If you are working inside an organisation, it is likely that everything you write will be reviewed by someone else before it is published or reaches its final destination.

Document reviews can be challenging for writers, so if you are a reviewer, please take care.

When reviewing someone’s work, remember what they have written is a reflection of their thinking and of themselves. That’s because thinking and writing are closely related.

Editing can be seen as criticising someone’s writing, and some people will take that as criticising their thinking. None of us like that. All writing is personal to some extent.

So, consider the person, not just the text.

But that is no reason to allow sloppy or ineffective writing to slip through. Be robust too so that whatever moves around inside the organisation, or that goes outside, is fit for purpose.