Projects delayed. Customers upset. Sales lost!

It’s  not always technical failures or a dubious business strategy that causes these bottom-line business problems: the documents your organization produces and your team’s communications are often the primary culprits.

Emails that confuse more than they clarify can have real consequences. Proposals that fail to persuade can lose business. Reports that take twice as long to read as they should can slow down internal workflows. And so on.

And behind each of these issues lies the same fact: even the most experienced business professionals, no matter how expert they are, can struggle to communicate effectively in writing.

Enter the business writing workshop.

Part training, part coaching, part strategy consulting, these workshops are one of the most effective ways for organizations to transform their teams from hesitant scribblers into confident communicators and high performers.

If you’ve ever wondered what exactly a business writing workshop is, or whether one could help your team, this guide is here to help.

How Does a Business Writing Workshop Differ from Other Training Formats?

Training and skills development for professionals can take many forms, ranging from sitting in large auditoriums listening to a speaker to rudimentary online learning modules that viewers simply sit back and watch.

Complicating matters, the word “workshop” gets tossed around a lot, with its meaning twisted to suit different circumstances. For our purposes, unlike lectures or generic e-learning, we define a true business writing workshop as an interactive, participatory, and customized learning experience. Think of it less as a class and more as a hands-on lab. In fact, its blend of structure, flexibility, and interactivity is what differentiates workshops from the stale, one-size-fits-all training that so often fails to move the needle and catalyze real workforce improvements.

What Can Your Team Expect to Get Out of a Business Writing Workshop?

First, it will shine a light on problems you don’t know you have. Even seasoned professionals can fall into patterns (such as overusing jargon, burying the lede, or targeting the wrong readers) without realizing it. A workshop surfaces these blind spots and offers a roadmap for change.

Second, it will instill communication skills that travel. Good writing is good thinking, and the clarity learned in a workshop will subsequently improve every professional interaction. A well-crafted email, a tighter project plan, a faster-moving group meeting: the benefits of improved communication and critical thinking skills compound over time.

Third, it will build confidence. When employees feel unsure about their writing, they procrastinate. They second-guess themselves. They lean on templates and bureaucratic phrases. Workshops replace anxiety with competence.

Finally, it will improve business outcomes. Effective workshops go beyond grammar drills. They help participants develop strategies to plan and organize their writing, not just polish the final product. The best workshops will equip your team with strategies that will better align writing output with bottom-line business goals.

Do Workshops Really Work?

It’s a fair question. Business training options are a dime a dozen, and almost all of them overpromise what they can deliver. Plus, writing can feel like an innate talent, something that isn’t trainable. Some people just “have it,” right?

But research says otherwise. Writing is a learned skill, but almost no one picks up effective business writing skills in school. According to Josh Bernoff’s last State of Business Writing report, only 38% of business writers say they received relevant instruction during their formal education. That study is older now, but based on our own experiences with business clients, we’d argue the problem has only worsened.

And workshops work! One study of writing workshop efficacy found that after a science-oriented writing workshop, the share of participants who rated their writing skills as bad or neutral dropped from nearly half (46%) to just 8%. As the researchers concluded, workshops clearly “can help build confidence and develop writing capacity skills.”

What Qualities Should You Seek in a Business Writing Workshop?

Not all workshops are created equal, however. Some are nothing more than prepackaged presentations masquerading as training. To avoid wasting time and budget, look for these defining characteristics:

1: Customization

If a provider can’t tailor the curriculum to your business, move on. The most successful workshops analyze your workflows and real documents, then adjust course materials accordingly. That way, every exercise is immediately relevant.

2: Real-World Examples

Abstract writing exercises have their place in school, but in business, training should focus on actual deliverables: your proposals, your reports, your emails. Participants should walk out with concrete, actionable improvements to their own daily work.

3: Interactivity and Feedback

Look for workshops that blend live instruction, hands-on exercises, peer critique, and one-on-one coaching. The goal is engagement, not passive note-taking. To be fair, a lot of this has to do with the quality of the instructor (someone who’s skilled at getting people involved and participating), but workshops are simply the best instructional format for facilitating interaction.

4: Learning by Doing

Evidence suggests that active learning is far more effective than passive listening. A University of Chicago study found that students who learned by doing performed significantly better than those who didn’t. Writing is no different. Skills grow through practice.

5: Sensitivity to Learners

A workshop can accommodate all kinds of learning styles and preferences. For example, in our  workshops, we ensure participants have multiple channels and options for participation. “Anyone could throw out ideas or answers without judgment,” one participant of a Hurley Write workshop commented. “Outspoken people had a chance to voice their opinions. The more reserved could take notes and ask questions during breaks.”

Business Writing Workshops Can Incorporate Business Strategy

Remember that science-oriented writing workshop study we mentioned? It also found that one major obstacle for their participants was simply that “allotting time for writing was difficult.” In other words, one of the biggest writing challenges has nothing to do with skills per se. It’s the logistics of writing. It doesn’t matter how good your writers are if they never get to writing or, perhaps even worse, rush through every writing project.

A great workshop teaches more than just style and tone. It covers writing strategy and allows participants to think through the sheer logistics of writing at their own organizations, including planning, drafting, revising, and aligning documents with goals and readers.

Too many instructional formats stop at the end goal of building the skill. A business writing workshop will take it further by connecting the dots between better writing and outcomes such as more sales, fewer customer questions or complaints, and so on. By developing a repeatable process at the same time as you burnish skills, you can drive lasting changes.

The Bottom Line

Business writing workshops, when thoughtfully designed and strategically delivered, can unlock the hidden potential in your team’s communication. They can uncover blind spots, build confidence, and turn writing from a chore into a powerful tool for achieving business goals.

If you’re ready to transform your team from decent writers into writing superstars, don’t settle for generic training. Invest in a workshop that’s tailored, interactive, and built to facilitate success.

If you’re not sure where to get started or how to choose the right workshop for your needs, just ask. At Hurley Write, this is what we do day in, day out. Let us walk you through the process of figuring out what you need and strengthening your whole team today.