often overlooked or misunderstood when investigating an error or non-compliance at work. Poorly written communications lead to confused staff and confused clients, with loss of income and damage to your reputation two potential outcomes.

I grew up in an era when women were routinely referred to as ‘the weaker sex’. We were expected to be afraid of mice but not of childbirth; we were expected to be capable of raising well-adjusted children (with no days off) but not of running a company. Words have a powerful effect on the reader and can define us positively or negatively. Although true gender equality may still be a long way off, some of the rhetoric has thankfully changed. Enter the fearless female.

Listen carefully to many native English speakers and you’re more likely to hear them say ‘gonna’, ‘wanna’ and ‘cos’ rather than a clearly enunciated ‘going to’, ‘want to’ and ‘because’. Known as 'reductions' (lost sounds in words), these casual forms have also been infiltrating written communications including emails, social media posts and newspaper articles. But are these terms acceptable in business writing?

There are many words in English that sound the same but are spelled differently. Two of these are 'enquiry' and 'inquiry', and 'program' and 'programme'. Is there a difference in meaning? Or does it simply come down to personal preference?

When we speak, most of us use plain English. Yet, many people believe they need to switch to a complicated, formal and bureaucratic style when they write at work. Several decades ago, your employer may have expected such a style in written communications. It is certainly not appropriate today. We need to take the effort to make our message crystal clear. To achieve this clarity in writing, watch out for these three common traps.

Which is correct? Single or double quotation marks? Do lists take a semicolon at the end of each bullet point? While it might seem pedantic, checking these details and consistently applying your organisation's preferred style will raise the professionalism of your writing.

You’ve checked your report a dozen times, each time finding several ‘new’ typos. They seem to come out of the woodwork. If you see a mistake that you’re sure you fixed last time, you might even begin to believe aliens are sabotaging your work. Despite best efforts, everyone makes typographical errors. So why is it so hard to spot typos in our own work?

When you write emails or reports at work, you may find it difficult to identify whether your communication is easy to read. After all, you know what you mean, so surely your reader will too. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. To get the best results from your written communications at work, make sure you use these five basic building blocks.

Fixing team members’ writing is an all too time-consuming part of many people leaders’ role. Poor written communications not only cause frustration and inefficiency, they can result in poor team engagement and job dissatisfaction. In turn, this leads to performance issues and increased staff turnover.