1

المرجع الالكتروني للمعلوماتية

Grammar

Tenses

Present

Present Simple

Present Continuous

Present Perfect

Present Perfect Continuous

Past

Past Continuous

Past Perfect

Past Perfect Continuous

Past Simple

Future

Future Simple

Future Continuous

Future Perfect

Future Perfect Continuous

Passive and Active

Parts Of Speech

Nouns

Countable and uncountable nouns

Verbal nouns

Singular and Plural nouns

Proper nouns

Nouns gender

Nouns definition

Concrete nouns

Abstract nouns

Common nouns

Collective nouns

Definition Of Nouns

Verbs

Stative and dynamic verbs

Finite and nonfinite verbs

To be verbs

Transitive and intransitive verbs

Auxiliary verbs

Modal verbs

Regular and irregular verbs

Action verbs

Adverbs

Relative adverbs

Interrogative adverbs

Adverbs of time

Adverbs of place

Adverbs of reason

Adverbs of quantity

Adverbs of manner

Adverbs of frequency

Adverbs of affirmation

Adjectives

Quantitative adjective

Proper adjective

Possessive adjective

Numeral adjective

Interrogative adjective

Distributive adjective

Descriptive adjective

Demonstrative adjective

Pronouns

Subject pronoun

Relative pronoun

Reflexive pronoun

Reciprocal pronoun

Possessive pronoun

Personal pronoun

Interrogative pronoun

Indefinite pronoun

Emphatic pronoun

Distributive pronoun

Demonstrative pronoun

Pre Position

Preposition by function

Time preposition

Reason preposition

Possession preposition

Place preposition

Phrases preposition

Origin preposition

Measure preposition

Direction preposition

Contrast preposition

Agent preposition

Preposition by construction

Simple preposition

Phrase preposition

Double preposition

Compound preposition

Conjunctions

Subordinating conjunction

Correlative conjunction

Coordinating conjunction

Conjunctive adverbs

Interjections

Express calling interjection

Grammar Rules

Preference

Requests and offers

wishes

Be used to

Some and any

Could have done

Describing people

Giving advices

Possession

Comparative and superlative

Giving Reason

Making Suggestions

Apologizing

Forming questions

Since and for

Directions

Obligation

Adverbials

invitation

Articles

Imaginary condition

Zero conditional

First conditional

Second conditional

Third conditional

Reported speech

Linguistics

Phonetics

Phonology

Semantics

Pragmatics

Linguistics fields

Syntax

Morphology

Semantics

pragmatics

History

Writing

Grammar

Phonetics and Phonology

Reading Comprehension

Elementary

Intermediate

Advanced

English Language : Linguistics : Writing :

Proposing Steps to Solve Problems

المؤلف:  BARBARA MINTO

المصدر:  THE MINTO PYRAMID PRINCIPLE

الجزء والصفحة:  221-12

2024-10-04

271

Proposing Steps to Solve Problems

Most business documents are written after the problem they address has been solved. The purpose of some documents, however, is to tell the reader the steps the writer will go through to find the solution to the problem. Consulting proposals and project plans fall into this category.

 

Both documents require you to define the problem in the introduction, and both are generally structured around the steps in the analysis. Both spell out for a prospective client (or a requesting manager) your understanding of what his problem is and how you propose to go about solving it. If the proposal or project plan is accepted, you will then conduct an analysis into the causes of the problem, and write a report embodying your conclusions and recommendations.

 

In the case of a consulting proposal, you are generally also establishing a contractual agreement that tells the client what he is buying, how much it will cost, when it will be finished, and who will do what in the process. As a way of ensuring that these items get included in the document, most consulting firms have adopted a standard set of headings around which to structure their proposals:

Introduction

Background

Objectives and Scope

Issues

Technical Approach

Work Plan and Deliverables

Benefits

Firm Qualifications and Related Experience

Timing, Staffing, and Fees

 

The trouble with writing around such headings is that they encourage the writer to make lists under each section. The lists tend to overlap and thus work to obscure your actual thinking.

 

For example, the information that would go under Introduction, Background and Objectives and Scope has to do with the definition of the problem, while that under Issues, Technical Approach, and Work Plan and Deliverables actually deals with the steps in solving the problem. And the value of a separate Benefits section has always eluded me, given that the benefit is that you will solve the client's problem, which I presume was the objective in the first place.

 

Consequently, as noted in, Fine Points of Introductions, I recommend a structure like that shown in Exhibit B-2, in which the introduction explains the problem and the document itself is structured either around the approach (as is shown here) or around a set of reasons about why the client should hire you, as shown in Exhibit B-3. (Project Plans arc always structured around the process).

 

The consulting firm's qualifications and information about timing, staffing, and fees, are included in a proposal, but are considered outside the structure of the thinking.

 

As to whether you want to structure to show the steps in the process or to explain the reasons for hiring you, that depends usually on the competitive nature of the proposal. If it is a client you have worked with before, and the proposal is simply a confirmation of what you have agreed to do for him this time, I suggest structuring around the steps in the process. If however, it is a competitive situation, you probably want to structure around the reasons the client should hire you, as shown in Exhibit B-3.

 

The major difference is that in the second approach you begin with a short paragraph that reads something like this:

We were delighted to meet with you to discuss your plans to market your software to developing countries. This document represents, our proposal for helping you develop an appropriate marketing strategy. It consists of:

- Our understanding of the market opportunity available to you

- The approach we would take to helping you develop a strategy for taking full advantage of that opportunity

- Our experience in carrying out this kind of assignment in the past

- Our business arrangements.

 

The first section would then explain the problem in detail, using the Sittwtion-R1-R2 structure and making sure to address the specific hot buttons or agendas1 of the client decision makers that are expected to be factors in the selection process. The second section would set out the approach, while the third would highlight the specific or unique expertise you bring to solving the problem.

 

To give you a sense of the process, Exhibits B-4 and B-5 show the problem definition and pyramid for a U.S. telephone company that wanted to sell its software to developing countries. The facts were as follows:

The company had for years developed its own business and administrative software. Some of what it had developed in prior years was now obsolete for their purposes, but it saw a possible demand for this kind of software in developing or third-world countries. It consequently had decided to set up a joint venture to build product families on distinctive competencies, and sell these to attractive segments.

 

However, the company had never sold to these markets before, and did not know what the market segments were, let alone which were the attractive ones. It had consequently decided to hire a consulting firm to help it determine which were the attractive markets for its software products.

These facts can be laid out in the problem-definition framework like this:

 

Then, reading from left to right, you would transform them into a pyramid that looks like this:

 

1 For a superb discussion of, assessing client concerns, see "Writing Winning Proposals" by Joseph Romano and Richard and Shervin Freed (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1995)

EN

تصفح الموقع بالشكل العمودي