[MANAGEMENT TOOLS, CUTTING CORRESPONDENCE COSTS]

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP70-00211R000700310013-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: January 4, 2017
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2006
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: January 1, 1958
• Content Type: BULL

Approved For Release 2006/08/31 : CIA-RDP70-00211 R000700310013-5
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Selection Boards, in considering promotions,
will be instructed to give credit for re-
corded evidence, including test scores,
which reflects an improvement in an offi-
cer's language proficiency. Similarly,
evidence of lack of concern or success in
this field will reflect discredit.
In the cases of officers assigned to a post
where a world language (e.g., French,
German, Spanish, etc.) is spoken, failure
to improve proficiency in the language of
the post will constitute a deficiency in the
officer's performance.
The Testing Unit of the School of Languages
will be responsible for certifying that test-
ing requirements have been fulfilled.
Officers must obtain this certification and
present it at the Transportation Branch
before travel tickets will be released.
LANGUAGE TAPES AVAILABLE FOR TEST-
ING BASIC AURAL COMPREHENSION
At the request of an Operating Division, the
Assessment and Evaluation Staff of the Office
of Training has recently developed a test to
determine an individual's ability to compre-
hend simple verbal instructions in a given
language. Results have indicated that the
test will be a useful device for the selection
of individuals whose language comprehension
is sufficiently good to permit them to receive
training. This test does not measure reading
or writing skills, but is designed for use in
specific situations involving ability to compre-
hend spoken languages. It has no relation-
ship to the Organization's language aptitude
and proficiency tests which are administered
at headquarters for staff employees, and it
should not be confused with those tests.
The test is given by means of a tape record-
ing. It takes about 30 minutes to complete
and score, and does not require the adminis-
trator to know the language in question. The
test consists of a booklet containing 75 sets of
pictures, four pictures to a set. The subject
must identify the picture in each set referred
to by the voice speaking on the tape. The
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same test booklets are used for a variety of
languages as the pictures are of activities gen-
erally applicable to many cultural areas.
Tests are now available in English, German,
Russian, Latvian, Estonian, and Ukrainian.
A&E can make tapes available in a variety of
languages. Requests for these tests should
state the language needed and the tape speed
wanted. The only requirements on the user
are that, where possible, the individual who is
to administer the tests be briefed by a mem-
ber of the A&E Staff, and that the results of
the tests be sent to A&E so that research in
this field can continue.
OUT-PLACEMENT PROGRAM
The Out-Placement Program was estab-
lished last February to provide guidance and
assistance to Organization employees who
have either become surplus to our program
needs or who for personal reasons feel that
a long tenure with the Organization would not
be beneficial to either themselves or the
Organization. The primary administrative
objective behind the Out-Placement Program
is to assist well-deserving employees to make
an orderly transition from our service to other
fields of employment.
Types of services furnished by the Out-
Placement Branch are: (1) external employ-
ment guidance in terms of current job oppor-
tunities in Federal, state, and local govern-
mental units; international organizations;
universities; and private industry; (2) assist-
ance in developing job resumes and appropri-
ate employment data consistent with Organi-
zation employment status; (3) arranging for
internal security and cover clearances, as
required; and (4) arranging for specific exter-
nal employment referrals and interviews.
Although the current labor market is, and
has been, fairly tight, a number of successful
out-placements have been made by this activ-
ity, largely through the efforts of the Out-
Placement Branch in diagnosing transferrable
skills of Organization employees and matching
them with jobs in the same or related fields.
)Pd?=CF]
Approved For Release 2006/08/31 : CIA-RDP70-00211 R000700310013-5
 CONFIDENTIAL
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MANAGEMENT TOOLS
CUTTING CORRESPONDENCE COSTS
The written word is expensive. Drafted or
dictated correspondence costs from $1.50 to
$2.00 per page. A glance at your files (and
some simple multiplication) will confirm that
this cost is a major one to the Organization.
But you can cut correspondence costs by
careful planning to :
Avoid retyping and rewriting.
Write to express, not impress.
Prevent the creation of nonessential
copies.
Use less expensive substitutes for costlier
dictated or drafted correspondence.
