A writing workshop for 100 central bank employees – breaking old stereotypes and ushering in the new

The Bank of Latvia is the central banking institution of the country. With over 350 employees and a nation's finances to oversee, they put out a lot of reports. What they wanted, however, was for people to read them. 

They called in Truesix to lead a 4-hour workshop for Bank of Latvia employees who create written content to up their game. While originally intended for a few dozen employees, the topic was so in demand that it attracted over 100 participants, even with Bank of Latvia executives joining in. 

Challenge

Banks are notoriously conservative institutions. National central banks – even more so. With 100 years of history under their belt, it's understandable that they may have a set way of doing things. And that includes report writing. But people don't read like they used to. 

The average internet reader has a severely diminished attention span compared to the pre-internet era. As a result, if you want something to be read, you have to package it into a new, more readable, and interesting format. The Bank of Latvia identified that they would like to communicate more like the Bank of Finland – which makes use of all of the latest copywriting best practices. That would be our North Star.

What we would have to do, however, is convince an entire bank that it would be worth their while to adapt to the new status quo.

There was an added obstacle – the entire workshop had to be delivered remotely, online. Social distancing was in place, and we would have to find a way to engage and interest a group of over 100 participants from our little square screens.

Solution

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Truesix put together a 4-hour seminar format, divided into two main blocks. The theory block, which included a look into internet reader psychology, strategies for creating text, best-practice checklists, industry best practices, before-and-after examples, and a deep dive into grammar rules and their exceptions – a particularly contentious topic for Latvian writers. 

In the second block, participants were given a practical task to complete on their own, and submit to the Truesix team for feedback. At the end, a fun quiz was held, testing participants' knowledge and progress of the topic and letting bank participants compete among themselves. 

We divided up the topics among the Truesix team. This ensured a switching up of lecturers, which held participants' attention more effectively, and each lecturer could share their own, unique experience, which was helpful for the audience to identify with.

Results

The workshop attracted the attention of more Bank of Latvia employees than initially expected, with many in attendance and even executives joining in. 

Despite the challenge of the online format, the event flowed easily, participants were engaged in the chat asking great questions, and a connection was established. The Bank of Latvia team was proactive, filling out their practical tasks and sending them over. 

The feedback from the event was overwhelmingly positive. 

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Our inboxes were full of praise that came along with the completed practical tasks. But what we would really like to highlight is how great the Bank of Latvia team is – kudos to them for their energy, positivity, and proactive participation in the online workshop.

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Best of all, we were told that since our workshop, the quality of written content had immediately improved and that the Bank was already putting out superior content. That's the best result any lecturer could ever ask for.

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Since then, we've gone on to work with the Bank of Latvia on various projects and continue to enjoy the collaborative and innovative spirit they bring to an industry hungry for innovation.

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