Writing Grants - How Do Technical Writing Skills Affect Grant Funding?

Writing grant proposals can be an intimidating process. Some people never undertake the challenge because they assume they need specialized technical skills in order to win grant funding. That assumption is false. Though grant writing can be a labor-intensive task, the most critical aspects of writing a winning proposal are not technical secrets available only to professionals. They are tools and techniques available to anyone willing and able to prepare the necessary groundwork, take advantage of available resources, and follow some basic but often neglected strategies for success.

Because technical writers work primarily in information technology-related industries, they need specialized capabilities and knowledge which may be beyond the skill set of the typical grant writer. However, good technical writers are also experts in less technical areas critical to those pursuing grants. Developing those common areas is something you can learn -- that's the "science." By also honing your skills in areas specific to the "art" of grant writing, you can greatly increase your odds of winning a grant.

Common Areas (The Science):
Technical writers and grant writers must thoroughly understand the purpose of their document. Both must understand that they are communicating to a specific audience for a specific purpose. They must communicate information in a clear, concise way that can be easily understood. Good grammar, correct spelling and organization are critical in both cases. Their writing must be "presentational" - i.e., they should use appropriate headings, bullets and layouts that make their documents easy to read.

Writing Grants - How Do Technical Writing Skills Affect Grant Funding?

Grant-Specific Areas (The Art)
In addition to understanding the purpose of your document, as a grant writer you must also understand and convey a compelling sense of purpose for your organization. The most successful grant seekers are "purpose driven" and clearly communicate that in their writing. Be sure you are clear about the problem you are trying to solve.
The grant writer must know far more about the audience, or grant maker. Beyond knowing who the audience is, you must be very aware of what is important to that audience, what drives them. Grants are offered for very specific purposes; the needs you are addressing must be important to the grant maker.
While the technical writer follows basic rules for organizing data, the grant writer must absolutely conform to the grant maker's specifications. There are no exceptions to this rule. Even if you think the grant maker's guidelines are nonsensical and irrelevant, those are the guidelines you must follow if you wish to be considered.
Be clear about what you are trying to achieve and specific about how you will measure success. Most importantly, communicate how your proposed plans and programs will transform lives. You are asking a grant maker to give you money; be sure your reader can see the impact that decision will have.

In summary, some technical writing skills can help you write a stronger grant proposal. Learning the skills specific to grant-writing, however, will have a major impact on your success. We have touched on major areas here; many free resources are available to give you more insight and help you obtain grant funding.

Writing Grants - How Do Technical Writing Skills Affect Grant Funding?
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N. S. Jenks, Partner.
We provide fast, free, clear and factual information about finding and winning public and private grants, scholarships, and alternate funding sources.

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Writing Policies and Procedures Manuals: What's a Policy? What's a Procedure?

Introduction

Groups putting together a policies and procedures manual frequently ask how a policy differs from a procedure. It's an important question to consider before beginning work on a policies and procedures manual, as the answer will fundamentally shape how the manual is organized. The organization of the manual is critical, because it impacts the manual's usefulness as a resource to stakeholders, as well as how easily updates can be made to the manual as the business or organization evolves.

This article, based on my experience advising complex organizations, outlines an approach for differentiating policies from procedures and efficiently organizing a policies and procedures manual.

Writing Policies and Procedures Manuals: What's a Policy? What's a Procedure?

Policies versus Procedures

Put simply, a policy is a rule established by the organization to achieve a goal supporting the organization's mission and strategies. For many policies, the goal is related to risk management and/or regulatory compliance. Additionally, policies may support strategies for differentiating the organization's products and services, developing new products and services, attracting and retaining talent, or managing costs.

Procedures describe how a policy or parts of a policy are implemented. Some procedures that describe single tasks or activities may not be governed by any policies.

Examples of Policies and Related Procedures

Many organizations have policies governing travel and entertainment. The policies generally include guidelines on eligible expenses, allowances, approval, and reporting requirements. The policy may also stipulate that a travel and expense report must be filed within a specific period of time.

