Being part of the solution: Part 2: guidance vs. criticism: intensive guidance ultimately saves you time and effort.

One of the most common complaints we hear from managers is the enormous amount of time they spend editing subordinates' writing. They all would like to do much less of that. But the harder they fight the problem, the worse it seems to get, sometimes driving them to such desperate measures as firing "irredeemable" writers.

Here, we'll look at a rarely used approach that gets results--a real solution, rather than a mad jumping into the middle of the problem and becoming part of it.

Symptoms--and questionable cures

What kind of writing drives managers to distraction--and then to lengthy labor with the red pen? Four categories stand out:

* Useless or incomplete: Written in a vacuum--wrong message for readers, important information omitted in favor of a flood of irrelevant detail

* Indigestible: Main message buried, organization nonexistent or inconsistent, style convoluted 

* Embarrassing: Glaring grammar and spelling errors, grade-school style, inappropriate word choice

* Offensive: Politically naive, arrogant, or aggressive

When the next reports are no better, despite all the red ink (and perhaps some verbal "constructive criticism"), the manager reaches for heavier ammunition: repeat the message more loudly, threaten career damage, send the sinner to a one-day writing course. If the course is generic and not geared to the writer's situation and problems, there will almost certainly be no change, so the drama continues.

All throughout, the red-ink editing escalates, consuming much of the manager's time and energy and enraging the writer-sinners. When self-preservation becomes an issue, the manager may get drastic. We met some who simply refused to "publish" bad reports of sinners who would not be reformed. Countless others fired the offenders. Both actions do relieve the editing load--at least temporarily--but look at the price paid!

A better solution: Low-pressure coaching

We ran into one group leader whose subordinates consistently turned out useful, well-written memos and reports without much editorial input. How did he achieve this, year after year? His secret was simple: he spent time initially coaching every new employee in writing. This simply took the form of writing a report on the first project together. In the process, the manager explained the political realities of who the clients were, what they most cared about, what might offend them, what they understood, and what had to be explained to them in nontechnical ways or by analogy.

They would construct the piece conversationally, with the subordinate writing down what he or she was led to formulate. If there were style problems, such as long sentences or convoluted constructions, the manager would let them go, making a mental note to work on the major ones another time. Any blatant grammar errors, such as rim-on sentences, he would fix quietly, making light of them.

After that initial session, the manager knew whether there were writing problems that required extra coaching sessions. If not, the first session was still useful because it gave him a chance to explain all-important political details. Where extra coaching was needed, the time invested was still shorter than that consumed by constant editing. More important, his cooperative coaching allowed poorer writers to "learn by doing"--a much more effective method than trying to figure out the positive principles behind obnoxious or cryptic red marks.

Interestingly, this manager was not a star writer--something he admitted cheerfully to anybody. But he did know what his readers wanted and how to get to a short, focused draft in a very short time by keeping everything simple. That, together with his cooperative attitude, was enough to make him an effective writing coach. It would be enough to turn you, too, from an eternal red-ink editor into a happy coach with lots of free time!

Cheryl and Peter Reinold have been teaching communication skills to engineers, scientists, and businesspeople for 20 years. Their firm, PERC Communications (telephone [phone], e-mail [e-mail]), offers businesses consulting end writing services, as well as customized in-house courses on writing, presentation skills, end on-the job communication skills. Visit their web site at www.allaboutcommunication.com.