Why Management Needs Perfect Written Communication Skills (And How To Develop Them)

From writing complex proposals to formulating a basic email – managers spend a lot of their time typing behind a keyboard. But how perfect do managers’ written communication skills really need to be? Is it enough to just be ‘okay’ or ‘average’?

The short answer is no. Managers must have perfect written communication skills to be effective within their management role. With over 3,000 remote writers to manage at The Content Panel, we’ve learned a thing or two over the years about communicating effectively with a team almost exclusively via written methods.

Here’s a closer look at why great writing skills are necessary and what managers can do to actively improve their written communication at work.

Here are 5 reasons why management needs perfect written communication skills:

1. They send and receive A LOT of emails

To put it simply, managers send and receive a ton of emails throughout their day at work – it’s just a part of their job. In fact, on average, office workers receive nearly 120 emails per day and send an average of 40 emails per day. And for many managers, that number is much higher.

Surely, they need to delegate and declutter their inboxes and see how much time they waste on unproductive tasks. If you’re working and want to look for advice on how to be more productive, read this article about productivity.

But having good written communication skills not only helps managers to process this high volume of information at work, but they can also respond to important emails in a timely and efficient manner. Also, writing well-crafted professional emails is a must for business conversations.

Conversely, time theft is done unknowingly by employees when they take their time reading through an article looking for buzzwords for those emails instead of writing them.

2. They can demonstrate basic professionalism

Good writing demonstrates that you have a basic level of professionalism and is a sign of respect to others – both inside and outside of your organization.

In some cases, your level of written professionalism can even put your company’s bottom line at stake. For example, a proposal or report written in the wrong tone could make or break a business deal. Therefore, managers must recognize this responsibility. They should write and formulate these documents correctly, in the right tone, and in a way that will adequately inform or persuade the reader.

3. It can help them maintain good record-keeping practices

From employee performance reviews to financial reports – managers have a lot of documents to keep track of. Managers with strong written communication skills are not only able to efficiently document important information regularly, but they are also able to analyze and understand records from the past. They can then use this knowledge to make good decisions for their team and the business as a whole.

4. It shows they can process complex thoughts and ideas

Great writers not only process complex thoughts but can communicate those thoughts clearly to others. This is a skill that most managers must have to perform their job effectively. Without the ability to write well, managers may struggle to explain their ideas in a way their team members can understand.

Suppose you’re in a managing role, like a product owner or product manager; that’s all the more reason to be articulate in your communication. If you want to learn the difference between product manager and project manager roles in terms of technical skill set, team responsibilities, and business goals, read this article.

5. They can persuade and influence others

One of the key reasons why managers need good written communication skills is to persuade other people. Whether it’s to convince an investor to sponsor a project or to motivate a supplier to agree on a lower price – managers often find themselves in a position where they need to use the art of influence through written reports, emails, and sometimes even handwritten letters. For good writers, this is easy. However, bad writers may struggle to form convincing arguments.

How do you develop written communication skills? Here are 10 tips for managers:

1. Read more… and then some more 

One of the easiest ways to become a better writer at work is to read as much as possible. Reading a variety of content regularly exposes you to new ideas and trends and helps you get a feel for what good writing looks like.

Try to set aside a few minutes at the beginning and end of each workday to read something that challenges you. Whether it’s an article by a business leader on Medium or a column in a top industry publication, the important thing is to at least read something new each day. Over time, you will quickly notice that as you read more writing from others, your writing improves.

2. Think about your readers first

Remember, the purpose of writing is often to convey a piece of information or an idea to someone else. Before writing any piece of content, such as a memo, report, or proposal, always consider:

• Who the message is for
• What they need to know
• Why they need to know it and
• The context of their role and department

Additionally, you should always keep your tone of voice in mind. For example, a piece of writing intended for your team that is formal in tone may come across as cold and unfriendly. On the contrary, a proposal intended for your boss that is too laid back may give off unprofessional vibes.

To prevent misunderstandings, always ensure that the tone of your written message matches the audience receiving it.

