As part of professional development, our new graduates and staff recently participated in a business writing workshop. It turned out to be a time for learning – and laughter.

Improving our day-to-day writing

At BellchambersBarrett, we are always looking for ways to invest in our staff.

Of course, as a professional services firm, we need to keep our technical skills and knowledge up to date. That’s a given. But to be a well-rounded team, having the right soft skills is vital too.

That’s why this time, our focus was on written communication skills.

And in March, we signed our new graduates and staff up for a business writing workshop with Vikki Maver from Refresh Marketing.

The team’s key takeaways

The one-day workshop was fun and engaging, with plenty of practical activities and interaction to help our team become more confident in their writing.

Some of the key takeaways?

We learnt that we should:

• Put the most important information first
• Use plain English – there’s no need to impress with big vocabulary
• Be concise and specific, so we don’t bore or confuse our readers
• Stop starting requests with “I’m just…”, as that’s unnecessary apologetic language

(Although, the last point did kick off some healthy discussions among the group, as some found it a little controversial!)

Confidence for better communication

Everyone in the workshop gained a new perspective in writing, practical techniques – and more confidence to communicate clearly, effectively and persuasively.

We can’t wait to see our team’s new skills in practice!