An Introduction to Technical Communication

1 In the Gulfview scenario, employees in diverse locations reveal the importanceof Technical Architectural and EngineeringServicesis home based in Gulfview,Texas, with office sites in ten citiesand five locations throughout the world. Gulfview hopes to build apower plant in Saudi Arabia. To accomplish this task, a team of employ-ees is working on two continents. The project requires that all team mem-bers be involved in numerous Communication , one team, consisting of engineers, ar-chitects, marketing specialists, accountants, lawyers,and Technical communicators, put together a pro-posal. In this proposal, they focused on the serv-ices they could offer, the expertise of theirworkforce, the price they would charge forthe construction, and a timeline for theirwork.

2 Despite many competitors, Gulfviewwon the construction would takeGulfview approximately two years. During thattime, Gulfview personnel had to communicatewith their Saudi contractors on a daily answered this need. The team memberscommunicated with each other by writingapproximately 50 e-mail messages a 1An Introduction toTechnical CommunicationCOMMUNICATIONat 11/2/07 10:50 PM Page 2In these transmittals, the team members focused on construction permits, negotiated costswith vendors, changed construction plans, and asked questions and received answers. Theyalso used these e-mail messages to build rapport with Web Site and Corporate help all parties involved (those in Saudi Ara-bia as well as Gulfview employees throughout the United States), Gulfview s InformationTechnology Department built an intranet site and a blog geared specifically toward thepower plant project.

3 This firewall-protected site, open to Gulfview employees and externalvendors associated with the project, helped all construction personnel submit online forms,get corporate updates, and access answers to frequently asked questions. Many oftheseFAQs were managed through online help screens with pull-down menus. The blog allowedemployees to provide work journals, web logs in which they could comment on constructionchallenges and get feedback from other employees working with similar secure and revise construction permits, Gulfview personnel had to write for-mal letters to government officials in Saudi Arabia. In addition, Gulfview employees hadto write letters to vendors, asking for , all of the employees involved in the power plant project had to reportontheir activities. These included Progress reports providing updates on the project s status Incident reports when job-related accidents and injuries occurred Feasibility reports to recommend changes to the project s plan or scope Meeting minutes following the many team meetingsLike all companies engaged in job-related projects, Gulfview Architectural and En-gineering Services spent much of its time communicating with a diverse audience.

4 Thechallenges they faced involved teamwork, multicultural and multilingual concerns, avast array of Communication technologies, and a variety of Communication Introduction TO Technical COMMUNICATIONO bjectivesWhen you complete this chapter, you willbe able to1. Define and understand Use many different channels of oraland written Technical Understand the importance oftechnical Recognize the importance ofteamwork in Deal with challenges to Resolve conflicts in Apply the checklist to team out our quarterly newslettersTechCom E-Notes at for ,case studies, insights from business professionals, grammar exercises, and facts abouttechnical Online ResourcesFor more information aboutsamples and activities, visitour companion Web 11/2/07 10:50 PM Page 34 CHAPTER 1 WHAT IS Technical Communication ?

5 Technical communicationis written and oral Communication for and about business andindustry. Technical Communication focuses on products and services how to manufac-ture them, market them, manage them, deliver them, and use Communication is composed primarily in the work environment for super-visors, colleagues, subordinates, vendors, and customers. As either a professional technicalcommunicator, an employee at a company, or a consumer, you can expect to write thefollowing types of correspondence for the following reasons (and many more). As a computer information systems (CIS) employee, you work at a 1-800 hotlinehelpdesk. A call comes from a concerned customer. Your job is to answer thatclient s questions and follow up with a one-page e-maildocumenting the problemand your responses.