The procedure "Submit Time and Expense Report" would detail how to complete and submit the travel and expense report. The report could be a hard-copy form that needs to be completed with receipts attached, signed by authorized signatories, and submitted to Accounts Payable. Or the process could be automated.

An organization may also have a policy related to building security restricting access to authorized individuals carrying a visible and valid photo security pass while in the building.

Supporting procedures would cover several processes, including "Issue/Terminate Security Pass", "Control Building Access", and "Monitor Compliance with Security Pass Requirements." These procedures may be implemented in a variety of ways - for example, security staff might inspect each staff member's security pass before allowing admittance to the building, or there might be an electronic barrier activated by the security pass allowing admittance.

Benefits of Segregating Policies from Procedures

The primary benefit of separating out the rules or policies from how the rule is implemented is efficiency. Policies generally change infrequently. In most organizations, changes to policies must be approved by one or more members of senior management, which may delay the issuance of the updated policy.

Supporting procedures detailing how the policy gets implemented will change more frequently as the result of a variety of factors, including process and control improvements, new technologies, and re-organizations. Updates to procedures documentation generally only require sign off by the process owner. Assuming the procedures are well organized, updates can be made and rapidly communicated to stakeholders. This ultimately improves the overall ability of the organization to implement new procedures expeditiously.

Procedures which have been embedded in policies are generally more time consuming to update, especially if senior management approval is required. Verifying procedural documentation may not be the most effective use of senior management's time.

Conclusion

Thinking through the best way to organize documentation of an organization's policies and procedures before developing a policies and procedures manual provides sustainable benefits. Isolating the documentation of the organization's policies or rules from documentation of supporting procedures simplifies and speeds updates to the documentation.

Writing Policies and Procedures Manuals: What's a Policy? What's a Procedure?
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If you would like further details on the strategies outlined in the article, please visit:
http://www.rapiddocumentation.org

Juliet Kontaxis and the Benchmark Technologies team have been helping clients develop procedures manuals for over 10 years. Their methodology is detailed in the recently published Rapid Documentation of Policies and Procedures: The Handbook.

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Technical Writing - The Difference Between a Process and a Procedure

In Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1, Act III, Scene 1, in an argument about how to divide a piece of land, one character says that he'll "cavil on the ninth part of a hair." Cavil means to quibble over an unimportant point. Even better, it's a really annoying and trivial objection. The reason for mentioning this is because there's often a fine line between caviling and getting it technically right. Here at The Tech Writer's Tool Kit, the general view is that every word has a specific meaning and no two words ever have exactly the same meaning. Is it a cavil to insist that there's an important difference between a procedure and a process? They both mean a way to get something done. Is changing a tire a process or a procedure? Did you just go through the (process or procedure) of refinancing your home?

Procedure - The dictionary gives the etymology of procedure as a French word, procédure, from proceder which means to proceed. To proceed is defined, simply, as to go forward and procedure is defined as a manner of proceeding. We have to go beyond simple definition to usage. In American English, the word is used, most often, to designate a unique type of undertaking. So, we have medical procedure and nomination procedure. A procedure, then, is a single activity, consisting of multiple steps, performed to accomplish a specific outcome. - This is the procedure we use to elect our officers.- The doctor said the procedure is simple enough to be done in his office.- It's a long and complicated procedure that must be performed carefully.

Process - Starting with the dictionary for the etymology, we do kind of a loop around to find out process comes through Middle English and Old French from Latin prMcdere that means to advance or proceed. Sounds a lot like procedure. But, the definition of process shows a difference. It says a process is a series of actions that bring about a result. In most cases, that result is a completed procedure. The distinction holds up in general usage in a number of fields. For example, we talk about a hair coloring process, events now in process, and processing an order. In Law, process is defined as the whole judicial proceeding (procedure). In Engineering, the steps in changing iron into steel is a process. In Computer Science, it means performing operations on data, which is done by a processor.

