Chapter 6 & 7

Chapter 6: Working in teams

Some important things to remember when working in team are to get your views across to other members, accepting criticism, getting along, and compromising. 

Guidelines:

• ·         Group manager
• ·         Clear goals
• ·         Type of document
• ·         Divide the tasks
• ·         Schedule
• ·         Drafts and Check each others work
• ·         Problems
• ·         How are decisions going to be made
• ·         Evaluate each other
• ·         Project plan
• ·         Progress reports

Meetings

• ·         Agenda
• ·         Preparation from every member
• ·         Observer
• ·         Minutes from last meeting
• ·         Give everyone a chance to speak
• ·         Stay on topic
• ·         Keep things moving
• ·         Guide and listen
• ·         Summarize important information
• ·         End on time 

Every person is different and is used to different ways of doing things.  

·         Interpersonal Differences 

·         Gender and Cultural Differences

When addressing a conflict in the group, remember to listen to everyone and to give and accept constructive criticism.  To reduce animosity, don’t be aggressive or attack anyone.  

Listening is very important.  Listening is more complex than just staring blankly at the speaker, but to actually be receptive and focus on the message.  Being courteous and keeping an open mind will also allow you to get more out of listening.  Even if you don’t agree with the message being stated, listening and seeing the opposite point of view could open your eyes to information you shut out, or even strengthen your opposition.  Spending 90 percent of your time listening and 10 percent talking is ideal.

• Creatively Thinking

  ·         Brainstorm- collection of ideas
  ·         Mind-mapping- more in depth brainstorming
  ·         Storyboarding- images are presented, this is a more hands on technique
  
  

  When reviewing and proofreading others work the main objective is to make sure the document connects with its audience and has purpose.  Making sure that the document is well organized, easy to follow, engaging, and accurate are also important characteristics that a document should include.

  
  

  Face to face vs. electronic communication depends on the situation.  Personal contact requires face to face whereas emails or instant messaging might be less time consuming.

  
  

  Ethical abuses in the workplace are enviable, people intimidate other people, people claim work when it’s not theirs and people hoard information because it gives them a sense of empowerment.  Working as a team and allowing every member to actively participate and giving credit where credit is due could help eliminate these problems.  Also hoarding information is not really doing someone good when they could share for the bettering of the company.  

  
  

  Chapter 7

  
  

  When critically thinking about the research process, it is important to ask the right questions which means ask good questions, exploring a balance of views, evaluating your findings and interpreting those findings in the best possible way.

  
  

  Balance of view:

  ·         Best answers
  ·         Sources that agree
  ·         Sources that disagree
  ·         Good quality information
  
  

  Evaluate:

  ·         Information precise, reliable, unbiased?
  ·         Are the facts substantial
  ·         Is the information useful
  ·         Is this the whole/real story?
  ·         Need more info?
  
  

  Interpretation:

  ·         Does the conclusion state the research question
  ·         Are there other options
  ·         Is there enough evidence
  ·         Should more be done?
  
  

  Experts are not always a reliable source because their opinions sometimes intervene.  Experts are people to which could lead to making a mistake.

  
  

  A very important point for evaluating any information is to learn everything you can about the presented issue and make your own view on the topic before accepting anyone else’s so that you’re not swayed in one way or another.

Chapter 4 & 5

CHAPTER 4 -Persuasion

Persuasion is trying to sway someone in the direction you want.  During Persuasion you have claims which are points you have to convey.  You have to have support to back up these claims as well. 

 There are many ways to identify your specific goal.  Arguments are all different bases on the level of contribution they require.

·         Arguing to influence people’s opinions

·         Arguing to enlist peoples support

·         Submitting a proposal

·         Arguing to change people’s behaviors

These can overlap, but before an argument is started, a clear view of what is to happen is the key.

Thinking like your audience can also benefit the outcome of the argument.  Thinking of questions that the audience might have will prepare you how to answer these concerns.

There are three levels of responses to a persuasive case.

·         Compliance- don’t really accept it but for some reason feel obligated to agree

·         Identification-accept it and go along with it.

·         Internalization- the ideal response, they agree with you.

Connection with your audience is extremely important.  There are three strategies for this:

·         Power connection (compliance)- do it because I say so, an order.

·         Relationship connection (identification)- do it because I’d appreciate it, invites the audience and allows them to choose.

·         Rational connection (internalization)- do it because it makes sense, offers choices, incentives, the choice is entirely up to the audience.

When proposing an argument, never think your way is the only way.  You have to play devil’s advocate and see the flaws that the audience proposes.  You have to respond to opposing views and allow for slight change.  You also have to be reasonable in your argument and know all constraints.  You have to know the right way to convey your message and when the time is right.

There are many constraints that one has to take into consideration.

