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Why does writing matter in remote work?

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Re: Why does writing matter in remote work?

#51

Post by C1sc0cat »

cachestash wrote: post #14
AmericanChopper wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve followed this format ever since I read about BLUF [0], and I’ve found it to be highly effective. I don’t use the same subject keywords the article describes, but I try to keep it concise. I put the point of the email first, a bit of background, and further explanation below that if required. I don’t think anybody really appreciates the beating around the bush and story telling that goes into a lot of corporate e…

Miltary parlance does not always translate well to civilian. His first example email ~~~ Shannon, Bottom Line: We will reduce the number of days that employees can work from home from three to one day per week effective December 1st. Background: * This is an effort to encourage team morale and foster team collaboration * All members of the management committee supported this decision ~~~~ A lot of people would take t…

I would have put that the other way round

" In order to encourage team morale and foster team collaboration, the management committee have decided to reduce the number of days that employees can work from home from three to one day per week effective December 1st."

Re: Why does writing matter in remote work?

#52

Post by SiempreViernes »

ejolto wrote: post #46
Vinnl wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After a sync meeting, I find that it can be useful to note down your key takeaways in an email sent to the other party for confirmation. ("For posterity, this is what we just discussed: ...".)

That's called Minutes[1] and is super helpful to have. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minutes

Can't be, these are meetings at disruptive tech innovators! /s

Re: Why does writing matter in remote work?

#53

Post by onionisafruit »

krebs_liebhaber wrote: post #47
Animats wrote: post #11

There are sizable open source projects which do all coordination asynchronously. There are no synchronous meetings, even online. The military takes writing seriously.[1] People write things which are acted upon by others. The reader needs to understand clearly what is intended. Especially when they are out of communication with the sender. It's worth understanding the military five-paragraph order format.[2] Not beca…

The military has also been responsible for some rather gruesome crimes against the written word [0]: > Vanilla flavoring shall be pure or artificial vanilla in such quantities that its presence shall be organoleptically detected, but not to a pronounced degree. > Candied cherries shall be made from pitted cherries. They shall be thoroughly processed with sugars to a soluble solids content of not less than 72 percent…

That’s funny, but it has me wondering what recipes typically look like for mass produced food.

Re: Why does writing matter in remote work?

#54

Post by larrywright »

onionisafruit wrote: post #53
krebs_liebhaber wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The military has also been responsible for some rather gruesome crimes against the written word [0]: > Vanilla flavoring shall be pure or artificial vanilla in such quantities that its presence shall be organoleptically detected, but not to a pronounced degree. > Candied cherries shall be made from pitted cherries. They shall be thoroughly processed with sugars to a soluble solids content of not less than 72 percent…

That’s funny, but it has me wondering what recipes typically look like for mass produced food.

Having spent some time working fast food many years ago, it’s not far from that. Temperatures, cooking times, sizes. All precise. Much of the food comes from suppliers in a ready to use state — onions, pickles, fries, etc. I would bet that the specifications given to those suppliers are written in similar language.

Re: Why does writing matter in remote work?

#55

Post by ghaff »

smu wrote: post #28
nikanj wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For most companies, the process is not the product. Having immaculate meeting notes from sync meetings 3 years ago doesn't keep the lights on.

OP mentioned he's in a business owner role. He's probably talking to customers often, possibly scoping projects or features. In these cases, having notes will prevent scope creep and will be necessary to have customers accept the work. Customers will forget what was discussed and what was agreed to. They will want to add that "one last thing" just when you're expecting to close the project. Even in different roles (o…

When I was a consultant/analyst, we had a few otherwise wonderful clients who were also masters of expanding the scope of projects if you let them. This, more than anything else, taught me the value of clearly documenting deliverables and milestones. That's not to say we couldn't make adjustments if needed but doing so needed to be done as a formal mutually agreed-to process.

Re: Why does writing matter in remote work?

#56

Post by ubermonkey »

helipad wrote: post #48

Can anyone recommend a writing coach I could work with? It's important to my role. I'd happily pay someone to set me (and hold me accountable to) relevant assignments and give feedback on my work. I understand there are writing courses, it's the 1:1 timely feedback I'm seeking.

