This document captures some of writing and communication principles at NewLimit.

Writing tips

• Communication is document-centric: Avoid slides if possible. We believe that writing prose improves the clarity of our thinking, whereas slides hide the flaws in half-baked ideas.
• Define your acronyms: even if you assume your audience knows them, spell out acronyms the first time you use them. Doing so helps new team members get up to speed faster.
• Write less: remove unnecessary words. Keep sentences to 20 or fewer words.
• Avoid weasel or filler words: Remove vague terms and replace them with specificity. Instead of “some time ago,” write “three months ago.”
• Use simple words: Avoid jargon if possible. Check your document’s ****Flesch Reading Ease (over 50 is excellent for business writing) and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (aim for Grade 8 or lower). Here are instructions to find Microsoft Word’s readability statistics.
• Other resources: On Writing Well is a concise guide on the essentials of good business writing. Matt Might’s guide to writing email is great.

Completed Staff Work

The principle of Completed Staff Work is useful when formulating plans for a decision by leadership.

This principle was introduced by US Army Colonel Archer Lerch and popularized in the technology industry by IBM’s Thomas J. Watson. In brief, we believe that Completed Staff Work consists of:

• All the information necessary for a leader to make a decision
• A concise, lucid recommendation for a decision from the technical expert
• The leader should only need to Approve or Disapprove of the decision

Completed Staff Work

A shorter version is the PPS format:

Problem and Proposed Solution