When employees receive any piece of communication, they only want to know three things:
- What is this about?
- How does it impact me?
- What do I have to do?
That’s why we use a pyramid approach to all our communications. Our foundation starts by getting to the point — we start with “need to know,” move to “nice to know,” and finish with “benefit geek” (i.e., required legal language).
Here’s how to break your writing down to make sure you’re on target:
Need to know: the what, how, when
Your reader should be able to scan the content and get these answers quickly.
- What’s happening?
- What do I need to do?
- How do I do it?
- When’s the deadline to take action?
- What information is needed to make a decision?
Nice to know: the why
Keep this content to sidebars or sectioned off areas.
- Why is action required?
- Why is a change occurring?
- Why has the company taken this position?
Benefit geek: everything else
Include as footnotes or tell the reader where to find the complete documents.
- Detailed “jargon” required for legal reasons or to provide for further explanation
- If including legal notices, tell them no action is required
