1. Characteristics of Technical and Professional Communication
1.1. Chapter 1. -----Rhetorical
1.1.1. Chapter 2. ----- Rhetorical is the study and practice of using effective language written, spoken, or visual.
1.1.1.1. Workplace problems
1.1.1.1.1. Workplace problems are simply those that present obstacles to a particular workplace environment, such as company, institution, agency, or office.
1.1.2. Exigency and purpose
1.1.2.1. Exigency is the impetus that requires some kind of writing or communication-a real-life problem to be solve, an issue to be addressed, or a situation that requires a response, explanation, or additional information.
1.1.2.2. Recognizing how and why a problem arises goes a long way in helping one define or describe the problem. This, in turn, leads to better understanding of the purposes for composing documents.
1.1.3. Audiences
1.1.3.1. Classifying audiences allows writers to determine which document genre to use, what information to include, which style of writing to adopt, what language or jargon to use, and which organizational strategies to follow. Writers often need to produce documents intended for multiples audiences and sometimes must produce multiple documents about the same subject matter, each intended for a different audience.
1.1.3.1.1. Audiences usually hold attitudes about particular subjects-positive, negative, or neutral-and writers must effectively address those attitudes.
1.1.4. Workplace Writers
1.1.4.1. Correctness, Experience and Expertise, Goodwill, Identification. All of these elements must be considered in relation to a writer's purpose.
1.2. Audience Centered
1.2.1. To communicate technical and professional information and must be highly aware of their audiences.
1.3. Ethical
1.3.1. Simply making right or wrong decisions.
1.4. Professional
1.4.1. To be a bit more formal and professional in your technical writing than to be overly casual and informal.
1.5. Concise
1.5.1. Give as much information as possible in the smallest amount of time and space.
1.6. Chapter 3. -----Nearly all workplace writers depend on various technologies to communicate through and collaborate on documents to solve workplace problems. many tools are available to help writers create professional, sophisticated and precise documents.
1.6.1. Word processors are tools that most writers use frequently. Word processors allow the writers to do many things.a)Revise or change documents at any stage in the writing. b) Create tables or columns. c) Edit for language and grammar, etc. d) Share or post documents on internet. e) Include active hypertext links.
1.6.2. Presentation software, a) Apply background and themes. b) add animation. c) Insert video, audio, and graphic content into slides.
1.6.3. Workplace writers can even hold virtual meetings in cyberspace through webcams, virtual meeting software, andnetworked writing environments. Workplace writers today spent much of their time interacting, and communicating with others. A few of the tools they use are a) Internet b) Worldwide web c) Email d)Videoconferencing e) Groupware.
1.6.4. Handbook of Technical Writing Chapter 3 Notes. -----1)Email (162) is a quick and easy way to communicate. The e-mail should be detailed and with no grammar errors. Always proofread. 2) Instant messaging (256) is a text based communications that is somewhat faster than making a phone call or sending a email. It is very useful to cell phone users, who are working and do not have access to email. Instant messaging should always be reviewed before clicking the send button. 3) International correspondence (265) varies among national cultures. In the United States, being direct, concise and straight to the point may demonstrate courtesy by not wasting another's person time. In many other countries, the directness may seem rude and that the the writer is trying to spend as little time as possible with the reader. When corresponding with any culture always research the cultural expectations of others, and focus on politeness strategies that demonstrate your respect for readers.
1.7. Chapter4.----- Ethics and the Workplace Writer. Ethics is about right or wrong. There are 3 guidelines, 1)Ethics and laws are not the same. 2) Be honest. 3) Respect confidentiality.
1.7.1. No one can make you ethical, but learning more about ethics can help you make better-informed decisions.
1.7.2. to understand ethics is through communication with others.
1.7.3. Ethics must be considered when addressing issues of technology, particularly email, webpages, and visuals.
1.7.4. Workplace Writers should avoid using deceptive or evasive language, inappropriate jargon or manipulating information or visual rhetoric.