I am not offering to do this for you, but I have absolutely wondered MANY times over the years if this -- coaching highly technical people on writing better -- was a business model.

Re: Why does writing matter in remote work?

#57

Post by Jedd »

thomk wrote: post #8
insickness wrote: post #2

Whenever you compose an email, put your ask in the first sentence. Do you want information from them? Do you want them to do something for you? Put it in the first sentence. Then put the explanation and details in the rest of the email.

This. Even if you are emailing an old friend for a favor, put your request up front then put the cordial stuff after, its much more sincere that way. > Joe, we are looking for advisors to sit on our board. This is a non-paying position so I'm emailing all my old friends and asking for favors. Hey, how are you? How is your wife and son? Either way lets get together soon! --Aaron

I really rail against people who think 'This.' is a sentence, let alone a useful contribution.

It's especially galling when the topic is 'Put your question / point in the first sentence / paragraph' and someone's first word, sentence, and paragraph is simply 'This.'

Re: Why does writing matter in remote work?

#58

Post by eitland »

tluyben2 wrote: post #16

I work with many people who are against writing; they never write anything and they only want to do sync meetings (phone/in person); I am on the tech team usually which makes that even more painful as 'talking through tech' is a horrible thing. Nothing sticks as everyone needs time to think about things. Inevitably, after a while, you get people losing track of things that were actually said, that were actually agree…

Writing minutes is useful but has its limitations.

A few years ago I worked with two technically brilliant but somewhat unpleasant guys.

After a while I realized it was a good idea to write down everything so I made sure I coukd always point to a mail or something.

Turned out even that had its limitations. At one point we discussed something and I ponted the older one of them to a mail where I had described it. His answer:

Sure, that's what you wrote but not what you meant.

I left not too many moons later.

Re: Why does writing matter in remote work?

#59

Post by ghaff »

ubermonkey wrote: post #56
helipad wrote: post #48

Can anyone recommend a writing coach I could work with? It's important to my role. I'd happily pay someone to set me (and hold me accountable to) relevant assignments and give feedback on my work. I understand there are writing courses, it's the 1:1 timely feedback I'm seeking.

I am not offering to do this for you, but I have absolutely wondered MANY times over the years if this -- coaching highly technical people on writing better -- was a business model.

I don't know what you mean by "business model." Certainly there are lots of people who do music lessons, presentation skills, tutoring, etc. as either a part-time thing or as a full-time business. If it's 1:1 instruction, it's not all that scalable although the seemingly more successful examples I've seen do things like classes for companies and individual sessions for executives.

For individuals though, I think it's easy to see that the hourly rate can't be all that high.

For writing, the best bet is probably to get hooked up with some editor who does this on the side or maybe a writing prof at a local community college or adult education center.

Re: Why does writing matter in remote work?

#60

Post by objectivetruth »

Jedd wrote: post #57
thomk wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. Even if you are emailing an old friend for a favor, put your request up front then put the cordial stuff after, its much more sincere that way. > Joe, we are looking for advisors to sit on our board. This is a non-paying position so I'm emailing all my old friends and asking for favors. Hey, how are you? How is your wife and son? Either way lets get together soon! --Aaron

I really rail against people who think 'This.' is a sentence, let alone a useful contribution. It's especially galling when the topic is 'Put your question / point in the first sentence / paragraph' and someone's first word, sentence, and paragraph is simply 'This.'

It's not supposed to be a sentence, and not every useful communication needs to be a sentence.

It IS a shorthand for THIS sentence:

"I agree completely with this article/post/comment."

It's usually paired with a follow-up comment adding an additional point or related thought, which makes a lot of sense since this construct originated in a medium with a limited number of characters. You'll notice people don't say "This," in oral conversation; they say "Yeah," or "I agree."

But even "This" on its own, meaning "I agree with this," is a useful contribution to a discussion. Sometimes "I agree with this" is all that needs to be said, and lots of us decided it was OK to shorten that to "This."

Very interesting what galls people into railing against certain language usage! :-)

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