6 You are a Technical communicator, working in engineering, biomedical equipmentmanufacturing, the automotive industry, computer software development, or avariety of other job areas. Your job is to write user manualsto explain the stepsfor building a piece of equipment, performing preventative maintenance, or forshipping and handling procedures. As a trust officer in a bank, one of your jobs is to make proposals to potentialclients. To do so, you must write a 20- to 30-page proposalabout your bank sservices. You are a customer. You ordered an automotive part from a nationalmanufacturer. Unfortunately, the part was shipped to you five days later thanpromised, it arrived broken, and you were charged more than the agreed-uponprice. You need to write a letter of complaint. As the manager of a medical records reporting department, one of your majorresponsibilities is ensuring that your staff s training is up to date.

7 After all,insurance rules and regulations keep changing. To document your department scompliance, you must write a monthly progress reportto upper-levelmanagement. You are a webmaster. Your job is creating a corporate Web site, complete withonline help screens. The Web site gives clients information about your locations,pricing, products and services, mission statement, and job openings. The drop-down help screens provide easy-to-access answers for both customer andemployee questions. As an entrepreneur, you are opening your own computer-maintenance service (orservices for HVAC repair, deck rebuilding, home construction, lawn care, orautomotive maintenance). To market your company, you will need to write fliers,brochures,orsales letters. You have just graduated from college (or, you have just been laid off).

8 It s time toget a job. You need to write a resumeand a letter of applicationto showcorporations what assets you will bring to their CHANNELST echnical Communication takes many different forms. Not only will you communicateboth orally and in writing, but also you will rely on various types of correspondence andtechnology, dependent upon the audience, purpose, and situation. To communicate suc-cessfully in the workplace, you must adapt to many different channels of gives you examples of different Communication channels, both oral and 11/2/07 10:50 PM Page 45AN Introduction TO Technical COMMUNICATIONT able illustrates how different writers and speakers might use various channels tocommunicate effectively to both internal and external audiences. Internal audiences con-sist of the coworkers, subordinates, and supervisors in your workplace; external audiencesconsist of vendors, customers, and other workplace Communication channels overlap in terms of purpose and audience.

9 If youare requesting information from a vendor, for example, you could write a letter, sendan e-mail message, or make a telephone call. However, in other instances, communi-cation channels are more exclusive. You would not want to communicate bad news such as layoffs, loss of benefits, or corporate closings to employees by way of masse-mail messages or televised reports. In these instances, face-to-face meetings would bemore appropriate. A key to successful Technical Communication is choosing the Communication ChannelsWritten Communication ChannelsOral Communication Channels E-mail Leading meetings Memos Conducting interviews Letters Making sales calls Reports Managing others Proposals Participating in teleconferences and videoconferences Fliers Facilitating training sessions Brochures Participating in collaborative team projects Faxes Providing customer service Internet Web sites Making telephone calls Intranet Web sites Leaving voice-mail messages Extranet Web sites Making presentations at conferences or to civic organizations Instant Messaging Participating in interpersonal Communication at work Blogging Conducting performance reviews Job information (resumes, letters of application.)

10 Follow-up letters,interviews) 11/2/07 10:50 PM Page 56 CHAPTER 1%ofUse100100807060806040200E-mailPowerP ointMemos and LettersReportsFIGURE Channels Almost Always Used in Workplace CommunicationTABLE Communication Channels Audience and PurposeType ofCommunication andCommunicationInternal orWriters/SpeakersChannelPurposesExterna lHumanInstructions either hard copy Help employees and staff Internalresources/Trainingor online (Internet, intranet,perform tasksextranet)Marketing personnelBrochures, sales letters,Promote new products orExternalblogs, and phone callsservicesCustomersInquiry or complaintAsk about/complainExternalletters or phone callsabout products or servicesQuality assuranceInvestigative, incident,Report to regulatoryExternalor progress reportsagencies about eventsVendorsNewsletters, phoneUpdate clients on new Externalcalls, and e-mailprices, products, or servicesManagementOral presentations toUpdate employees onInternaldepartment staffmergers, acquisitions,layoffs, raises, or site relocationsEveryone (management,E-mail,blogging,WebAll conceivable purposesInternal andemployees, clients,sites, and instantExternalvendors, governmentalmessagingagencies)