In a Better Business Writing class I taught this week in Seattle, Dave raised an important question when we were talking about writing for your readers. He asked, “What if some of your readers will be perfectly happy with your message but others will be angry or resistant?”
Dave wondered how hard we should work to be persuasive if only a few people need that extra work from us.
Here is Dave’s example: He imagined writing a piece in which he was announcing a new dress code for all employees. Under the new code, employees would no longer be able to wear jeans or miniskirts. Those who never wear jeans or miniskirts would not care; in fact, they might be pleased. But the few others might be angry, insulted, and frustrated.
What would you do in Dave’s situation? Would you work hard to create an announcement that would persuade even resistant readers?
Sometimes we ask a piece of writing to work too hard. In Dave’s hypothetical situation, if the dress code announcement is bringing the first news of the change, that announcement is doomed to offend and inflame some readers.
What should Dave do instead?
It depends where the company is in its decision-making process. If it is early in the process, Dave can invite employee input on a possible new dress code. Or he can create a committee to review the current dress code and recommend changes. Or he can survey all employees. Once he has involved employees in creating the new dress code, it will be easier to announce it.
But if he has not taken the steps above and still needs to announce a new policy, he should not expect an email or a memo to do the job on its own. He should hold a meeting to present the policy and the reasons for it and to answer questions about it. Then he should send out a well-written email or memo introducing the policy.
What about you? Do you have situations in which some employees, customers, or vendors will be happy about your message but others will be angry or resistant?
Do your best to avoid having a written message be the only communication. Depending on the circumstances, add group meetings, individual meetings, phone calls, a teleconference, or a web conference to the communication methods. Make sure two-way communication is part of the plan. (In two-way communication, the audience gets to comment and ask questions.)
If you use several methods of communicating, you won’t doom your written message to fail. And you won’t lose valuable employees, customers, or vendors who feel resistant to your news.
What does your company do in situations like Dave’s?
Lynn
