An Introduction to Professional and Technical Communication

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An Introduction to Professional and Technical
Communication

• Steve Wood
• TCCC

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Communication in the Workplace
How important are communication skills, including
writing, in the workplace?
According to a major report prepared by the US
Dept. of Labor in 1992, there are five essential
areas of competence necessary for success in the
workplace.
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Going 5/5
All five areas involve communication.
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SCANS Report
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Changes Affecting the Workplace

• Heightened global competition
• Technology and changing political realities mean
  that businesses often face non-traditional
  competition (not just the business down the
  street).
• Flattened management hierarchies
• Middle management has been downsized or
  eliminated.
• Expanded team-based management
• Many businesses have changed their management
  style.

From McGuffeys Business Communication
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Changes Affecting the Workplace

• New work environments
• Technology has also changed the environment in
  which business is conducted.
• Increasingly diverse workforce

Success in the new workplace requires excellent
communication skills.
From McGuffeys Business Communication
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The Communication ProcessBasic Model
From McGuffeys Business Communication
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Definition of Communication

• For our purposes, communication is the
  transmission of information and meaning from one
  individual or group to another.

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The Communication ProcessExpanded Model
From McGuffeys Business Communication
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Additions to the Model

• The preceding definition and model do leave out
  several important points, however.
• Communication involves the use of symbols.
• Communication happens on a number of channels,
  not usually on a single one.
• Noise is a part of the communication process that
  must often be overcome.

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Communication involves the use of symbols.

• The transmission of information and meaning does
  not take place directly it takes place via a
  symbolic medium.
• Spoken language, written language, visual aids
  like pictures or diagrams, gestures, body
  language, tone of voice --- all of these can be a
  symbolic medium to convey meaning.

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The Sign

• Saussure once defined language as a system of
  signs.
• A sign consists of two parts 1) the concept or
  definition and 2) the sound-image (the group of
  sounds that make up a word).
• For example, the sign BOOK is composed of the
  concept of a book that we have acquired at some
  point in our lives and the sound-image that
  contains the three sounds that make up the word
  book.

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The Sign

• We can communicate with one another because we
  share a particular system of signs (we speak the
  same language and understand many of the same
  cultural references).

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Communication happens on a number of channels,
not usually on a single one.

• When we speak to one another, for example, there
  is the channel of the words spoken, but there are
  other channels including the tone of voice, eye
  contact, and body language.

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Noise is a part of the communication process that
must often be overcome.

• Noise is any obstacle that threatens to obscure
  the message.
• It can be actually physical noise, but it can
  also be a psychological or physiological issue.
• For example, if you are really worried about
  someone or are very tired, it may make it
  difficult to listen to a class lecture or
  communicate effectively with a family member.