Document-Based Cases for Technical Communication

Introduction for Students

New graduates making the transition from college to the workplace are often surprised by the amount of writing they are asked to do—especially those graduates who did not major in disciplines typically associated with writing. New hires also report that their supervisors expect them to already have the writing skills necessary to communicate complex information in a clear and understandable manner to a variety of readers. Not surprisingly, new hires also need to quickly learn the preferred form and style of an organization’s documents. This book provides you with a head start on refining the writing skills that will help you adapt to different expectations in the workplace.

Anatomy of a Case

A case is a detailed story of a workplace communication problem, complete with characters, dialogue, and props in the form of sample documents. Based on an actual problem solved by practicing technical communicators, each case in this book provides a realistic workplace situation, a series of documents related to the situation, and several tasks for you to complete. Together, these elements offer snapshots of what it is like to create documents that solve problems for readers in the workplace.

Effective technical communication addresses particular readers and helps them solve problems. That is, the decisions you make when creating a technical document depend on the intended audience and purpose. Cases give you opportunities to explore how the complexities of specific workplace situations shape technical documents.

The elements of each case in this book work together to present a complex writing situation.

The situation section provides details about the workplace scenario and writing situation. Use these details to help make decisions about the audience and purpose for your writing. For some cases, the situation includes model documents and additional examples.
The challenge describes the difficult issues that you will need to consider as you solve the case’s communication problems.
Your job describes your general role in the workplace scenario and lists the activities you will need to perform to complete the case.
Four tasks present your writing assignments, each with a set of related documents. Each task begins with an introduction that explains the communication problem, describes your audience and purpose, and specifies the type of document you must create.
The documents you will need for each task appear in the shaded section that begins below the task introduction and may continue across several pages.
When you’re finished with one or more tasks in a case, your instructor may ask you to reflect on the skills you have learned or use those skills to solve similar problems.

Advice on Getting Started

Just like the communication challenges you will likely face in your chosen career, the solutions to the problems raised in these cases might not be readily apparent, and there is often not a single “correct” answer. When responding to tasks, consider the following advice:

If you do not understand a particular word or concept, carry out some research before continuing with the task. An important skill for you to develop is the ability to locate relevant resources, learn about a subject quickly, and explain it to someone else.
Read the sample documents carefully and more than once. Unfamiliar content will make seemingly simple documents a challenge.
Consider several possible approaches to the problem before deciding on a course of action. Often, your first idea is not the most effective solution.
When faced with a decision, use your understanding of the document’s audience and your purpose as a guide. These two basic elements of the writing situation will determine your document’s design, content, and tone.
For each decision you make, be able to explain what you did and why you did it. Being able to articulate your choices allows you to demonstrate that your documents are based on sound technical communication principles.
Be creative in your problem solving, and have fun with these cases.

Finally, think of these cases as a way to practice in a nonthreatening environment the single greatest determining factor of success in the workplace: your communication skills. Launching your career with a firm command of these skills in place will ensure you are well prepared to face the unique challenges of today’s workplace.