Before you write…

Before you write, you usually need to speak and listen. To do most workplace writing tasks, you need to discuss and clarify the task before you begin. I’ve created a general workplace scenario below with a range of questions. Various questions may be useful to you, depending on your task and how complex it is. You can also listen to the questions by clicking on the link at the bottom of this page.

Marie is part of a team that is starting a new project. Anne is Marie’s manager. Anne has just assigned a new task to Marie. Marie is now asking questions before she starts.

1. Marie wants to find out the context behind the task:

• What project is this piece of work for?
• What’s the purpose of the project?
• How will my task fit into the overall project?

1. Marie wants to find out the audience:

• Who’s going to see this piece of work?
• Will our unit manager see this?
• Is this for a specialised audience?
• Is it for the general public?

1. Marie wants to know how she should present the work:

• Can I do this in email form?
• Or do you want a more formal memo?
• Would it be useful to draw up a table?

1. Marie wants to know the timeframe for the task:

• Is this urgent?
• When do you need this by?
• When do you need a first draft?
• How much time should I spend on this?

1. Marie wants to know about consulting others:

• Is there anyone else I should talk to about this?
• Can anyone in our team give me advice on this?
• I’d like to use Mihi as a sounding board for this. What do you think?
• I think Rangi would be a good person to talk to. What do you think?

1. Finally, Marie wants to clarify and summarise what she’s been asked to do:

• Can I just check I’ve understood what you want me to do?
• So can I just clarify the task?
• So basically you’d like me to find the relevant figures, put them into a chart and include a brief, written commentary?

Click here to listen and practise along with an audio version of this post…