So you’ve been asked to edit a document
photo by glassghost
Congratulations, you’ve just received an email from a colleague asking for your edits or suggestions to a Word document. It’s always an honor and a sign of respect that your opinion is requested. But before you get started, consider the following:
Your top goal should always be to help the owner of the document move toward a successful conclusion. While this seems obvious, sometimes we inadvertently move things in the wrong direction.
Remember that the owner of the document chose you, specifically, so don’t forward it to others without asking first.
If you haven’t been asked to copy edit the document for grammar, don’t spend a lot of time doing that. Assume that the sender will take care of all that later in the process.
If you’re not the right person, or you don’t have the time, tell the owner and perhaps suggest someone else. Consider ceding your input and trusting the process.
Don’t be a bottleneck. If you think your opinion is vital, but then don’t have the time or can’t formulate clear thoughts or want to review the overall strategy first or whatever—you are bottlenecking and probably turning this simple task into a fiasco.
Make edits in the text itself—rather than making suggestions in the comments—and always track your changes.
Comments are great for explaining why you made a change, citing a source or complimenting the writer, but often not so great for line edits, vague notions, open-ended questions, and soliloquies that the owner of the document will have difficulty interpreting—and that will inevitably lead to delays.
Keep your comments and edits polite and constructive—sometimes these documents are seen by a lot of people, perhaps even some from outside the organization.
Approach your review as if you’re only going to get one bite at the apple. On rare occasions, you may want to ask that the owner of the document return to you with the near-final draft—but understand that this doesn’t help anyone.
If you are making a suggestion that would require the writer to do significant new work, be clear if this is vital or just a random thought.
Let the owner know when you’re done. If there’s a box for reviewers to check off names, please do so.
Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, and there are lots of other ways I haven’t mentioned to help your colleagues through what can often be very difficult review processes.
If you've got any suggestions that others might benefit from, please share in the comments.