Writing in Councils

Writing in local government comes with specific challenges. Our expert facilitators understand those challenges intimately. We have delivered hundreds of writing training workshops for councils across Australia.

Our council writing courses are highly tailored and we further customise each workshop by using examples of writing in your council, making the program relevant and enjoyable.

Tailored Writing in Local Government training programs – virtual or in-house delivery – Melbourne – Sydney – Brisbane – Adelaide – Perth – Hobart – Darwin – Canberra – and all regional areas

Writing in Local Government Courses – delivered in-house at your premises or in a virtual environment

We deliver our training programs either through:

Writing Council Reports

Are your team’s council reports concise and strategic? When we create council reports and council briefing papers, we often include too much detail and operational content, which makes decision making harder.

This uniquely focused council report writing course helps council employees and managers write succinct and high-level reports written for councillors. Many of these reports need to go through the Governance Department first. The workshop is tailored to focus on specific documentation and develops the skills that:

  • Limit internal rewriting to a minimum
  • Enable fast decision making.

Duration

Options:

  • One full-day face-to-face
  • 2 x 3.5 hours live virtual training

Audience

This program is suited for council employees who write council reports and council briefing papers.

Outcomes

In the Writing Local Council Reports course, you will learn how to:

  • Understand the purpose of a council report
  • Identify the objectives of council reports
  • Understand what information councillors need in reports to make their decisions
  • Define the structure and purpose of the headings in the council reports and briefing papers
  • Populate the council templates with appropriate information
  • Capture key information and write it succinctly with a logical flow
  • Effectively construct sentences and paragraphs to increase readability
  • Eliminate 20 to 30 per cent of wasted words in a report.

Writing Council Documents for Clarity

Writing is often not the fun part of our job. It can be time consuming and sometimes it needs several rework attempts to get it right. Readers should be able to read a document once and process it in the way you intend.

This training program is entirely focused on writing council documents. It will help to write any council document faster and to give greater clarity for the reader. We will use participant work as the basis for exercises. They will immediately apply what they learn to their own and their colleagues’ writing, making the course far more interesting and relevant.

Duration

Options:

  • One full-day face-to-face
  • 2 x 3.5 hours live virtual training

Audience

This program is suited for council employees who are required to write typical local government documents, such as emails, letters, policies or reports.

Outcomes

In this council documents writing course, you will learn how to:

  • Identify the reader and the purpose of the document
  • Create a diagram to efficiently plan content and structure
  • Compose tight sentences which highlight the main points for the reader
  • Eliminate excess words in a document
  • Use formatting techniques to assist readability
  • Include key words to control the tone.

Writing Customer-Focused Emails and Letters

Are the emails and letters generated by your department too officious, long winded or not focused on addressing the issues raised in incoming correspondence? A formal tone and inappropriate content can unintentionally offend customers and discredit the council’s reputation within the community.

This program focuses on your department’s documentation and presents simple techniques to create letters and emails with a customer-focused tone, whilst concisely addressing all the relevant issues.

Duration

Options:

  • Half-day face-to-face
  • 1 x 3.5 hours live virtual training

Audience

This program is suited for local government employees who write external council emails and letters.

Outcomes

In this council email and letter writing course, learn how to:

  • Isolate all key issues that need addressing in the incoming correspondence
  • Use Spidergrams to plan structure and content
  • Compose concise and grammatically correct sentences with the reader in mind and in alignment with the council’s style guide
  • Effectively include standard paragraphs
  • Add in key words to control the tone.

We can also help you rewrite templates for responses that may need updating.

Responding to Council Requests for Review

Responding to requests for review of council decisions is one of the hardest types of correspondence to write. It requires a clear and simple presentation of facts and often complicated by-laws and legislation. At the same time, it needs to convey respect and empathy for the customers and their situations.

This is a tailored course for this specialised area of writing for local government. It uses your examples and standard paragraphs to help your team members write high quality correspondence quickly and confidently.

Duration

Options:

  • One full-day face-to-face
  • 2 x 3.5 hours live virtual training

Audience

This program is designed for council employees who need to respond to requests for review or appeal of council decisions. It is ideally suited to a group of members from one department.

Outcomes

In this program learn how to:

  • Isolate all key issues that need addressing in the incoming correspondence
  • Prepare a diagrammatic tool to ensure relevant content and structure
  • Interpret and convey legislation and by-laws for non-technical readers
  • Compose concise and grammatically correct sentences with the reader in mind and in alignment with the council’s style guide
  • Identify the power of empathy, when it is appropriate to be used and how to convey it
  • Assertively but compassionately convey decisions which may not meet the customer’s expectations
  • Add in key words to control the tone
  • Effectively include standard paragraphs
  • Update outdated standard paragraphs.

Writing for Funding

External funding is a major source for capital works and continuous improvement initiatives within councils. You are competing against other providers and it is easy to ‘miss the mark’ through a poor submission. These submissions require succinct and compelling composition of information to validate your council’s competency against the criteria.

Using examples previously created in the council, this course creates awareness and skills within this highly competitive area so that submissions have the best chance of success.

Duration

Options:

  • One full-day face-to-face
  • 2 x 3.5 hours live virtual training

Audience

This program is suited for council employees who prepare submissions to external bodies.

Outcomes

In this Writing Funding Proposals course learn how to:

  • Interpret the process funding bodies follow when evaluating submissions
  • Utilise a visual tool to:
    • Ensure listing relevant and convincing content for all criteria
    • Create a logical flow
  • Present substantiated and evidence-based claims against the criteria
  • Compose tight sentences which highlight the main points for the reader
  • Eliminate 20 to 30 per cent of wasted words in documents
  • Use formatting techniques to assist readability
  • Edit the document prior to submission.

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