Importance of Writing Skills in Professional Life

Author: Shabnam Shaikh

Introduction

I have covered various pre-hire assessment tools and practices at corporate in my previous blog posts.  The aim is to create awareness amongst hiring managers and candidates, so that they understand the need of the hour and effectively work towards them.  In this post, I would like to discuss the importance of effective writing skills as a key to professional development.

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Importance of writing skills – Key to professional development

Alice: Will you tell me which way I ought to go from here?
Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to go.
Alice: I don’t much care …
Cheshire Cat: Then it doesn’t matter which way you go. – Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

Obscurity leads to nowhere.  Not just in Alice’s case but in everyone’s life, lack of clarity is detrimental. Clarity of thoughts is extremely critical for good writing skills. Often, it is observed that professionals with poor communication skills are very unlikely to grow up the corporate ladder. This is somewhat alarming, considering the fact that they might be great minds at work, but when it comes to expressing or conveying the message, they fail to do effectively. And, this  becomes a major obstacle in their career’s road map.

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Confucius quoted “If language is not used rightly, then what is said is not what is meant. If what is said is not what is meant, then that which ought to be done is left undone. If it remains undone, morals and art will be corrupted. If morals and art are corrupted, justice will go awry. And if justice goes awry, the people will stand about in helpless confusion.”

Every day, our life is dependent on communication. Whether it is a government body, or MNC, or any industry, a poorly written document, report, or email fails to make an impact. Hence, it is very important to write concisely and clearly to avoid ambiguity.   Refer a few case studies in this online course by T.M. Georges.  As professionals, we can easily relate to these case studies, like the foggy proposal that goes unread, complicated and “difficult to read” instruction manual that scares the customers away, voluminous and incomprehensible set of regulations and policies, or even the weak memo that fails to convey the message and leaves employees baffled about the intended message. All of these examples signify how both individuals and organizations suffer tangible and intangible losses due to ambiguous writing in the professional arena.

Normally writing skills are not given due significance in corporates, unless the role specifically demands. But, I beg to defer here. Writing is a key element to professional growth. We write to our clients, our supervisors or colleagues at regular intervals in the form of emails, reports, and memos to communicate effectively. It fails to create the impression if the message is sloppy and unprofessional and all the efforts go unnoticed. Some can even be misconstrued – leading to additional problems and issues at workplace. Hence, undoubtedly inept writing can cost you and your organization time, energy and money. Georges also breaks certain myths about writing and suggests a few interesting tips to overcome the writing handicaps. Am hoping, you will find them useful.

Writing is no rocket science. Clarity of thought, choice of words and appropriate usage of grammar can do the magic.

Conclusion

Remember, complexity leads to perplexity. Therefore, simple and clear writing is preferred, understood and admired by one and all.  Writing is a skill that improves only with time and continual practice. Learn to nurture it slowly.

About the Author:

Shabnam Shaikh, a post graduate in Human Resource Management has over 7 years of experience in recruitment & HR operations. She is currently based in Hyderabad. Writing is her passion & she blogs to express her thoughts & opinions. Her other interests include theater, traveling, reading & cooking.

(Chillibreeze offers communication skills training and testing to companies all over India. Read more about our corporate workshops and testing services. For more details email us at testing at chillibreeze dot com)

Related posts:

1. Importance of Cross Cultural Communication Skills
2. Effective Business Communications Skills
3. Importance of Verbal Communication in the Workplace
4. Importance of Non-Verbal Communication at the Workplace
5. Enhance Your Freelance Career with Marketable Skills

Tagged as: communication skills, pre hire assesment, writing skills

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