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Cut to the Chase! Avoid Pompous Words in Procedures

 
 
When writing policies and procedures for your organization keep this mantra in mind: Time is money and people are busy! Cut to the chase!
 
When they read your organization’s policies and procedures, your colleagues and employees don’t want to be impressed with unnecessary big words and an inflated vocabulary. They just want to understand the task at hand and get on with it.
 
Avoid pompous words in Procedures and Policy statements. When you are writing policies and procedures, whenever possible, substitute direct and simple words for long or possibly pretentious words.
 
Here are some tips.
 
Instead of  → Try Simpler Alternative
 
Advise  →  Tell
Ascertain  →  Find out
Conceptualize  →  Imagine or Picture
Finalize  →  Finish
Procure  →  Buy
Sufficient  →  Enough
Parameters  →  Conditions
Terminate  →  Stop or End
Transmit  →  Send
Demonstrate  →  Show
Quantify  →  Measure

Watch our upcoming posts for more tips and techniques that you can use for writing policies and procedures that deliver more value.

You might also want to check out our webinar series, particularly our How to Create User-friendly Procedures webinar.