3. Take a moment to jot down your ideas

Before typing anything on your computer, try to take a moment to jot down some of your ideas on a piece of paper. Oftentimes this can help you clarify and organize your thoughts, and it may even inspire you with new ideas that you haven’t even thought of yet.

While it may not be practical to do this for every single email you send, it is still a helpful exercise in cases where you need to write something more elaborate or particularly sensitive. For example, when writing a delicate email to a colleague, a report for your boss, or a monthly newsletter to your team.

4. Less is more

Never forget that your colleagues at work consume a lot of written content throughout their workday. To make their life easier, try to take a ‘less is more’ approach when writing professional emails and documents. This means:

• Only writing the absolute bare minimum of what you need to write
• Not including any unnecessary details and
• Keeping sentences as short as possible

Though it may be a difficult transition at first, a ‘less is more’ approach to writing makes things easier on you since you will be writing fewer words. Not only that, but it’s also much easier for your readers to quickly digest and understand what you are trying to communicate to them.

5. Read what you have written aloud

This might seem like a silly tip – but it can make a huge difference! After writing an email or proposal, go somewhere private and read it out loud to yourself. You will quickly realize which sentences of your writing sound natural and which sound clunky, out of place, or grammatically incorrect. If you’re not comfortable with reading out loud, you can always try using a text-to-speech or voice reader app to read your writing for you.

Again, you won’t have to do this for every piece of writing that you send out, but it’s worth doing for important emails and reports.

6. Stay away from buzzwords and jargon

Good writing is clear writing, which means you should try to stay away from using trendy buzzwords or jargon that your readers may not understand. Additionally, avoid using complex wording that only individuals in your department would know.

For example, if you work as a manager in the finance department, those in marketing may not understand the meaning of certain words used in finance and accounting. When writing for them, try to remember this, or at least include a definition for them when conveying any technical information.

7. Don’t be afraid to use headings, subheadings, and bullet points

The majority of your business writing will not be in an essay format. Therefore, feel free to use as many headings, subheadings, and bullet points as you want. This makes it much easier for your readers to understand and process the information you are trying to communicate.

Headings and subheadings work great as guides in longer pieces of writing, and bullet points come in handy when you need to organize your information into lists. You can also play with bolding, italics, and underlining to ensure that your most critical points are highlighted and easy to find.

8. Write in an active voice

It is easy to get into the habit of only writing in the passive voice, which can make your writing become overly wordy and complicated. Instead, try to make sure that your writing stays in an active voice.

For example, the following sentence can be written in two ways:

• Passive voice: “It was decided by the team to move the weekly meeting to Monday mornings at 10 am”.
• Active voice: “The team decided to move the weekly meeting to Monday mornings at 10 am”.

Though subtle, the active voice is much easier for your readers to understand as it positions “the team” as the noun that is doing something. In cases with the passive voice, it can be difficult for readers to process what is happening.

If you ever feel like your writing is too wordy, you are likely writing too much in the passive voice. To help, try rearranging a few sentences and seeing where you can change passive words into active words – your audience will thank you for it!

9. Make it clear what you want or need from your readers

With each piece of writing, you should always clarify what your readers want or need. Sometimes, you may need to inform them of something. However, in other cases, you may need them to either abide by a new policy, sign up for training, or respond to you by a specific time.

No matter what you need them to do, you must spell out that information clearly and locate it in an easy-to-find place within the document or email. This ensures that your writing impacts your readers and that they respond in the way you want them to.

10. Double-check your grammar

Even the most seasoned writers make grammatical mistakes every now and then – it’s simply a part of the writing process. However, that is no excuse for delivering a piece of writing that is full of mistakes and errors.

To make sure that your writing is the best it can be, you should always run it through a last-minute grammar checker. Online services like Grammarly are super easy to use and can often catch mistakes that Word and Google Docs may miss.

Key Takeaways

So there you have it – a crash course into the most important written communication skills in the workplace. In a nutshell, you need to:

1. Consider your relationship with the recipient
2. Be mindful of your tone of voice
3. Take the time to ensure you are clear
4. Proofread out loud

Remember these four general points, and you’ll be a master wordsmith in no time.