From Mare to Mayor

Feb 1st & 2nd 2016 – The Animus Scisco Diary – Full speed ahead and I completely ran out of time, so today I have merged Monday and Tuesday together. To be frank it will make for a better entry in any event as my Monday was just me, glued to a computer screen, all day, it was a mare! I was working on the website again. This was needed as the re-design of the reporting meant amendments to the site were key. Once I started tinkering with the content, I couldn’t stop. In fairness they were justified changes.

Work finished earlier that usual as I had a reception to go to, laid on by the Mayor of Great Yarmouth as a thank you to the Lifeboat. It was a pleasant evening spent with friends and a cold glass of something. It was good to see some of the crew let their hair down for an hour or so.

 Tuesday sees another early finish, as I am required at a committee meeting. I don’t feel so bad about finishing early as I am on a high from another exceptional meeting. Animus Scisco and in particular its offering was dissected in detail, which resulted in some exceptional feedback and guidance. The downside is I could have left the changes I made yesterday and waited to merge them with the changes that I will have to make as a result of today!

 I can’t begin to express how pleased I was at the level, quantity and quality of the observations made. It didn’t stop there, I was also given a number of excellent ideas about enhancing the offering too. The guy I was meeting with knows a good deal about the Psychometric side of the business and it felt good to have a detailed discussion at this level. The end result will certainly be a positive one, even if it does mean more changes to the site over the next week or so. Not to mention the changes to the customer facing report.

 The changes to the report reminded me of the need to ensure I don’t cut corners and remember to go through the standard checklist before I publish the content. I personally think this is a good discipline to have in all business related writing. It has always been important, but perhaps in today’s world it is even more important?

 I say this because it strikes me that with the advent of social media, text messaging and instant messenger, our communication becomes more and more instantaneous, and therefore fewer and fewer spelling and grammar checks are done. So here is my checklist, I am sure you could probably add to it:

•  Is it to the point?
• Is the most important point obvious?
• Have I used simple language / avoided unnecessary jargon?
• Will my reader understand it?
• Is it brief?
• Have I used the right tone?
• Have I eliminated unnecessary jargon?
• Are my paragraphs short?
• Are the spellings and punctuation correct?
• Will my reader know what to do next?
• Have I achieved the main purpose?

 You never know this list might help you too!