Ashley Creech

The Challenge: Navigating the Labyrinth of Technical Documents

Working with the Accenture Grant Writing team, the main challenge was dealing with highly technical and complex grant documents that often spanned over 60 pages. While these documents were rich in information, their complexity posed a barrier to readability and engagement. Poorly structured content and occasional errors could jeopardize the team’s chances of securing crucial funding. Therefore, the challenge was two-fold: to enhance the readability without diluting the technical essence and to ensure accuracy in both content and grammar.

The Underlying Issues

• Complexity Overload: The documents were saturated with technical jargon and complex constructs, making them difficult to digest.
• Inconsistencies and Errors: With the voluminous nature of these documents, inconsistencies in tone and style, as well as factual and grammatical errors, could easily creep in.
• Lack of Standardization: Each grant application often followed its own structure and style, lacking a standardized approach that would streamline the writing and revision processes.

The Solution: A Balancing Act of Technicality and Readability

Over the course of multiple projects, my role was to serve as the arbiter of clarity and correctness while preserving the technical rigor of each document. This involved revising, restructuring, and sometimes rewriting sections to ensure a cohesive narrative that would be both compelling and easily understandable, without sacrificing the technical depth required for a successful grant application.

How I helped

• Readability Enhancement: Reviewed and revised the content to improve its readability, simplifying complex sentences and breaking down technical jargon where possible, all while retaining the technical nuances vital for grant applications.
• Error Elimination: Conducted thorough proofreading to ensure that the text was free from grammatical and factual errors, enhancing both its reliability and credibility.
• Standardization: Introduced a set of writing guidelines and best practices that brought consistency across multiple documents, making it easier for the team to collaborate and for reviewers to engage with the content.

The outcome

The revised documents were not only easier to read but also more compelling, creating a stronger case for each grant application. The Grant Writing team benefited from the guidelines and best practices, making the preparation of future documents more streamlined and efficient. This renewed focus on clarity and accuracy caught the attention of decision-makers, significantly improving the team’s success rate in securing grants. Importantly, the standardization and improvements received commendation from both team members and external reviewers, setting a new benchmark for quality in the team’s grant-writing endeavors.