Writing for the Workplace

Professional communication has changed from being primarily based on learning and reproducing forms or templates of documents to considering the goals and situations in which you need to write and being aware of your audience. A user-centered design means considering your readers' needs and expectations, whether they are part of the decision-making process, what positions they hold (are they stakeholders, end-users, decision-makers or none of the above?), and what your audience plans to accomplish with the information you present.

The information you include must be easily accessible and understandable, as well as persuasive. Your documents should have a clear and navigable table of contents, visible section headers and page numbers, informative headings, and a well-formatted index. User-centered documents should use white space well and integrate text and images to present ideas.

When you write, move from general to specific information or details. Begin with an abstract, executive summary or introduction that provides an overview of your document’s main ideas and conclusion. Use headings and topic sentences to help readers follow your ideas as they read your work. Be aware that some readers may not share your expertise: avoid using jargon or overly-technical terms. If necessary, you can provide a short glossary for unfamiliar terms.

Here is an example of the difference between a sentence that is hard to read and a sentence that follows the user-centered approach:

It was decided by the team, after the safety procedures were tested on the project site, that the cause of the problem was not human error but that improper safety procedures were followed.
After testing the safety procedures, the team found that the problem was caused by following improper safety procedures rather than human error.

In the first sentence, the main point is at the end and the sentence structure is needlessly complicated. The second sentence presents the main point in the beginning and uses a simple structure that is easy to follow.

Articles for Trade Publications & Journals

Writing an article for publication in a trade journal or magazine is something you may be called upon to do as you progress in your field. As a Construction Management professional, you should be aware of these publications, especially those whose content relates to your specialty. For example, the trade magazine Building Operating Management focuses on products and services for the owners and managers of commercial and institutional building such as office buildings, hospitals, retail chains and hotels. Another magazine, Commercial Construction Renovation , covers design, construction and facilities operations of the major commercial construction segments, including retail, hospitality, restaurant, and education and targets its content to commercial construction executives..

Recent topics included a profile of a successful restaurant chain owner outlining both the strategies he used for growing his business and the design and construction of each restaurant. Another topic was the renovation of a federal courthouse in Spokane, WA using a design-build team to reduce construction costs and qualify the building as a High Performance Green Building. Another article covered the renovation of a hospital in New York City focused on patients’ needs and experiences throughout the hospital--a concept also addressed by Alvar Aalto in Finland in the early Twentieth Century.

Trade publications both solicit contributions and seek audience input on topics of interest to the trade. Most publications do not pay contributors and do not use articles that promote a specific firm or service. Each individual publication has its own submission guidelines which can usually be found on the publisher's web site or by contacting the editor. Most publishers produce both print and online versions of their magazines or journals. Online versions may also include web-exclusive content.

MORE on Articles for Trade Publications or Journals

White Papers

While the term "white paper" was once used to refer to official government reports, white papers are more commonly written as marketing tools for companies, which use them to sell information or new products. White papers advocate for specific products or solutions to influence the decision-making processes of current and prospective customers.

Blogs & Columns

Blogs and columns provide an opportunity to convey information and write knowledgeably in your own voice. Blogs, a contraction of the words web + log, are informal, interactive, self-published posts on web sites which facilitate discussion with readers through comments. Using "comment" sections, readers react to posts, giving their opinion, or starting a discussion. Columns appear online and in different print publications, i.e., newspapers, magazines, and/or sales material.

Columns appear in newspapers, from small neighborhood weekly or monthly papers to the largest newspapers such as The New York Times and The Washington Post, in magazines, in both print and online versions. Blogs can be published on free sites such as Weebly, Tumblr or Blogger (hosted by Google), or on paid sites like iPage, bluehost or web.com.

Press Releases

When would you write a press release? When your company receives a large contract or completes a significant project, you might be asked to write a brief summary of the project to send to local or national media. Since editors are inundated with press releases, ensure there is news value in your topic. Is there a human interest aspect to the project? How will it impact the community? Is the impact local, regional or Statewide in scope?

Consider your target audience. There may be more than one; different audiences require different versions of your press release. For example, readers of a local newspaper will be interested in different aspects of the story than readers of a trade magazine.

Will your release be heard on radio or television? Different media require different writing styles and content. For example, while you should include a direct quote in a press release for print media (i.e., According to Mr. Honcho, “this is the greatest product ever.”), direct quotes should not be used in press releases for radio or television. Instead, use indirect quotes (i.e., Ms. Leader said that she was very happy with the results of the new product) when writing press releases for radio and television.