AVOID RETYPING AND REWRITING
Follow Organization format standards and
correspondence handling procedures. They
were adopted after study of many tested sys-
tems and consideration of Organizationwide
preferences and needs. They were established
to provide the uniformity essential to efficient
correspondence operations. Individual pref-
erences for special formats and procedures
lead to confusion over "what is standard" and
contribute greatly to the amount of retyping
required.
Limit retyping and rewriting to instances
in which you can truthfully say "yes" to one
of these questions :
1. Will the present version fail to bring the
required results?
2. Will the paper create a deservedly bad
impression of your Office or of the Or-
ganization?
3. Is the nature of the correspondence such
that it must be reworked until absolutely
no further improvement appears pos-
sible?
4. Would you, from the viewpoint of a tax-
payer, say that the paper should be
reworked?
The fact that much retyping and rewriting
could well be eliminated does not imply that
our standards should be lowered. It does
suggest, however, that a piece of correspond-
ence should be judged for adequacy on the
basis of common sense rather than on triv-
ialities, or personal preferences. There is a
point where further improvements fail to
justify spending more time in rewriting or
retyping.
WRITE TO EXPRESS, NOT IMPRESS
Apply the "Four S Formula" to your writ-
ing: Shortness, Simplicity, Sincerity, and
Strength. Concise, clear writing has a far-
reaching effect. Less time is needed to pre-
pare, read, and understand it. Misinterpre-
tations are avoided; good relations are main-
tained. We can't all be literary masters. We
can strive, however, to rid our writing of the
more common barriers to effective communi-
cation. Here is a partial check list to guide
you. Each "no" answer indicates a potential
area for improvement.
1. Are most of your letters or memoran-
dums less than a page long?
2. Is your average sentence less than 22
words?
3. Do you keep paragraphs short-less
than 10 lines?
4. Do you know some good techniques for
beginning your correspondence natu-
rally and conversationally?
5. Do you paraphrase items that do not
call for a verbatim quotation?
6. Do you use personal pronouns freely,
particularly "you"?
7. Do you know when the six little verb
thieves, make, take, give, hold, have, and
be rob your writing of its strength, as
in made the decision rather than
decided?
8. Do you prefer active verbs (the official
read the letter) to passive ones (the
letter was read by the official) ?
9. Do you overwork prepositional phrases
such as for the! purpose of (for), with,
reference to (about, concerning), and
many others?
10. Do you answer a question before ex-
plaining the answer?
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Approved For Release 2006/08/31 : CIA-RDP70-00211 R000700310013-5
 Approved For Release 2006/08/31 : CIA-RDP70-00211 R000700310013-5
CONFIDENTIAL
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PREVENT NONESSENTIAL COPIES
Copies are costly. They add to the volume
of records the Organization must handle,
store, and dispose of. They slow down typing
operations. Often typing and proofreading
time is doubled when that "one extra copy"
makes two typings necessary. Put a'price
tag on each copy. Route a single copy to
several offices if time and circumstances per-
mit. State your copy needs specifically.
Limit courtesy copies to essentials. Count
your copies; make your copies count.
USE SUBSTITUTES
Is typed correspondence always necessary?
If not, dash off a note by hand on an office
memorandum form or on a transmittal slip.
Does every reply, concurrence, or approval
call for a separate piece of correspondence?
UNNECESSARY
DICTATING
UNNECESSARY
REVIEWING
Wki
Form letters (and memorandums) are ap-
propriate if the message:
1. Is recurring routine business or infor-
mation.
2. Is not personal or will not bring grief or
disappointment to the reader.
3. Has 5, 10, 15, or 20 lines and is used more
than 30, 20, 15, or 10 times per month,
respectively.
Pattern letters (composed of selected pat-
tern or sample paragraphs) are appropriate
in lieu of form correspondence when the
appearance of an individually typed letter or
memorandum is called for.
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Provide for these initially when setting up the
format of your paper.
How about transmittal correspondence? Is
it always necessary? Perhaps a handwritten
routing sheet or transmittal slip will do. Or
better still, consider revising the format of
the material to provide spaces for "To,"
"From," and "Signature" and eliminate the
transmittal correspondence entirely.
