Courses | Full day | In-house from NZ$5200 per group
Why is this course essential?
As Edwards Deming (the father of Total Quality Management) wrote, ‘the performance of anyone is governed largely by the system that he works in’.
So, when performance issues relate to the cost, timeliness, or effectiveness of documents and other written outputs, then it follows that managers need to learn how to improve the design and management of writing systems as much as writers need to improve their writing skills.
If you manage (or commission) writers, this course will help you to replace busy, complicated workflows with simple processes designed to setup writers to efficiently provide value to readers.
Why solving writing issues starts at the top
Why a familiar tone enhances complex advice
What does this course cover?
Part one: Introducing the concepts of ‘helpful information’ and ‘optimal knowledge working’
The purpose of knowledge working is to deliver value by solving problems and realising opportunities. And when you think about it, these two activities are mostly what ‘office workers’ do. It’s certainly what leaders and managers are supposed to do.
But how do we actually deliver that value? Usually, it’s through creating helpful information. However, in most organisations, helpful information is less commonly produced than unhelpful information. So the course starts with distinguishing these two types of information, which a key ingredient for discerning an optimal information culture.
Next, if delivering helpful information that solves problems and/or realises opportunities is the goal, then optimal knowledge working is the process for delivering that goal. You can see what’s covered in this section by checking out the Introduction to Optimal Knowledge Working course. We cover the gems.
Part two: Creating the conditions for optimal writing performance
The second half-day is a seminar/workshop in which you experience the process of redesigning one of your own document production processes. Key topics covered include:
- The conditions for optimal performance in general and optimal knowledge working in particular
- The qualities of effective documents in a context of extreme information oversupply
- The optimal information design (writing) process
- The conditions for optimal writing performance
- The importance of clear and confident briefs
- The benefits of pre-draft outlines and an explicit organisation-wide writing standard
- The nature of optimal (efficient, effective, sustainable) document production processes
- Ten levers for improving the performance of a managed document production process
- Change management techniques that aid process implementation
What will you learn?
On this challenging course you will learn optimal performance principles in the morning and, in the afternoon, you will apply them to the practice of optimal document production. You will learn how to:
- Create the conditions for optimal document production
- Support ‘Optimal Knowledge Working’
- Meet a writer’s core needs
- Support the optimal information design (writing) process
- Provide clear briefs
- Review pre-draft outlines
- Analyse an existing document production process
- Design an optimal document production process
- Employ change management techniques to assist the adoption of a new process
How do you book this course?
You will find everything you need to know (course dates and booking instructions) on our courses page.
This course provides the best outcome when attended by an organisation’s entire leadership team. Contact us if you and your team are ready to transform the design and performance of your document production systems. All in-house courses are tailored.