Notes from IEEE IPCC99 Conference
New Orleans, Louisiana, September 7-10, 1999

Communicator Skills in a Changing World

The New Workplace

Carolyn Boiarsky
Purdue University Calumet

A familiar name in both STC and IPCC circles, Boiarsky has long championed the importance of teaching core skills as the heart of a technical communication degree program.

Session Description: The presenter warns of the dangers of de-emphasizing core skills in order to teach the high technology that is de rigueur in "The New Workplace."

• "The New Workplace": what does it mean in preparing students? Everything is computer-oriented, Web-based, etc. However, there is much more than computer technology involved. Core skills in clear writing (and thinking!) are still critical. Our pell-mell rush to computer technology has caused us to truncate student training in these core skills.
• Clear thinking produces clear writing. Computer technology can't teach that.
• Technical communication textbooks have had to incorporate Web design, interactive media, desktop publishing, use of color, etc., in order to remain salable in "the new workplace,"but textbook length cannot increase (due to economic considerations)...therefore, what gets removed? Traditional core skills?
• Memos that were not understood contributed to the Challenger disaster.
• The Chicago flood disaster was greatly exacerbated by communication problems.
• A client-based workplace demands initial needs assessment, through surveys, focus groups, and other forms of audience analysis.
• ISO 9000, concurrent engineering, teamwork all have a role.
• Information overload: too much information too fast through high tech impedes rather than enhances clear communication. The challenge is better information design... how best to process, distill, analyze, and present data...the difference between information and knowledge.
• Concurrent engineering involves multiple disciplines; the engineer must therefore be able to write intelligibly for a more general audience, including Finance, Quality, Manufacturing, Marketing, etc.
• Reports may be online, but they are still WRITING. All the same principles for effective writing apply.
• Genres/subgenres that are present in the workplace which are often not stressed in academic training: templates, procedures, incident reports, trip reports, specifications, evaluation reports, proposals for change, agenda/minutes, position/white papers, environmental impact statements.
• Incident reports will be read by a diverse and potentially hostile audience, including OSHA, medical experts, and lawyers.
• Basics: cognitive clarity, schema, and transference of information.
• Cognitive clarity: tailoring the product to the audience (e.g., executive summary to accommodate decision-making audience with limited time to read the full report or proposal).
• Schema: the basic organizational structure of the document (e.g., problem-solution for a proposal).
• Subjective, Objective, Assessment, P------- equals SOAP, a schema for nurses to provide information on patient condition.
• There is a dearth of research on the genres being used in the workplace, how different people read a Web page (e.g., differences among generations).
• How do we teach use of color, Web page design, and desktop publishing while also giving adequate emphasis to the core skills?
• Sometimes the appearance of quality (e.g., special FX on a flashy Web site, an early proposal draft that looks very presentable in terms of layout and graphics) masks the lack of basic coherence in the writing.

Communicator Skills in a Changing World

Susan Alexander
Exeter Systems, Bangalore, India
(A subsidiary of Exeter Educational Management Systems, Boston)

The presenter completed her MBA at Bentley College in 1984 and returned to India in 1986. Her experience as a technical communicator, independent consultant, and manager spans work in Indian and multinational organizations.

Session Description: The presenter discussed today's business climate and the challenges faced by professional communicators the world over.

• In today's business environment, competition is fiercer and more time-sensitive than ever.
• The Web has had a huge impact on the way businesses operate; for example, they are, by definition, now open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Globalization of marketing is a major thrust.
• The scope of work continues to broaden for technical communicators; they must focus increasingly on new aspects that are directly related to business expansion, and they must constantly correlate how business decisions affect their work.
• Vital competencies: the principal mainstay is still core communication ability. There is little time for reviews.
• Don't review on the screen; look at it on paper. Beautiful DTD-formatted screen displays will blind you to content deficiencies.
• Mechanisms to achieve the fastest turnaround possible include:
   
• Domain knowledge acquired from orientation programs, informal updates, and periodic presentations or seminars
• Effective configuration management practices, including automated CMD (version control) tools, or, as a minimum, logically named archives, and documentation of the process for new hires, colleagues, and geographically separated offices
• Reusability of documentation (the degree of change required in update cycles pivots on how good the documentation is in the first place)
• Comprehensive documentation standards, which save transfer time involved because of high attrition, as well as from different standards for print, online, and Web-based documentation.
• Web skills have become critical for technical communicators: knowledge of HTML and HTML editors, new technologies such as XML, and the "PDF world."
• Project management skills are also important, including estimating and scheduling.
• Communication within an organization is the key to getting things done: this includes both top-down and bottom-up communication.
• Ability to work across cultures is becoming increasingly important.
• Continuous on-the-job learning and cross training of colleagues is increasingly important as technology rushes forward.
• Technical communicators need to work toward solutions that benefit all stakeholders: management, colleagues, frequently changing documentation teams, and internationally dispersed and culturally diverse collaborating organizations.

Knowledge Management, Intellectual Capital, and Technical Communication

Saul Carliner
Bentley College

Carliner is an assistant professor at Bentley. He authored "An Overview of Online Learning," co-edited "Techniques for Technical Communicators," and is an Associate Fellow and past international president of the Society for Technical Communication.

Session Description: Unfortunately, Carliner was unable to attend. His paper is available in the IPCC Proceedings. He contends that "if knowledge is a resource, then organizations ought to be able to manage it, just as they manage more traditional resources, like capital, supplies, real estate, and personnel."