Does every instruction or decision have to
be in writing? Consider handling more of
your routine business by phone or personal
contact if appropriate.
Does every letter or memorandum have to
be drafted or dictated? Consider using form
letters (or memorandums) and pattern cor-
respondence whenever possible. They elimi-
nate :
UNNECESSARY
TYPING
UNNECESSARY
FILING
When to use form and pattern correspond-
ence as well as other cost-cutting techniques
can be determined simply and inexpensively
from an analysis of sample correspondence.
Two sources are generally available-reading
files, or extra copies collected during a sam-
pling period. Also, at headquarters your
Records Officer or a member of the Records
Management Staff is available to help you.
From such a survey and the tips in this article
you can achieve astonishing results in:
Better correspondence prepared by speedier,
simpler, and more economical means.
Less correspondence to manage, store, and
dispose.
Approved For Release 2006/08/31 : CIA-RDP70-00211 R000700310013-5
 Approved For Release 2006/08/31 : CIA-RDP70-00211 R000700310013-5
CONFIDENTIAL
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AUTOMATIC TYPING
Electric typewriters automatically operated
by a perforated paper tape are being used to
save a substantial number of typing and proof-
reading hours, especially in the preparation of
textual materials which require editing and
the revision of several drafts before the final
text is typed.
Briefly, these typewriters capture, in the
form of holes.in a paper tape, the data being
typed. The perforated tape thus produced
can then be inserted in the same typewriter
and it automatically operates the typewriter
to produce, at 120 words a minute, an exact
duplicate of the original.
During the automatic typing operation the
machine may be stopped to type manually
changes or additional data. Information in-
cluded in the original text but not wanted in
subsequent retyping may be deleted.
The operational steps in the preparation of
a report subject to editing by several different
individuals, before the final text is agreed
upon, might be as follows:
1. Simultaneously as the first draft of a
report is typed, the typed data is captured
in a tape.
2. The typed draft is proofread. Any re-
sultant changes are made in both the draft
and its tape.
3. The draft is distributed for concur-
rence. The tape is retained by the typist.
4. When edited copy of the first draft is
returned, the changes found in all edited
drafts are manually transferred to the
original copy.
5. The corrected original is given to the
typist who inserts the tape, produced from
typing the first draft, in the reading unit
of the machine. The machine then starts
automatically to type the first draft. As
additions, deletions, and other changes
occur in the edited draft, the typist stops
the automatic typing and manually types
the changed material. As the automatic
and manual typing is performed the ma-
chine captures both the automatically and
manually typed data in a tape; thus, an
updated tape for the second draft is pro-
duced at the rate of 120 words per minute.
6. Upon completion of the above opera-
tion, the manually typed data is proofread.
(The automatically typed data does not
require proofreading.)
7. The second draft is then distributed
for concurrence. Its tape is retained by the
typist and the old tape is destroyed.
8. All of the above steps are repeated for
each successive draft. When the final draft
is received, its tape is inserted in the read-
ing unit of the machine and the finished
report is automatically typed and does not
required proofreading (except for the in-
consequential number of changes that may
have been made in the final draft).
It is important to note that with each addi-
tional draft made the amount of manual typ-
ing and proofreading decreases while the
amount of automatic typing increases. As a
result, final reports are produced at a high
rate of speed without error.
RETIREMENT BILL SIGNED BY PRESIDENT
President Eisenhower has signed a new
retirement bill which will benefit several
thousand widows and widowers of deceased
Federal employees.
It will let them pay back into the Civil Serv-
ice Retirement Fund all or part of any con-
tributions the deceased spouse may have with-
drawn from the Civil Service Retirement Fund.
In this way, they can build up their survivor-
ship annuities to the level they would have
attained had there been no withdrawals from
the Fund.
Federal employees who leave the service are
permitted to withdraw their contributions. If
they return, they ordinarily attempt to repay.
The new retirement bill was signed the day
before the President signed the independent
offices appropriation with its rider prohibiting
retirement increases unless Congress first
votes the necessary funds. That means the
new retirement bill will not be affected by the
rider.
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Approved For Release 2006/08/31 : CIA-RDP70-00211 R000700310013-5