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Document engineering

For a quotation, please contact us. When key documents are hard to follow or have evolved as multiple versions, the Plain English Foundation can offer a comprehensive redesign for better clarity and efficiency. We call this document engineering, which involves developing a new customised document template in MS Word.

A man who uses a great many words to express his meaning is like a bad marksman who, instead of aiming a single stone at an object, takes up a handful and throws in the hope that he may hit it. Samuel Johnson

 
This creates more effective documents that save time for both writers and readers. In turn, your clients will be more engaged and your organisation more productive and profitable.

Document types we often re-engineer include:

• reports
• board papers
• briefing notes
• factsheets
• client letters
• policy manuals.

Our specialist editors will:

• review, map and analyse the information structure
• improve the structure and layout
• design a new customised template.

Client story

A government agency asked us to update ministerial brief templates that overemphasised background information and mixed important analysis with description. Ministers had to first identify the relevant material, which slowed the decision-making process. We created a new template that drew out key information and highlighted recommendations. This, with our modern design, allowed ministers to quickly find the recommendations and the reasoning. We then presented the new templates in a staff seminar.