Technical Writing - The Difference Between a Process and a Procedure

Based on general usage, then: - a procedure is a total operation - the complete set of actions - that results in some desired outcome- a process is the series of individual steps within the procedure that is followed to achieve the outcome The difference is that you must follow a process in order to complete a procedure. That would mean that saying, "The process of getting a haircut is boring" doesn't mean the same as saying, "The procedure of getting a haircut is boring." It depends on whether you're saying that the individual steps are boring or the whole operation boring. Two different words: two different meanings? We think so. What about you?

Technical Writing - The Difference Between a Process and a Procedure
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If you can write a simple sentence and organize your thoughts then technical writing may be a rewarding field. You can easily make it a second income stream in your spare time.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the average salary for technical writers is ,380. Freelance technical writers can make from to per hour.

The field of technical writing is like a golden city. It's filled with wealth, rewards and opportunities. After learning technical writing you can branch out into business writing, marketing writing and communications writing. All of these can become additional income streams.

But to succeed you must learn how to market yourself to clients. You have to prove to them that you are an invaluable asset. That's where ProTech - Your Fast Track to Becoming a Successful Technical Writer can help. It's a technical writing course that does two equally important things:

1. It teaches you the skills to become a technical writer in the shortest time frame. You'll learn to create manuals, procedures, tutorials, processes, proposals, spec sheets and other documents that businesses need.

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In fact, you'll get a complete marketing toolkit which has templates and technical writing job sites to get started immediately!

You can download two sample lessons by clicking the link below.

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Does Your Cleaning Business Have a Mission Statement?

Along with a business plan, a mission statement is an important tool that will capture the spirit of your business. A mission statement helps to clarify the goals and objectives of your company. In just a sentence or two, the mission statement for your cleaning business will set your business goals, your underlying philosophy, and what special benefits you have to offer to your customers. A good mission statement will reflect that special niche that your cleaning business is catering to and provide a long-range vision for you to build on.

Following is a sample mission statement:

"ABC Cleaning Company is committed to delivering the exact services our commercial cleaning customers want, listening closely to their expectations, taking a pro-active approach in defining their needs, and building the best partnering relationship possible. We are also committed to acting with honesty and integrity at all times in all aspects of our business, to being professional in doing our job, and to delivering a consistent, high level quality of work."

Does Your Cleaning Business Have a Mission Statement?

A well thought out mission statement will take more than just a few minutes to develop - it takes careful thought and planning. Spending time developing those few sentences that define your business can be just as valuable as the final statement. Going through the process of evaluating your cleaning business, and then defining your customers and your services will help you to look at your cleaning business from your customers' perspective. Don't get bogged down with technical jargon. Focus on defining your company's strengths and why those strengths benefit your customers.

When you are ready to begin, sit down in an area with no distractions. To come up with the statements that will sum up what your cleaning business is all about, consider the following:

- What specific need does your business satisfy?

- What are the principles and values that guide you in the everyday operation of your business?

- Who are your customers?

- What level of service will you provide?

- What image would you like your business to portray to your customers?

To write an effective mission statement, sit down with those who are closest to your business and jot down notes to answer the above questions. Look at mission statements from other businesses and start brainstorming. Once you have a couple of key ideas draft those thoughts into complete sentences.

Once you have formalized your mission statement use it in your promotional materials. The statement will be a quick and easy way for your customers and potential customers to learn about your cleaning business. Keep your mission statement visible and live up to it everyday. This will show your employees and customers that you practice what you preach.

Copyright 2006 The Janitorial Store

Does Your Cleaning Business Have a Mission Statement?
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Steve Hanson is co-founder of TheJanitorialStore.com, an online community for owners of cleaning companies. Sign up for Trash Talk:Tip of the Week at http://www.TheJanitorialStore.com Read success stories at http://www.cleaning-success.com

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