Features

• Each chapter places an emphasis on the activity of producing effective documents by following a process approach that mirrors how professionals communicate in the technical workplace and how students learn in the classroom.
• An open design facilitates learning by presenting material graphically and in accessible chunks of information.
• The text incorporates the newest technology-driven changes in workplace communication with in-depth discussions of email, instant messaging, working in virtual teams, making Web sites, blogging, podcasting, incorporating digital audio and visuals in documents, using PDAs, negotiating ethical situations in electronic communication, and more. Student writers learn practical skills they will be asked to apply in the contemporary workplace.
• Annotated sample documents throughout show students worthwhile examples of workplace writing, usually on topics of intrinsic interest to a variety of student majors.
• Exercises and projects,abundant at the end of each chapter, give students opportunities to work individually or in teams and are designed to challenge students with realistic workplace writing assignments.
• 'At Work' boxes in each chapter feature interviews with working professionals about how they communicate in a variety of workplace situations offering students a glimpse of the challenges faced in real world settings.
• 'Help' boxes in every chapter describe how a specific computer application or related strategy can be used to improve the production and presentation of workplace communication.
• 'At a Glance' information boxes serve as study aids and self-check reviews of major topic discussions for 'need-it-quick' information.
• 'Take Note' call-outs supplement the main text with tips for understanding concepts and are quick asides to readers who desire more information on a subject.

New to this Edition

• New microgenres feature that allows students to work on smaller assignments
that help them build up to more complex genres (Chapters 5-11).
• New organization of the text that places all of the major technical communication genres at the front of the book
to encourage students to write earlier in the semester (Part 2).
• Chapters on e-mail, letters, and memos
that have been combined to better reflect how e-mail has become a primary form of correspondence in many workplaces.
• Strategies for using social networking in the workplace
to collaborate with colleagues and work with clients (Chapter 3 and 15).
• Combined chapter on research
that helps students quickly locate electronic, print, and empirical sources and cite them properly.
• New sample documents that provide even more examples of the types of communications
you will be generating and reading in the workplace, including a technical description (Chapter 6), a status report (Chapter 9), and a poster presentation (Chapter 10).

Table of Contents

Part 1: Elements of Technical Communication

Chapter 1 Communicating in the Technical Workplace

Developing a Workplace Writing Process

Genres and the Technical Writing Process

Stage 1: Planning and Researching

Stage 2: Organizing and Drafting

Stage 3: Improving the Style

Stage 4: Designing

Stage 5: Revising and Editing

What Is Technical Communication?

Technical Communication Is Interactive and Adaptable

Technical Communication Is Reader Centered

Technical Communication Relies on Teamwork

Technical Communication Is Visual

Technical Communication Has Ethical, Legal, and Political

Dimensions

Technical Communication Is International and Cross-Cultural

How Important Is Technical Communication?

Chapter Review

Exercises and Projects

 

Chapter 2 Readers and Contexts of Use

Profiling Your Readers

Identifying Your Readers

Profiling Your Readers’ Needs, Values, and Attitudes

Profiling Contexts of Use

Identifying the Context of Use

Using Profiles to Your Own Advantage

International and Cross-Cultural Communication

Differences in Content

Differences in Organization

Differences in Style

Differences in Design

Listen and Learn: The Key to International and Cross-Cultural Communication

At Work: What Are Some Strategies for Communicating with People from Another Culture?

Chapter Review

Exercises and Projects

Case Study: Installing a Medical Waste Incinerator

 

Chapter 3 Working in Teams

The Stages of Teaming

Forming: Strategic Planning

Step 1: Define the Project Mission and Objectives

Step 2: Identify Project Outcomes

Step 3: Define Team Member Responsibilities

Step 4: Create a Project Calendar

Step 5: Write Out a Work Plan

Step 6: Agree on How Conflicts Will Be Resolved

Storming: Managing Conflict

Running Effective Meetings

Mediating Conflicts

Firing a Team Member

Norming: Determining Team Roles

Revising Objectives and Outcomes

Help: Virtual Teaming

Identifying Team Roles

Using Groupware to Facilitate Work

Performing: Improving Quality

The Keys to Teaming

Chapter Review

Exercises and Projects

Case Study: Not a Sunny Day

 

Chapter 4 Letters, Memos, and E-Mails

Features of Letters, Memos, and E-Mails

Planning and Researching

Determining the Rhetorical Situation

Ethics in the Technical Workplace

What Are Ethics?

Where Do Ethics Come From?

Personal Ethics

Social Ethics

Conservation Ethics

Resolving Ethical Dilemmas

Help: Stopping Cyberbullying and Computer Harassment

Confronting an Ethical Dilemma

Resolving an Ethical Dilemma

When You Disag