Petersen Ink

Essential writing skills for government

Our face-to-face writing courses are on hold due to COVID-19. In the meantime, we have six online writing courses that will help you improve your writing at work. You can check these courses out at petersenink.teachable.

Our courses are the best writing programs available to government, and we have the training evaluations to back that claim.

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Essential writing skills: Plain English

This is our foundation course and is for people who want to learn to write in a clear, assertive and easy to read style. Most people know the principles of plain English, but haven’t been taught how to apply them. This course provides practical guidance on how to make writing simple, accountable, productive, engaging and inclusive.

Essential writing skills: Emails and letters

This course is for team members and government employees up to APS/ASO level 4. Participants will learn how to write with clarity and appropriate style. The course introduces participants to a structured writing process that ensures documents achieve their intended purpose.

Essential writing skills: Supporting action and decisions

This is our most popular course and is for team members, supervisors and government employees up to APS/ASO level 6. Participants will learn how to develop relevant content and write documents that drive action. This involves planning a document and thinking about its purpose, key messages and call to action. Participants will also learn how to write documents that are short and clear.

• 7 April 2020
• 16 June 2020

Essential writing skills: Managers

This course is for managers, including government officers up to EL1/2 and SOG A/B/C. It shows how to address serious, sensitive and complex topics with multiple stakeholders. These documents must withstand both internal and external scrutiny. The course approaches executive writing as a leadership and management activity.

Editing and review.

The process of document review is sometimes the longest and most frustrating part of the writing process. This course teaches learners how to edit and review workplace documents in a constructive and efficient way. It includes tips on how to mark-up changes, and how to give productive feedback to writers.

Managing difficult behaviour

Good communication is essential to preventing and responding to difficult issues, and this course focusses on how to achieve this. The course covers legal and ethical responsibilities, distinguishing bullying from reasonable management action, and how to hold difficult conversations. The course can be delivered to employees, managers and contact officers.

Writing and Editing

Professional writing and editing support will improve the content and clarity of your documents. A well-written document helps your people with their work, shapes reader response and behaviour, and enhances individual and organisational reputation. Petersen Ink can take your organisation’s content and ideas, and write them up in a clear, readable and persuasive style.

Policy documents to provide clarity of purpose to staff.
Policy documents are the framework for workplace decision-making. Despite this, busy organisations often ignore this writing task or delegate it to staff who do not have the time or expertise to do it well. Petersen Ink are expert organisational policy writers, with experience in writing policy and procedures in the fields of health care, transport security, transport safety, personnel management and logistics.

Doctrine and manuals to capture best practice.
The best businesses and government entities record their doctrine and procedures. They use this to embed learning and experience inside their organisation. Since 2002, Petersen Ink has specialised in the development of manuals and doctrine. We have written about intelligence, policing, aircraft operations, military operations and health services.

Tenders to align company capabilities with client requirements.
Good writing helps persuade potential clients of your ability to meet their needs. While many businesses have an excellent product or service to offer, they are daunted by the complexities of responding to requests for tenders. Petersen Ink has written or edited successful tender documents for government panels, engineering projects, construction equipment, catering services, logistic services and training programs.