The SeaRoc Group
Emphasis helped marine engineering specialists SeaRoc to develop a high-impact style of business writing for technical reports, specifications and guidance, and for tenders and sales proposals.
The problem
SeaRoc staff found it challenging communicating their technical knowledge to a wide and varied readership.
“We have a range of marine and engineering experts and we felt that we weren’t communicating as effectively as we could. Because offshore renewables is a new industry, it is still developing its own language,” explains Chief Executive, Peter Hodgetts.
They didn’t want to dumb down their writing. But they did want to make it more readable. The company realised that not everyone is familiar with the technical terms. And that the academic, passive voice of some associates’ writing wasn’t making the documents as accessible – and effective – as they could be.
Emphasis solution
Emphasis designed a course that outlined techniques for producing high-impact proposals, reports, letters and executive summaries. It looked at how to construct sound, clear sentences and write clearly and concisely. It also showed the team how to plan and structure their work, harnessing their technical knowledge in an effective way. Five months later, a series of one-to-one coaching sessions further embedded the new business-writing principles into the writing culture of the company.
The benefits
Since the training, SeaRoc has been able to put its points forward more succinctly in reports, using plain English to communicate technical points where possible. By stepping back and planning, staff members are able to focus clearly on their messages and the needs of their audience. And learning how to brainstorm has enabled them to formulate clearly the ideas that clients are really interested in.
What the attendees said
“When I write a document now, I plan my work thoroughly; I write a specification on who the audience are, what I’m trying to achieve, and what the key messages are. That’s been the most useful thing for me,” says Business Development Manager, Sam Pryor.
Focusing on the type of language being used has also helped.
“The main difference is that I’m a lot more direct now when writing to clients… and they seem to be more engaged,” says GIS Manager, Dominic Stratton. “It’s a big change from what I used to do with my writing style.”
The lasting effects
SeaRoc’s clear, concise communication is helping to make the brave new world of offshore marine works plainer and simpler. Eighteen months after the company called in Emphasis, there have been positive knock-on business benefits.
“The training has raised our standard quite substantially,” says Peter. “But what we didn’t expect is that it’s also given us a common identity as a company of how we write our documents and that’s been recognised by the clients and has been very valuable.”