RE: Improving colleagues' writing skills

["Giordano, Connie" <Connie -dot- Giordano -at- FMR -dot- COM>]

Here comes the whirlers' mantra:  it all depends.  

If the management of your organization subscribes to the notion, or at least
pays lip service to the notion, that customer satisfaction is everyone's
primary goal, then yes, it is your business.  However Lane is right in that
it is often viewed as a waste of time.  Re-educating concerning this kind of
professionalism can be a long and painful process, but you can be at least
partially successful.

I found a very successful tactic in making friends with the following:
office manager and administrative staff, human resources, marketing.
Reasoning: these are the folks that are the frontline to customers,
employees, and prospects.  The support staff is frequently overworked and
even less appreciated than TWs are.  I helped them help management by
troubleshooting their software problems, then offering a few well-timed and
well-placed suggestions for proposals, policies and procedures, and
presentations.  Before long, they would come to me for editing and
proofreading, and then management asked me to give some small classes. 

Yup, there were always those whose egos wouldn't allow them to think they
could improve, but many people appreciated the philosophy I espoused "my job
is to make you look good", programmers with great documentation, sales with
strong and effective presentations, HR with well-structured policies. If you
believe in the company, the staff and the product, then it can be worth the
sacrifice.

MHO

Connie Giordano

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<snip>

Unfortunately, it is none of your business. I wish it were different, but
unless you can get management to buy into your way of thinking, it will be
seen as a waste of your time and others'. 


<snip>

To what extent is it any of my business how well my colleagues write?

<snip>