·         Legal constraints

·         Ethical constraints

·         Time constraints

·         Social and psychological constraints

o   Relationship with the audience (not going to talk to boss and peers same way.)

o   Audience’s personality (to know how to convey your message)

o   Audience’s sense of identity (are the unified? Will this tear them apart?)

o   Size and urgency (know how to communicate and how serious your tone should be)

Emotions play a huge role in our ability to be persuaded. 

We say no because of fear:

·         Fear of the unknown

·         Fear of disruption

·         Fear of failure

We say yes!

·         Reciprocation (return a favor)

·         Consistency (have said yes to something similar before)

·         Social validation (other people are agreeing)

·         Liking (we like the person)

·         Authority ( the person with the argument knows a lot)

·         Scarcity (the person knows something we don’t)

A powerful persuader is evidence.  The evidence should be good quality, the sources are valid, and the evidence is reasonable.  Types of good evidence are:

·         Factual statements

·         Statistics

·         Examples

·         Expert testimony

Cultural differences should be taken into consideration when working with different cultures.  They should not be offended or embarrassed, their customs shouldn’t be ignored, and their values should be important.

Guidelines for persuasion are given in chapter for as a basis for forming a good persuasion.   It shows how to develop a clear plan, how to prepare your argument, and how and when to present your argument.  Once the argument is finalized, a checklist is provided to make sure the argument can be very persuasive and effective. 

CHAPTER 5 -Ethical writing

                Accurate, honest, and fair writing will insure that the writing is ethical.

Groupthink vs. teamwork

Communication abuse:

o   Suppressing knowledge that the public needs (dangers)

o   Hiding conflicts of Interest

o   Exaggerating

o   False or Fabricated Data

o   Visual images that hid the truth

o   Misusing information

o   Withholding important information

Critical Thinking

•                 Right action
•                 Obligations (yourself, clients, customers, company, coworkers, community, society)
•                 Values or ideas
•                 What are the consequences?

Ethical dilemmas serve as a frustrating challenge that you have to overcome or think through.  You have to think through hard choices and really formulate a document that is ideal in all circumstances.

Legal doesn’t always mean ethical.  There are many laws listed that explain legal situations.

Ethical communication is not plagiarism.  When representing ideas and works of others, credit must be given.

Tough situations: doing what you know to be right.  Make your own choices.  Either go public or hid the truth.

A checklist for ethical communication is provided as well as guidelines for ethical communication.

Chapter 2 & 3

When technically communicating, the main question is, “how do I prepare the right document for this situation?”  When writing a technical document there are many points that you have to convey.  Delivering the essential information, being persuasive, and weighing the ethical issues are all aspects that a technical document must contain.  Also working in groups is very common when working for a large company, therefore to be able to communicate to other workers is essential. Chapter two explains the writing process and how each step can be repeated many times.  It also gives many questions that a writer can ask themselves for each step of the writing process.  Once the document is finished, proofreading is the last part.  Chapter two gives guidelines and a checklist for proofreading.  A technical document should be usable.  For a document to be usable, it should be easy to locate the needed information, the information should be written so that it is easily understood, and the information should be used successfully.  A technical document should be written for its audience.  Every audience is different and therefore not every technical document should have the same format.  Your document also needs to have the correct level of technicality.  There are three levels of technicality, highly technical which is plainly facts and figures, semi technical which is the facts and figures explained and nontechnical which are the facts and figures explained in the simplest way.  Chapter three is mainly about audience; why, when, and how they will use the technical document.  An audience and use profile sheet is provided as a general checklist to make sure you hit all the points in the technical document.  While writing a technical document, many aspects go into the writing such as the setting under which the document will be read, perhaps any possible hazards, the appropriate details, and the design of the page.  Chapter three also provides you with a usability checklist to ensure your document is usable.  Revising your document is also very important.  Getting people to try out the document before it is finalized is a great way to see if the document written is easily understood, and can be successfully used.

Chapter 1

Technical writing is to the point.  It should be easily accessible because people usually just flip to the pages that they need information about.  The technical document on pages two and three gives the audience a brief understanding of the information that explains the process of bioremediation.  It allowed me as a viewer to understand the process without having to read pages and pages on the topic.  It explains what it is, how it works, that it’s safe, how long the process will take and why it should be used.  It covers all the questions that viewers may have on bioremediation.  It also has contact information that allows the viewer to write to the company if they have further questions.  The content needs to be straightforward and to the point while still having all the important information.  Technical communications can be in the format of letters, memos, emails, brochures, pamphlets, fact sheets, instruction material, reports and proposals to name a few.  They can also be through media.   Technical communication will be needed in every job in some way.  Also humans are a big part in technical communication.  Humans are what give the text meaning.  You can have an awesome proposal and if you don’t convey the message right, it could be a disaster.  Throughout life, you will need to obtain numerous portable communication skills regardless of your job.