Re: Writing in the workplace (long)

[Sara Kimball <skimball@uts.cc.utexas.edu>]

Notice that Leigh's boss said he didn't read more than a few sentences of
a document that was disorganized.  Is it better to be un-read or to have
one's writing considered the work of a dummy?
Sara Kimball

On Mon, 4 May 1998, Jon Olson wrote:

> I think Leigh Pike's description of corporate workplace writing is pretty
> interesting.  Notice how the matters we often link with careful thinking
> ("higher order concerns" of organizational unity, coherence, development)
> aren't a great concern--they're taken care of by formulae or are caught
> during a process of review; coworkers judge a writer's intelligence based
> on what we often call lower order concerns.  I wonder if we in the academy
> push our writing agendas a little too hard and don't always listen to folks
> in the workforce who say they really don't do much writing; what little
> they do is only done a sentence or two at a time.  They just want to make
> their sentences accurate so they don't look stupid.   --Jon, Penn State,
> jeo3@psu.edu
> 
> At 07:07 PM 5/3/98 -0500, you wrote:
> >About a week ago, Jon Olson and I were talking about priorities for
> >teaching writing for the workplace.  He raised the question of whether it
> >would be good to teach grammar first rather than large structures of
> >organization.  I wrote to my daughter Leigh Pike (whom many of you met at
> >NWCA this past fall) and asked her about writing.  She is a systems
> >engineer for a huge bank, and she does all the writing for the group she
> >works with.  Here was her answer to my question (with the "Dear Mom" and
> >the "I love you" at the end removed; those were just for me).
> >
> >I thought that some of her comments would stir some interesting
> >differences of opinion and some good discussion.  
> >
> >Paula Gillespie
> >
> >---------- Forwarded message ----------
> >Date: Sun, 26 Apr 1998 08:28:46 -0400
> >From: Pike <pike3@hotcoco.infi.net>
> >To: Paula.Gillespie@vms.csd.mu.edu
> >Subject: Re: Question about writing
> >
> >I talked about your question with Allan [her boss's boss] and he and I
> >feel exactly the same. 
> >
> >Where I work there are two groups:  those that notice and care about
> >grammar and those that do not.  People that care about grammar think
> >that if your grammar is poor you sound like an idiot.  However, we take
> >English as a second language into consideration as we rush to judgement.
> >
> >Most people do not write lengthy proposals.  Most writing is short (one
> >page) memos, usually in e-mail form.  People who write well are given
> >all of the assignments to write long documents.  If you can't write, you
> >don't get those assignments more than once.
> >
> >Allan says that if a document is poorly organized he simply won't read
> >beyond the first couple of pages.  I agree.
> >
> >It is my opinion that grammar should come first, because everyone writes
> >memos and e-mails.  Structure and organization are the icing on the
> >cake.  If your grammar is bad, you'll never be given a chance to write a
> >document so lengthy that structure and organization really matter.  
> >Besides, long documents may be written by a team, with different groups
> >submitting chapters, so the organization is predefined.  Finally, long
> >documents are reviewed and walked through by teams, and a paper's
> >structure will be addressed then if it is bad.
> >
> >We have a published Project Management Process (PMP). The longer
> >documents that we write for every project have outlines defined in the
> >PMP.  You do not have to use the PMP format, but if you are lost you can
> >always fall back on the PMP outline.
> >
> >Allan and I agree on one final point:  poor grammar does not limit your
> >career.  If your grammar is poor because you really are dumb, then it is
> >your dumbness that will keep you from advancing, not your grammar.  If
> >you have a lot of other valuable skills, people will overlook your
> >rotten grammar.  Those that care about grammar will talk about your
> >documents behind your back, but that is about the worst of it.  The
> >topic might come up as management discusses your potential for
> >advancement, but it is not likely to be a career-limiting factor.
> >
> >I'll give you two quick examples.  [and here I removed the names she named
> >and substituted names of my friends] Bobbie used to be the Executive Vice
> >President in charge of applications (computer program)  development for
> >the entire Global Retail Bank.  Her boss reported to the CEO.  (She
> >recently made a lateral move so that she doesn't manage my area anymore,
> >but she is in the same EVP rank as before.)  Neal is our current CEO. 
> >Allan mentioned his pet peeve that neither one knows the difference
> >between "I" and "me".  They both say, "Bob told Joe and I..." 
> >
> >A much more serious offense, in my opinion, is that Bobbie never uses
> >capital letters in any of her internal communications (memos in e-mail
> >form).  This drives me absolutely crazy.  I think it is extremely rude. 
> >She has taken a lot of complaints about it, but she brushes them off by
> >saying she is simply too busy to bother with the shift key.  I hate that.
> >
> >I'll be curious to hear if what I described is what you expected.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>