Edits are not personal

Writing is a personal, subjective task. Writing words, the right words, for a specific audience is often a challenge, particularly if you aren't yet well-tuned with the audience or the perceptions the audience has of you.

Managing perception is a key component for a healthy IT organization. Perception of IT can swing wildly - set off by print routing, the wording in a message, too much spam, how a user interface works or doesn't work. Unfortunately (or in some cases, fortunately), perceptions aren't always reality. And because important decisions are made (or not made) based on others perceptions, managing communications becomes an important task for IT leaders.

So, this said, it is important realize when your words are being edited by another, it is not because they are wrong, but rather because there are perceptions that are being managed. As writers/communicators, we don't always know how others perceive us; nor do we always know what decisions will be made from our words. Editing is not about criticising the writer, but instead about reaching the audience in the clearest, manner available - that meets the needs of the organization.

As writers who must undergo a committee-style review and edit cycle, it is important to divorce yourself personally from your words, and recognize that it is not you they are editing, it is the message. Each member of the committee brings forth a unique understanding of how others may percieve and react to the wording. And for reasons we may not see or understand the committee may need to alter the wording to manage perceptions in a different manner.

Decisions will be impacted by the message and the perceptions the message creates. You may not know what those decisions are or how the perceptions will shape the IT organization's future. But someone else does.

My advice is to be open and please - oh please - don't take edits personally. It's really not intended as such. They are just a matter of shaping a message to suit a specific purpose and need.

Update: For more on how to have better communications with your IT management, end users, and co-workers, I invite you to join me for my IT Communication Skills Training course at http://ITCommunicationSkills.com