Philosophy
Philosophy of Technical Communication
I. General Approach to Professional Communication
Professional or technical communicators function in multiple roles within their chosen organization. They do, indeed, transmit communication through writing, but they also function as decision makers who create meaning within and beyond the scope of the written word. Their work is practical, in that it requires knowledge and skill, but also creative in that it requires original thought and an ability to connect or rearrange various elements and pieces of information to create not just a sum of individual parts but an original meaning from the blending of such elements.
II. Theory of the Approach
First, it is beyond dispute that technical communicators are writers. There is what author Carolyn R. Miller calls the “practical” element of technical writing.[1] That is, there are certain pragmatic goals or objectives that technical communicators achieve through reliance on “rules proved through use…”[2] Simply put, “good writing”[3] is necessary in order to add value in the marketplace. Effective writing may be a result of both industry norms but also from academic instruction,[4] but it remains crucial not to assume that what is common practice in the industry is necessarily “good.”[5]
Second, beyond the skill of writing, technical communicators must make decisions.[6] Put another way, professional communication includes both what the communicator does, and the meaning of that doing.[7] Technical communicators function in relation to others in the workplace and various constituencies and often oversee collaborative projects. These types of activities require more than just skilled writing, but the ability to effect wide-reaching organizational and societal decisions.[8]
Third, technical communicators are not only writers, but also authors.[9] This is because they are not simply conduits of information, but also create and add meaning to information passed between sender and receiver.[10] The professional communicator doesn’t simply pass or relay messages, but rather co-creates meaning and significance by connecting or challenging the connection of various elements.[11]
III. Application of the Approach
In terms of the practical, or work-product output as a professional communicator, it is important to know and understand the audience, or user, of the product or communication so that the writing is responsive to user needs.[12] In today’s marketplace, where products are user-centered, it is critical for professional communicators to both learn about and understand the users or consumers of the product or information, but also to lobby for that information to be used in the creation process.[13] This means that professional communicators “should be researchers in addition to being writers.”[14] A professional communicator should be both listening to users and cataloguing user feedback in a useful and useable way.[15]
In addition to development of research and writing skills, professional communicators must cultivate the ability to make effective decisions. This involves meaningfully participating in decisions related to technology development, and meaningfully contributing to discussions about its’ use and misuse in the larger societal context.[16] In short, technical skills and capabilities are important, and the professional decision-making implications of those skills is equally as critical.
A consequence of the authorship of technical communicators is that technical communicators must acknowledge their level of responsibility, evaluating not only the skills required to communicate well, but also recognizing that “Who we work for and what we communicate matters.”[17] There is an ethical responsibility beyond simply writing well or producing technical documents.
IV. Growth and Development Goals
As a professional communicator, my current goals are as follows:
1) Explore the role of professional communicator as advocate
I have functioned as a legal advocate for many years in my current practice and my first goal is transferring those advocacy skills to the grant-writing context. I am currently working as a grant-writing volunteer for a non-profit that develops social emotional learning (SEL) curriculum for school-aged children. This idea of communicator as advocate[18] means that I will thoroughly research potential funders as “users” – exploring what types of programs or organizations they solicit proposals from and watching where they have awarded grants in recent history and what their mission and activities reflect about priorities.[19] I will advocate within the non-profit organization for inclusion of this information in grant proposals, making “evidence-based recommendations”[20] for which information or programs within the organization to include in the proposal.
2) Improve communication processes in my current position
I currently own and operate a boutique law office comprised of three employees. We often collaborate on projects such as legal briefs and repositories of client evidence for presentation at trial. My goal is to further develop the office’s work-optimization practices.[21] Because the life and process of an individual case, particularly a case awaiting trial, may span several years, my goal is to develop a centralized workflow review system. Currently, each employee has their own spreadsheets tracking various types of cases and we share notes via a centralized, cloud-based filing system. My goal is to combine these individual case review spreadsheets to ensure each team member is aware of case status and progress of their co-worker’s cases and can assist in progressing the case if another team member needs assistance or must be out of the office for any length of time. This will also make oversight of employee work more efficient and accurate.
[1] Carolyn R. Miller, “What’s Practical About Technical Writing?” Technical Writing: Theory and Practice. Ed. Bertie E. Fearing and W. Keats Sparrow, 1989, pp. 14-24.
[2] Miller, 61.
[3] Miller, 62.
[4] Miller, 61-63.
[5] Miller, 67.
[6] Cezar M. Ornatowski, “Educating Technical Communicators to Make Better Decisions” Technical Communication 42 (1995).
[7] Ornatowski, 500.
[8] Ornatowski, 596-599.
[9] Slack, Jennifer Daryl and Miller, David James and Doak, Jeffrey, “The Technical Communicator as Author” Journal of Business and Technical Communications, 7 (1993) 12-36.
[10] Slack, 25.
[11] Slack, 30-31.
[12] William Hart-Davidson, “What Are the Work Patterns of Technical Communication?” Solving Problems in Technical Communication, edited by Johndan Johnson-Eilola and Stuart A. Selber, The University of Chicago Press, 2013, pp. 59-85.
[13] Hart-Davidson, 64.
[14] Hart-Davidson, 65.
[15] Hart-Davidson, 73-74.
[16] Ornatowski, Educating Technical Communicators, 597-598.
[17] Slack, The Technical Communicator as Author, 32.
[18] Slack, 33.
[19] Hart-Davidson, What Are the Work Patterns, 73.
[20] Hart-Davidson, 74.
[21] Hart-Davidson, 76.