Written Communications
contemporary writing skills
...a basic course to strengthen or refresh your writing skills...
Objective To improve professional skills in composing and revising prose, with emphasis on the punctuation, grammar, style, and format in contemporary use.
Who Should Attend In our work, we communicate vast amounts of information through writing. Nearly every job involves some writing responsibilities, but we sometimes feel ill-prepared to meet the task. This workshop provides basic information on three important areas of writing: punctuation, grammar, and style. Through the use of frequent examples and short exercises, participants will learn simple rules that can improve their writing ability. The workshop manual will also serve as a valuable reference after the course.
The course is designed for anyone who wants to improve or refresh their writing skills. Administrative assistants, technical writers, and professional employees can all benefit from the basic information provided in this workshop.
Course Content
Does Writing Have to Be a Headache?
- why do we write?
- communication problems in writing
- writing for PAR
Mechanics of Writing
- purpose and importance of punctuation and grammar
- five rules of punctuation
- five rules of grammar
- exercises
Simple and Direct Writing Style
- what is a good style?
- trying to improve style
- the Official Style - how to see it and how to fix it
- five rules of style
- exercise
Competency addressed in this session:
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Writing effectively
electronic etiquette: e-mail and voicemail
...because your correspondence says a lot about you...
Objective To improve professional skills in communicating and interacting with others using e-mail and voicemail.
Who Should Attend In our work, we communicate vast amounts of information through e-mail and voicemail. Those who use e-mail and voicemail have a responsibility to communicate clearly and concisely. This course is designed for anyone who wants to improve their etiquette skills.
Course Content
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What does e-mail say about you?
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Subject lines
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Spelling and grammar
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Abbreviations, acronyms and emoticons
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Fonts and color
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Tone and body of the message
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Signature text
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Attachments
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When to use reply, forward, Cc, Bcc
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Voicemail greetings
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Returning voicemail
Competencies addressed in this session
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Professionalism
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Efficiency and focus
FARM: formatting administrative rules of montana
...getting rules ready to print doesn't have to be a dirty job...
Objective To increase knowledge and skills in preparing administrative rules for publication in the Montana Administrative Register and Administrative Rules of Montana.
Who Should Attend It's a fact of modern government: agencies make, amend, and repeal rules. That's all fine, but support employees often get saddled with the job of formatting those actions to some darn tight specifications. This workshop will explore the ins and outs of getting the copy ready. It's appropriate for support employees with actual or potential responsibility for formatting administrative rules from draft copy.
Course Content
Administrative Law
- a quick overview
- publication requirements and timelines
Montana Administrative Register
- its purpose
- what it contains
- how you fit in
- Secretary of State's role
Formatting Rules
- model rules from ARM
- format rules
- what they mean
- how to make it easier
- examples and question
- common problems
- quick reference guide
Competencies addressed in this session:
- Writing effectively
- Efficiency and focus
meeting-ful minutes
...the manner in which decisions are made in meetings gives us a clue to what minutes should cover...
Objective To improve professional skills in writing and editing minutes, with emphasis on what minutes should or should not include.
Who Should Attend In our work, we communicate vast amounts of information through writing. Those who document the historical record of meetings have a responsibility to communicate those important details clearly. This course is designed for anyone who wants to improve or refresh their minute-taking skills.
Course Content
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What is the focus of minutes?
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What to do before a meeting
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What to do during the meeting
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How to take minutes - brief versus detailed
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Note-taking strategies
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Types of meetings
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Types of minutes
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Fact checking and proofing
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Recording action minutes
Competencies addressed in this session
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professionalism
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Efficiency and focus
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Write effectively
righting your writing
...a short course covering three basic rules of writing...
Objective To develop or improve skills in writing clearly and concisely and to get the "tone" right.
Who Should Attend Writing is hard work, and good writing is even harder. And while we struggle to remember all the rules about writing, we often forget the most important ones: be clear, be concise, and be brief.
This half-day workshop begins and ends with those three rules. And all the stuff in between will help you follow them with increased ease and confidence. The class will also cover the elusive tone - how to reduce confrontation and increase communication.
Course Content
- Importance of Good Writing
- Obstacles to Communicating
- Guidelines for Being Clear
- Guidelines for Being Concise
- Guidelines for Being Brief
- Tone Up Your Tone
Competency addressed in this session:
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Writing effectively
WARM: writing administrative rules of montana
...warm up to A.R.M....
Objective To increase knowledge of the rule-making process; to develop or improve skills in writing and noticing administrative rules.
Who Should Attend It's a fact of modern government: the Legislature delegates rule-making authority to executive agencies. The resulting rules are subject to scrutiny and challenge. For rulemaking to go smoothly and effectively, executive branch employees need to know the ins and outs of the process. This day-long workshop explores rulemaking from conception to the noticing of proposed rules. The course is appropriate for employees with actual or potential responsibility for writing or reviewing administrative rules.
Course Content
The Administrative Process
- basics of administrative law
- separation of powers
- delegated authority
Rudiments of Rulemaking
- types of rules
- getting started
- planning the process
- research and resources
Drafting Rules
- from general to specific
- authority and implementation
- reasonable necessity
- substance of rules
- style
- internal review
Special Situations
- emergency rules
- temporary rules
- adoption by reference
- negotiated rulemaking
Noticing Rules
- notice requirements
- publication in MAR
- hearings - to hear or not to hear
- distributing the notice
Competencies addressed in this session:
- Analytical thinking
- Writing effectively
- Organizational understanding
writing position descriptions
...sure it's bureaucratic, but it's also important...
Objective To develop or improve skills in assessing the nature of specific positions and writing position descriptions.
Who Should Attend The position description is the basic document for many personnel actions. In this one-day course, participants will learn the importance of preparing good position descriptions and how to go about the task. The workshop is appropriate for supervisors and managers who must occasionally or frequently write position descriptions.
Course Content
Overview
characteristics of good PDs
Task Statements
- the core of PDs
- useful and useless language
- practical exercises
Completing the Position Description Form
- purpose of position descriptions
- its use in state government
- the sections and what they mean
- requirements for completion
- incorporating task statements
- determining categories of work
- priorities and percentages
- review and comment
Competencies addressed in this session:
- Analytical thinking
- Writing effectively
- Organizational understanding