1.7.5. Plagiarism is Unethical.
1.8. Chapter 5.----- Technical Communication in a Transnational world. Explains the importance of understanding the role of communication and writing in transnational and transcultural workplace situations. Also, being mindful and taking into consideration the audience of the different cultures.
1.8.1. Learning about differences: a) Language b) Education c) Economics d) Religion.
1.8.1.1. Avoiding stereotypes: a) Avoid assumptions b) Ask questions c) Collaborate with a translator.
1.8.1.1.1. Enhancing Translation: a) Terminology b) Clarity c) Cultural and rethorical differences d) Design.
1.8.2. Handbook (HTW)----- a) Global communication: Ability to communication with audiences from varied cultural background is important. b) International correspondence: Understanding the importance when corresponding to various national cultures, by forms of courtesy, formality, organizational patterns and persuasive strategies. c) Presentation: When presenting your ideas, focus on your audience and their cultural background.
1.9. Chapter 7.----- Organizing and Drafting Documents.
1.9.1. Predrafting strategies: a) Confirm your purpose, analyze your audience b) Gather information and ideas c) Organize your information.
1.9.1.1. Writing the draft: a) Parts of a document b) Drafting the body c) Drafting the conclusion.
1.9.2. Handbook (HTW)-----1) Brainstorming: Generating ideas about a topic and selecting your audience. 2) Analyzing your audience: determine the reader's need relative to your purpose. 3) Proofreading: After writing the draft always proofread and make sure the final draft has no grammar errors and do not rely on spell checks.
2. Team Writing Book Project
2.1. Chapter 1.- Planning your collaboration
2.1.1. Why Teamwork? To prepare students for the workplace by providing the opportunities to learn the social and organizational skills that are necessary for productive teamwork and to improve the educational experience through collaboration with fellow students. There are three collaboration methods: 1) Face to face- The team sits down and write documents. together. 2) Divided- The group breaks the documents into sections and assign each member. 3) Layered- Each person in the team is assigned one or more specific roles. HTW Reference- Organization Writing and Revision a)Collaborative writing b)Reviewing collaborative documents. www.sap.com
2.2. Chapter 2
2.2.1. Project management
2.2.1.1. 1) The role of a project manager is to track the status of a project and to make sure each team member knows what they should be doing. Also other duties are: Create task schedule, deadlines and the progress of the project. 2) The importance of a task schedule and building accountability from each member. 3) Set a time for the meetings and do not go over the limit. 4) Discussion for the project must stay on track. 5) communicate when a problem occur and email members of the progress of the project.HTW Reference- Organization writing and revision a) Collaborative writing b) Reviewing collaborative documents. www.pmi.org
2.2.1.1.1. Alert Grid- Yes it will function well as Chapter 2 stated. The reason it works is because if there's any problem, the business would receive within seconds a notification by sms, phone, or email of the incident, server down, script error or machine stopped.
2.3. Chapter 6
2.3.1. Revising with others
2.3.1.1. Two types of revision are feedback and direct revision, Feedback method, one team member drafts some text, submited to others for feedback and then revised based on the feedback-Direct-revision one member drafts some text another member implement the revision, and changing and revising the text of the first members. HTW Organizational, Writing and Revision a) Revision Page 488. HTW Digital Tips a) Reviewing Collaborative Documents P.74 ---http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/revise.shtml
2.3.1.1.1. http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/revise.shtml http://eltj.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/60/1/34 http://www.slideshare.net/krchichester/collaboration-and-revision-with-google-docs-emwp-live-pages D#11,HW#1
2.4. Chapter3
2.4.1. How to achieve a succesfull team
2.4.1.1. Appoint a team charter http://www.life123.com/career-money/career-development/team-conflict/team-conflict-management-strategies.shtml
2.4.1.2. Set team goals
2.4.1.3. set personal goals http://www.usability.gov/methods/analyze_current/goals.html
2.4.1.4. Individual committment HTW- Organizational, writing and revision a) collaborative Writing p.72
2.4.1.5. Digital Tips a) collaborative documents p.74