The Verbalization Mindset for Writing 'Communicative Text' Essential for Remote Work
Kanmu operates primarily through remote work, so most communication is text-based. Therefore, if you write incorrectly, misunderstandings and revisions increase, slowing down work speed. For this reason, over the past year, I have created a training program called "Spartan Verbalization," which uses various approaches to help with verbalization (there is a habit in the company of adding "Spartan~" to training names) (it goes up to ver. 5).
What I learned while creating the training is that what is required is not advanced language skills, but rather an attitude of being conscious of "how to write so that it is easy for the other person to understand." Just by having that "mindset," you can expect significant improvements. I have summarized the key points below.
Ambiguous text can cause the reader to spend a lot of time interpreting it, lead to rework due to misaligned intentions, and result in project delays. Furthermore, it can even affect interpersonal relationships. Precisely because it is a remote environment where immediate follow-up in person is difficult, there is a demand for techniques that ensure intentions are accurately conveyed through written text alone.
This time, I will focus on the "mindset" of writing, and introduce three important points for writing text that gets across, along with concrete examples of improvement.
Three "Mindsets" That Are Key to Verbalization
To improve the quality of your writing, not only your skill set but also the writer's mindset—that is, their "awareness"—is extremely important. I feel that just by being conscious of the following three points, the quality of internal writing will improve by 50%.
1. Do not show your own notes as they are
When writing something, I think it is common to list thoughts in bullet points at first. However, those are just notes, and they are "meaningful to you." They are often incomprehensible to others.
You should clearly distinguish between notes and text intended for others to see.
Notes tend to be listed in the order they come to mind, and because the structure is disorganized, they are likely to be difficult information for the reader to understand.
For text intended for others, since the reader cannot see inside your brain, it is important to be conscious of it as a "finished product."
2. Review after you finish writing
Since the first draft is written while thinking, the order of the content can become disorganized and difficult to understand.
"What do I want to convey?" , in other words, presenting the conclusion first, makes it easier to understand by organizing the order.
Text with many typos and omissions is judged as not having been reviewed, and it may give the impression that "this person is not used to conveying things to others and lacks the mindset for it."
While eliminating typos and omissions is important in itself, typos and omissions are naturally discovered in the process of reviewing from the perspective of "is this easy for people to read and understand?" People who have a habit of writing easy-to-understand text tend to have fewer typos and omissions as a result.
3. Define the reader and expected action before writing
Before writing text, it is extremely important to clearly define "who the text is for" and "what you want the person who reads this text to do."
In text that only summarizes your own thoughts, the reader does not know what they should do, and it does not lead to action.
By defining who the text is for and what is expected of them in words—and explicitly stating this in the text whenever possible—the reader will find it easier to understand the content.
By thoroughly applying this definition, you can strip away unnecessary information. Since text is easier to read the shorter it is, defining the reader and the purpose creates a process for selecting only the truly necessary information.
Example of a bad bulleted list
I will explain how the mindset mentioned above is specifically useful by providing an example of a bulleted list that explains the purpose of a lecture.
[Bad Example] (A bulleted list that looks like raw notes)
This is a state where the writer's thoughts are listed in the order they came to mind.
"In this lecture, I want to improve everyone's verbalization skills."
"Last time, I aimed for a one-off session targeting an unspecified number of people, but it wasn't enough."
"I will set aside consecutive time slots, and it will take a certain amount of time."
...and so on, with information arranged in parallel.
Issues:
The structure is disorganized, making it difficult to understand the sequence and the importance of the information.
It contains unnecessary information (such as reflections from last time) for the reader (especially first-time readers).
As a result, it is difficult to understand the content without reading the whole thing.
[Good Example] (An improved version conscious of the reader and purpose)
First, present the conclusion or summary to clarify what is expected of the reader.
By structuring the information and dividing it into paragraphs for each point you want to convey, such as purpose and improvements, you promote understanding.
By being conscious of 'who you want to read this' (in this case, a wide variety of people), unnecessary information like past history is deleted, and it has been shortened to just the three lines that are truly necessary.
With this improvement, the time required to understand the same content is dramatically reduced, leading to an increase in overall speed.
Other document creation rules
In addition to the three mindsets above, you can write even more effective text by being conscious of the following points as well.
From big picture to details: It is best to write text so that it flows from abstract points (conclusions or results) to concrete points (specific examples, premises, or causes).
Show the structure: Rather than flat bullet points, it is also effective to be conscious of structure and use techniques like bold text to make parts that should be emphasized stand out.
Use concrete examples: When discussing abstract topics, providing concrete examples will deepen understanding.
Define terms: To ensure that even first-time readers can understand, define technical terms as appropriate.
Summary
In today's world where remote work is mainstream, the verbalization skill of writing 'effective text' is essential not only for individual productivity but also for improving the productivity and speed of the entire team and company.
The three mindsets introduced here, namely,
Do not show your notes as they are
Review after finishing writing
Define the reader and expected action before writing
Even just being conscious of these in your daily communication on Slack, esa, or Notion will dramatically improve the quality of your writing and lead to smoother communication. Please try to be conscious of them and put them into practice starting today.
[Update 2025.07.08] I have written a sequel
Kanmu is actively recruiting for various positions.