Take these top tips to improve your writing skills:

Keep it simple
Great writers can cover whole topics in just a few short paragraphs. To do this, you need to remove any surplus content, clutter and jargon and write in simple, plain terms that everyone understands. That way, your documents will be quick and easy to read.

Make it focused
To create a powerful project document, you need to focus purely on the topic. This will make your document more persuasive and inspiring to read. So think carefully about the content that your readers expect you to cover. Then list your topics and stick to them. Never write off the topic. If you need to go off topic, then put the content in an Appendix at the end and refer to it.

Have a clear structure
You also need to think carefully about your Table of Contents. Your readers need to be able to scan the Table of Contents to get a quick feel for what your document contains. The Table of Contents should be simple and easy to understand. In your document, you should also:

• Use tables to make it easier to read
• Insert diagrams to explain difficult topics
• Use short paragraphs to accentuate points
• Make use of bolding, italics and underlining
• Use bullets, as they are easily scanned.

Always tell a story
Everyone loves a good story. So write each document as though it was the best story in town. Start with the beginning by introducing your topic and telling them what they are going to learn by reading your document. Then write the main body of the document and end with a conclusion.

Make it flow
Write your document so that each of the sections flow from one topic to the next. This way, the user never has to pause to work out where they are. So before you finish each section, introduce the next section. This helps keep the reader motivated.

Just the right amount
Give your readers “just the right amount of information” needed to make a decision or take an action. Keep it short, but informative and helpful.

Be inspiring

Great writers are passionate about what they are writing. If you are positive and inspirational about your documents, then your reader will catch the excitement and your document will be enjoyable to read.

Jason Westland has worked as a project manger for 15 years. He has a great enthusiasm for project management and which is shown by the books he has published and the value of which his information contains. You can get more information on Jason or his project management templates at method123.

Step 1: Research the Business Drivers
In most cases, your project is being driven by a problem in the business. These problems are called “business drivers” and you need to have a clear understanding of what they are, as part of your Feasibility Study.

For instance, the business driver might be that an IT system is outdated and is causing customer complaints, or that two businesses need to merge because of an acquisition. Regardless of the business driver, you need to get to the bottom of it so you fully understand the reasons why the project has been kicked off.

Find out why the business driver is important to the business, and why it’s critical that the project delivers a solution to it within a specified timeframe. Then find out what the impact will be to the business, if the project slips.

Step 2: Confirm the Alternative Solutions
Now you have a clear understanding of the business problem that the project addresses, you need to understand the alternative solutions available.

If it’s an IT system that is outdated, then your alternative solutions might include redeveloping the existing system, replacing it or merging it with another system.

Only with a clear understanding of the alternative solutions to the business problem, can you progress with the Feasibility Study.

Step 3: Determine the Feasibility
You now need to identify the feasibility of each solution. The question to ask of each alternative solution is “can we deliver it on time and under budget?”

To answer this question, you need to use a variety of methods to assess the feasibility of each solution. Here are some examples of ways you can assess feasibility:

• Research: Perform online research to see if other companies have implemented the same solutions and how they got on.
• Prototyping: Identify the part of the solution that has the highest risk, and then build a sample of it to see if it’s possible to create.
• Time-boxing: Complete some of the tasks in your project plan and measure how long it took vs. planned. If you delivered it on time, then you know that your planning is quite accurate.

Step 4: Choose a Preferred Solution
With the feasibility of each alternative solution known, the next step is to select a preferred solution to be delivered by your project. Choose the solution that; is most feasible to implement, has the lowest risk, and you have the highest confidence of delivering.

You’ve now chosen a solution to a known business problem, and you have a high degree of confidence that you can deliver that solution on time and under budget, as part of the project.

Step 5:
It’s now time to take your chosen solution and reassess its feasibility at a lower level. List all of the tasks that are needed to complete the solution. Then run those tasks by your team to see how long they think it will take to complete them. Add all of the tasks and timeframes to a project plan to see if you can do it all within the project deadline. Then ask your team to identify the highest risk tasks and get them to investigate them further to check that they are achievable. Use the techniques in Step 3 to give you a very high degree of confidence that it’s practically achievable. Then document all of the results in a Feasibility Study report.

After completing these 5 steps, get your Feasibility Study approved by your manager so that everyone in the project team has a high degree of confidence that the project can deliver successfully.

Jason Westland has been in the project management industry for the past 16 years managing projects of up to 2 billion dollars. If you would like to find out more about Jason or about his new online project management software visit projectmanager.com.