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From NetSpeed Leader Volume 21, February 2005
When faced with an unexpected follow-up phone call or repetitive e-mail requests, we ask, "Didn’t they read what I sent them?" The answer is no. They didn't. People on the job don’t read -- they retrieve. That's why we include precise subject lines, plenty of headings, white space, and clear action items: because we are writing for information retrievers, not readers.
Somebody has to do it: Either the writer has to do the work of producing a crisp, clean, well-organized document; or the reader does the job of finding and extracting useful information from a tangle of words stretched across a screen. Unfortunately, it's not in the reader's job description.
I was rushing to finish a document based on a coworker's handwritten notes when I found a word I couldn’t decipher. I jotted him a quick note saying, "I can’t understand one word. Please see me." Finding my note, he hurried over to my desk and groaned, "Am I that bad -- so bad that you can't understand one word?" I quickly calmed him, saying, "It’s this one."
Lynn Gaertner-Johnston
Founder and Business Writing Specialist
Syntax Training: Tools for Better Business Writing |
A blended learning program for customer service providers |
