Though MBA students are usually quite adept at the analysis of spreadsheets and making sense of financial statements acute, but when it comes to writing lengthy academic essays sometimes even the best of the lot cringe at the very thought of the task. The reason behind this may be attributed to a number of factors which include the fact that many MBA students have been on the work force and have hardly been faced with an academic writing challenge for several years.
The practice of having writing classes as part of the whole MBA experience is rapidly gaining ground amongst business schools as they increasingly realize the value brushing up the writing skills of MBA cohorts. Such classes usually include communication professors helping out students with their writing skills and coach them on typical MBA writing tasks like academic papers to case study analysis.
The following tips should be of help to MBA students irrespective of whether they attend writing classes or not.
• Avoid Being Long-Winded
In business writing being succinctly brief is a virtue that is of paramount importance, a fact that is often forgotten by business students who are tempted to add fluff to the main content just to fill over the pages and complete the word count. However, academic experts warn against this practice and advise students to get rid of unnecessary phrases and words while revising their first draft. Though admittedly, academic writing is indeed sometimes in need of elaboration but students should be frugal in their use of words while writing documents that are meant to be used for business purposes. These sorts of service marketing assignments, amongst other fields in which MBA students are required to complete the writing handed out to them, usually are pretty demanding in all aspects including the length of the work required to completed by them.
• Be Aware of the Medium
It is often found that B-school students are habituated to using email for communication, which hinders conveying sensitive or important material in an effective manner. So, students should keep an open mind as far as their forms of communications are concerned during their time at B-schools.
• Be Aware of Your Audience
Before a student starts on his journey to complete the task of writing an assignment they should pause for a moment or two and wonder who the exact reader is going to be. Other things to keep in mind is the existing awareness of your audience with the subject topic and the things that need to be known by them and the significance of the material being presented by them. The level of education and the demographic of the audience are other important factors. This will be of immense help in the whole writing process.
• Realize the Differences Between Academic and Business Writing
MBA students should have a flair for writing both with a business perspective in mind as well as academic writing. The differences between the two are many and includes the fact that academic writing is more elevated and complex while business writing is characterized by a brisk tone.
• Practice Makes Perfect
Avoid the tempting thought of leaving the assignment to be completed in the final hours though the pressure of having at hand several projects simultaneously from the various classes may indeed appear to be a lucrative option. Properly space out your writing task over time in order to draft, revise, edit and contemplate critically the work completed by them. Practice free writing for a small amount of time but do it on a daily basis. This will help students in getting rid of writers block and many other writing-related obstacles.
Following the above tips diligently should be of invaluable help to you while writing your assignment.
