Pharma & Biotech
Leadership writing that people actually read.
Genentech interviewed several firms before choosing us. Its leadership team learned to analyze their readers, cut superfluous language, and edit a first draft before sending it.
The Company
Who they are.
When Donald Beasley, Associate Director of Project Management at Genentech, first found Hurley Write, Inc., his company was in the midst of an extensive search for a training professional. “[My] role at Genentech requires excellent written communication skills,” says Beasley. “The leadership team agreed that a professional writing course would help the project management group elevate their abilities.”
The Challenge
What was going wrong.
Genentech was in need of writing training that would help them improve their work. Several companies were interviewed for the assignment, but according to Beasley, Hurley Write’s philosophy stood out. “We were very impressed by our initial phone call with Pam,” he said. “Her outgoing presence on the phone and her concept that writing can be approached in a strategic manner and treated as problem solving…aligns well with the type of writing that project managers must produce here at Genentech.”
What We Did
The workshop they got.
Like so many of the other professionals Hurley Write, Inc. has trained, the Genentech staff really valued the tailored curriculum of the workshop, which allowed them to practice the concepts via in-class exercises and breakout sessions that used actual writing examples from their on-the-job duties. “The participants were very engaged because they could apply directly the content they learned to their written assignments,” says Beasley.
Among those real-life examples were Beasley’s own work emails. He says his biggest takeaway from the workshop is a lesson in how to be more succinct and direct, not rude, in email correspondence. “A few well-crafted sentences to get your point across is the most powerful,” he reports.
Brigitte Keon, Global Project Manager at Genentech, later contacted Hurley Write to develop a set of professional note taking standards for her team.
“We do a large amount of our communications via writing,” says Keon, “and having the skills to communicate effectively and efficiently minimizes unnecessary frustration, confusion, misunderstanding, and delays.”
In Their Words
\[My\] team related to the strategy and approach used by Hurley Write. Pam’s passion for the subject was apparent. \[Her\] communication style and energy was a good match for the team. An excellent use of time and fun! Brigitte Keon, Global Project Manager at Genentech
The Result
What changed afterward.
Through a series of customized workshops with Hurley Write’s Pam Hurley, Keon and her staff learned key strategies for writing clear and accessible correspondence. The most applicable lessons, according to Keon, were how to analyze the needs of their readers, eliminate superfluous language, and critically examine and edit first drafts before sending. Keon describes the process as “inspirational.”
Beasley agrees, saying he would gladly hire Hurley Write again. “Absolutely. Pam was a wonderful teacher. Her methods and approaches to business writing are helpful and can be put into action immediately for results.”
Key Benefits
- Enhanced ability to write technical content that appeals to a variety of readers
- Personal attention and constructive feedback
- Customized course materials
- Improved clarity of technical documents
- Development of a dependable and repeatable writing process
Bring a workshop to your team.
Every workshop is built on your own documents, the way these were. Or start with the PROS Readability Risk Assessment® and see what your documentation is costing you first.