If your writing doesn't work on mobile, it doesn't work.

The problem with public sector reports isn't the content. It's that we're still writing like it's 2005.

We format documents for A4 paper and desktop screens. Then we email them to executives who read them on phones during their commute.

• Your 40-page cabinet report? Viewed on a 6-inch screen whilst waiting for a train.
• Your detailed budget paper? Skimmed between meetings on a tablet.
• Your committee briefing? Read at 7am on a mobile phone over coffee and toast.

Yet we still write dense paragraphs. Complex tables. Include footnotes that require scrolling. Sentences that span three lines on a phone screen.

Let's face it. We should respect reality and write for mobile-first reading.

The finance director reading your treasury paper at 6.30am isn't sitting at a desk with a printed copy. She's on her phone. Walking to her car. Trying to understand your recommendation before the 8am meeting.

The elected member reviewing your budget proposal isn't at home with a highlighter. He's between appointments. Scrolling quickly. Looking for the decision you need.

Mobile-first writing means rethinking everything:

• Put your recommendation first. Not on page 12.
• One idea per paragraph. Maximum.
• Tables that work in portrait view. Not landscape spreadsheets squeezed onto a screen.
• Headings every 3-4 paragraphs. So readers can scan.
• Sentences under 20 words. Because long sentences break badly on small screens.

This isn't about technology trends. It's about acknowledging how decisions actually get made.

Your beautifully formatted PDF document with perfect margins and justified text? Unreadable on mobile.

Your carefully structured report with a summary buried on page 2? Nobody finds it when scrolling quickly.

Your detailed financial analysis in 10-point font? Requires pinching and zooming until people give up.

We need to stop pretending everyone prints our documents and reads them carefully at their desk. They don't.

They read them on phones. Between tasks. When they have 90 seconds before the next meeting.

If your writing doesn't work on mobile, it doesn't work.