5/26 Panel on Workplace Writing

Panelists: Matt Langley, Business Development Associate, (Clipper Wind Power), Aubrey Spilde, Transportation Planner, (SBCAG), Lara Polanksy, Bren MESM Student, EPA Summer Intern

Matt Langley, Business Development Associate, (Clipper Wind Power)
Writing in his job:
-Facilities $200million to 4 billion to construct, so if you don’t have a contract for the facility then you won’t get a loan to construct ← writing proposals is a critical part of the whole company
-Very detailed oriented
-Job is collaborative (herding cats) and translating engineering jargon
-Problem: things being turned in after they are due
-In technical fields, it’s a lot of writing of what you don’t know about,
-Also you may edit someone else’s work, so you need to be mindful of not changing the point of the writing.
-Some people think they are great writers and they aren’t, so be careful of how you handle their feelings
-People “hate” writing proposals if it isn’t part of their job
-Written Proposals = you only get one shot, if you lose it its costs $200 mill-to 4 bill

Aubrey Spilde, Transportation Planner, (SBCAG)
Writing in her job:
-Regional planning so there’s a lot of writing (long range plans, directives to where funding goes, staff reports – summarizing loooong document into 2 pages)
-A fair amount of collaboration, both in composition and editing
-“Writing styles between people will always be an issue in the workplace”

Lara Polanksy, Bren MESM Student, EPA Summer Intern
Writing in her job:
-Wrote and reviewed grant proposals for EPA
-Importance of mapping your statements to RFP requirements → easier to find information, more likely to get funding
- Interagency Collaboration: Independent research versus collaborative research (key is to keep checking back in with all the agencies to make sure it still makes sense)

Expertise
-Aubrey: Make sure things meant for the public can be understood by the public.

Where do assignments come from?
-Aubrey: Federally or state mandated
-Matt: I’m the assigner, I’m on the listserves that send proposals and I select which we will go after

What’s a day in your life?
-Lara: Reviewing proposals was a side project and usually done in haste (aka keep your proposals concise and easy to understand)
-Aubrey: Researching, writing, calculating, writing staff reports
-Matt: Travel a lot, 30-40% proposal writing, responsible for buying/selling assets

Communication Tips from Matt:
**When you communicate in emails – never use 10 words when 5 will do, don’t write more than 2 paragraphs if you want them to read the last sentence. People’s thumbs get tired of scrolling on the blackberry. ;)

What’s the turnaround time on the proposals?
-Matt: 45 days (give or take), but the time goes quick because of corralling and coordinating

What are the most challenging aspects of your writing?
-Aubrey: 1) Making complicated info clear to those not familiar with it, 2) Write emails that are direct so you actually get what you want (pinpoint who does what and by when).
-Matt: Time management is always a problem. Writing proposals is important but its hard to get people to do it. Also: specify what time something is due and at what time zone. Leadership is needed: it’s hard to stand up sometimes in order to limit scope.
-Lara: Making a strong case is difficult – leave time for data collection, limiting project scope is difficult (taking on too much, can result in poor knowledge and writing), coordinating with people is difficult.

Managing Time and Responsibilities:
-Jordan: At his internship, was writing a proposal that nobody was taking responsibility for, so by not being prepared for it, he learned a lot.
-Matt: described leadership in writing as “Managing Up” – When you’re given low level work, but need to coordinate contributions and sign off from higher ups.
-Matt: When estimating how long it will take you to do something, add about 40% for a good estimation
-Lucas: Sometimes even getting things done ahead of time doesn’t mean stress is avoided because other people may put off reviewing it.

Effective and Ineffective Communication:
- People will take your estimations of how difficult or time-consuming something is if you say it with authority.
-Boundary Bulldozer: If you are going to say a timeline or task is too demanding, you should have good reasons and time estimation to back your excuse up. Boundary bulldozers will ask why, why, why and try to get you to agree to their terms.
-It is always good to set due dates 10 days or 5 days early.
-Matt: Don’t be afraid to keep bothering someone until they get back to you with what you need.
-Monica: But also realize your ranking and that everyone is busy. Don’t be a bother until you’ve given them adequate time and advanced notice.
-Matt: Remember that most companies are operating at n –1, they’re at least one person short, so everyone has to do extra work.
-Know how hard to push, when to push and when not to push. Stay professional.
-The better you are as an employee, the easier it is to stand up for yourself.
–The people who give excuses are the ones who always give excuses and people stop believing in them or caring about them.
-Matt: “The unexpected happens, but it doesn’t happen everyday…”
--It doesn’t matter who is “right” or “wrong” when a proposal is late or not accepted, all that matters is the success of the project. Don’t spend time dwelling on blame, move forward.
--If you’re late to provide a colleague with information, “sorry for the delay” is the max apology to give, people don’t care beyond that (e.g., they don’t want to know about your sick cat or car trouble, they just want to know when they should expect the work to be done).

Spin failure or rejection as a learning experience
-When you send a proposal to a federal agency and it doesn’t get funded, you can ask for the reasons why and the funding agency will tell you why.
-Know when to speak up and don’t be afraid to even if you think you will look like you are overstepping your superiors (Maybe you’ll have more training or knowledge in a certain subject than they do, and if mistake isn’t caught by you, it could cost the company time and money)

--Julia Griffin