“The greater the number of employees that help produce content, the more success the company has.” Marcus Sheridan, marketing expert, in “10 Reasons Why Employees Should be Required to Participate in Blogging and Content Marketing”
All team leaders need to consider this statement. Some of Sheridan’s reasons are based on all—or at least many—employees contributing to written products. He argues persuasively that this amount of output creates a large volume of content and diverse approaches and viewpoints.
However, any team can be composed of diverse members, each with a unique set of life experiences and perspectives. When they collaborate on a written project, they bring an enriched quality to the final result.
Brainstorm
As an example, suppose that a team has to come up with marketing approaches for a particular product. Let’s say it’s a computer program that tracks expenses and is designed for individual consumers.
A single mother with two grade-school-aged children is a member of the team. When asked to consider how such a program would help her, she thinks of the ease of recording expenses related to the many aspects of raising children. She describes how such a program would save her time and make her life easier when income tax season rolls around.
A recent male business school graduate is dealing with having full responsibility for his finances for the first time. He’s noticed that his money seems to slip away. He’s excited about the possibility that he can use this program to record his expenses in a timely way and find ways to cut back on unnecessary expenses.
Their contributions and those of others on the team give everyone a sense of marketing possibilities. At that point, one person may be assigned to write an initial draft. When it’s completed, he or she brings it back to the team for review.
The Moderating Role of a Team Leader
At this point, sensitivity and care are necessary. People can be touchy about having their writing critiqued, and the wise leader will have guidelines in place. All members of the team need to understand that remarks must be framed in a positive context.
He or she will set the tone, beginning all suggestions with appropriate praise. “You did a great job of pulling together all the suggestions. Now let’s see how we can work together to make it even better.”
The leader must also cut off any potentially negative critiques before they get fully launched. Doing so not only protects the feelings of the writer but helps to keep the team cohesive and participating in a collaborative spirit.
The Result: A More Effective Team
By making crucial aspects of creating a report collective, all the team members get to learn the most effective ways to write important documents in a practical, hands-on way.
Ideally, each team member should reach the point where he or she would feel confident about writing a report and, equally important, confident that his or her results will be critiqued in a respectful way by the other group members.
Pat Iyer is one of the original 100 C Suite Network Contributors. Busy entrepreneurs hire her as a ghostwriter to help them share their expertise without having to do all the work of writing. Reach her through her website, WritingtogetBusiness.com