July 22, 2005

Leadership Academy addresses writing skills

Business writing is an important part of every manager's job and yet courses that teach these skills are typically limited to business management programs. However, participants in the July 13 "Business Writer's Toolkit" — the most recent addition to the MGH Leadership Academy's course offerings — learned proven strategies to avoid some of the common pitfalls that interfere with effective business writing.

"This was an excellent course with a very good instructor," said Rich Perrotti, administrative manager of MGH Downtown. "I immediately began using some of the theory discussed by the instructor in my e-mails. I highly recommend the course."

Since its introduction, the Leadership Academy — a program that helps managers enhance their skills — has consisted of intensive learning seminars such as Process Management and Personalysis, a book discussion group, and a nine-month Strategic Planning course in which participants apply theory to an action learning project.
A partnership with Harvard Business School Publishing also provides access to ManageMentor Plus, a series of 37 online, self-directed modules that give managers the added convenience of learning on their own time.

Salvatore Iacome, PhD, of the American Management Association, teaches effective business writing to MGH managers.

The full day "Business Writer's Toolkit" will be offered again Oct. 5. The Harvard online Writing for Business course includes online tools and links to additional resources. For more information about the Academy, visit www.massgeneral.org/leadershipacademy.