Oh, Great: Another Missed Deadline!

Are you stressed because your projects are piling up, you're missing deadlines, or document revisions are running rampant? When you're left trying to fix your team's documents that have been written under pressure and are turned in behind schedule, bottlenecks are bound to occur. And it's a cycle that's difficult to stop; breaking through one bottleneck quickly reveals others up or down the line.

Not only is this back-and-forth process difficult for you, it's bad for your company's reputation. Project bottlenecks can result in missed deadlines, mistakes in hastily written documents, and failed proposals.

Thankfully, there is a better way! A bit of planning and training can put an end to your headaches, speed up the creation of successful documents, and boost your team's morale.

Overcoming project paralysis

As with any business plan, creating written work, whether it's standard operating procedures (SOPs), hiring protocols, technical reports, or proposals, requires a strategy to be successful. Unless you've implemented a writing plan, your team may have no other guidance than a deadline on the calendar.

While deadlines can be beneficial, that single, looming date often encourages procrastination and project paralysis. Ultimately, it's also why documents end up on your desk late or in need of time-consuming revisions.

Writing projects are especially vulnerable to procrastination. Scientists and engineers are experts in their fields, but writing reports is often at the bottom of their to-do lists. Plus, these professionals are busy and without structure or a reliable process, writing becomes even less appealing.

Develop a process

What can you do to keep your team on track? A good writing process has several components:

• Multiple interim deadlines with clear expectations.
• A standard writing plan helps your team identify each document's audience and purpose.
• Training to boost writing confidence.

Setting interim deadlines will make writing projects seem less ominous and help your team avoid the procrastination trap. The first milestone should be completing a project analysis that includes a purpose statement and a reader analysis.

A purpose statement helps writers determine the primary goal of the document and the main points that lead readers to it. A reader analysis helps writers create content that gives the audience exactly what they need. Together, these provide guidance for creating clear, successful documents.

Train your team

Although a series of deadlines and a reliable plan will keep your team's writing projects moving, you can their increase speed and efficiency by providing proper training. A writing course designed for experts in your industry will give your team the confidence they need to avoid procrastination. It can also improve their writing so you're not spending time revising documents. Help your team develop a better writing process, and wave goodbye to bottlenecks!

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