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Problem-Solving Approach To Communications Tasks

This document discusses the importance of technical communication skills for engineers and programmers. It defines technical communication as transactional writing that aims to inform, instruct or persuade a specific audience. The document outlines various types of technical documents and notes that technical writing requires an awareness of conventions and the rhetorical situation. It introduces a problem-solving approach using NASA's design process as an example. The document advocates defining the problem by assessing needs, goals, objectives and constraints before developing a solution. It provides guidelines for applying this problem formulation model to communications tasks and notes conventions like headings, lists, figures and visual design that technical writing employs.

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Soumitra Roy Chowdhury
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111 views

Problem-Solving Approach To Communications Tasks

This document discusses the importance of technical communication skills for engineers and programmers. It defines technical communication as transactional writing that aims to inform, instruct or persuade a specific audience. The document outlines various types of technical documents and notes that technical writing requires an awareness of conventions and the rhetorical situation. It introduces a problem-solving approach using NASA's design process as an example. The document advocates defining the problem by assessing needs, goals, objectives and constraints before developing a solution. It provides guidelines for applying this problem formulation model to communications tasks and notes conventions like headings, lists, figures and visual design that technical writing employs.

Uploaded by

Soumitra Roy Chowdhury
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Problem-Solving Approach to Communications Tasks

 In a recent survey of over 1000 professionals from various professions, over 70% of engineers and almost 50%
of programmers rated the quality of their writing as “very important” or “extremely important” to the
performance of their jobs. As Barry Hyman asserts in Fundamentals of Engineering Design, “the stereotype that
engineering is for inarticulate nerds is way off base.” 
 Technical communication is “transactional” – it entails a purposeful transaction between sender and receiver
that provides specific data for practical and specific purposes (informing, instructing, persuading) and is usually
geared towards the needs of a specific audience. Technical communicators produce a wide variety of
documents such as:
 Proposals and requests for proposals (RFPs)
 Technical or research reports
 Documentation records and product specifications
 User guides (step-by-step instructions, procedures, manuals), online help or technical support
 Reference information (encyclopedia-style information)
 Consumer literature (information for the public about regulations, safety issues, etc.)
 Marketing literature (product specifications, brochures, promotional literature)
 Technical journalism (found in trade magazines, media releases, etc.)

Technical communications can take many forms, depending on the purpose and intended audience. Technical
writing can be viewed as a highly “designed” form of communication that requires practitioners to have a
heightened awareness of the conventions (rules and expectations) and rhetorical situations (audience, purpose,
context) in which they are communicating.

This course aims to provide you with a heightened awareness – that is, to introduce you to the basic conventions
of technical communications, and show you how to adopt a reader-centered or audience-centered approach to
communications tasks, and to help find the tools and methods that will work best to communicate your ideas to
your target audience, and to achieve the desired results.

In the workplace, many of the communications tasks you perform are designed to solve a problem or improve a
situation. Whether you are doing work for a client, for your employer, with your team, or for someone else, you
will typically use some sort of design process to tackle and solve the problem. A clearly articulated design
process provides you with a clear, step-by-step plan for finding the best solution for your situation. One
commonality you will likely find in examining other people’s design process diagrams is this: the first step in
designing any solution is to clearly define the problem.

Figure 1.1 shows NASA’s basic design process. Think about the kind of communication that each step of this
process might entail. 2
Take a moment to search the Internet for the term “design process” and look at “images.” You will find many
variations. Have a look at several of them and see if you can find a common pattern.
You cannot work on a solution until you have a clear definition of the problem and goals you want to achieve.
This critical first stage of the design process requires that you effectively communicate with the “client” or
whoever has the “problem” that needs solving. For our purposes, we will use Barry Hyman’s Problem
Formulation model 1 to clearly define a problem, which consists of four elements:

1. Need Statement recognizes and describes the need for a solution or improvement to an “unsatisfactory
situation.” It answers the questions, “what is wrong with the way things are currently? What negative
effects does this situation cause?” You may need to do research and supply data to quantify the negative
effects.
2. Goal Statement: describes what the improved situation would look like once a solution has been
implemented. The goal statement defines the scope of your search for a solution. At this point, do not
describe your solution, only the goal that any proposed solution should achieve. The broader you make
your goal, the more numerous and varied the solution can be; a narrowly focused goal limits the number
and variety of possible solutions.
3. Objectives: define measurable, specific outcomes that any feasible solution should optimize (aspects
you can use to “grade” the effectiveness of the solution). Objectives provide ways to quantifiably
measure how well any solution will solve the problem; ideally, you will be able to compare multiple
solutions and figure out which one is most effective (which one gets the highest score on meeting the
objectives?).
4. Constraints: define the limits that any feasible solution must adhere to in order to be acceptable
(pass/fail conditions, range limits, etc.). The key word here is must — constraints are the “go/no go”
conditions that determine whether a solution is acceptable or not. These often include budget/time limits,
as well as legal, safety and regulatory requirements.
Communication as Solution
This model can apply to a communications task as well as more physical design tasks. Imagine a
communications task as something that will solve a problem or improve a situation. Before you begin drafting
this document or presentation, define the problem you want to solve with this document:

Click on the tabs in the table below for guidelines on how to apply Barry Hyman’s Problem Formulation model
to clearly define a problem. 

1. Understand the Need


Consider what gave rise to the need to communicate. Does someone lack sufficient information to make a
decision or take a position on an issue? Did someone request information? Is there some unsatisfactory situation
that needs to be remedied by communicating with your audience? What specifically is unsatisfactory about it?
Consider your audience.
For example:
- A potential client lacks sufficient information on whether the solution I have proposed to solve the client’s
problem will be feasible, affordable, and effective.
- My instructor lacks sufficient examples of my written work to assign a grade for how well I met the course
learning objectives.
2. Establish a Goal
Consider your purpose in writing. What do you want your reader to do, think, or know? Do you want your
reader to make a decision? Change their opinion or behavior? Follow a course of action? What is your desired
outcome? And what form and style of communication will best lead to that outcome?
For example:
-  Provide the client with enough information, in an effective and readable format, to make a decision (ideally,
to hire you to build the solution for the problem).
-  Provide my instructor with samples of my writing that demonstrate my achievement of the course learning
objectives (provide relevant and complete information in a professionally appropriate format, using evidence-
based argument; earn an A+ grade on the assignment.)
3.  Define Objectives
Consider the specifics of your message and your audience to determine what criteria you should meet. What
form should it take? What content elements will you need to include? What kind of research will be required?
What information does your audience want/need? What do they already know?
For example:
- Review the client’s RFP to see what specific objectives it lists.
- Review the Technical Report Grading Rubric to determine specific requirements and objectives that will be
graded by your instructor.
4. Identify Constraints
What is the pass/fail conditions of this document? Consider your rhetorical situation. What conditions exist that
present barriers or challenges to communication? How can you address them? 
For example: 
- How much time is your audience willing to spend on this? 
- What format and style do they require? 
- How long can you make your document or presentation? 
- How much time do you have to create it? Is there a deadline?
- Do you have a Style Guide you must follow or a template you can use?(e.g., word limit, due date, pass/fail
criteria such as avoiding plagiarism, etc.)
Conventions and Characteristics
Every genre of writing has unique characteristics and rules, called conventions, that help readers classify a
document as belonging to a particular genre. This also applies to film and music. 
 Non-fiction is a category that can be broken into various genres. The main genres that are relevant to us are
journalism (newspaper writing), academic writing (written by scholars and published in peer reviewed academic
journals or books), and technical writing. Like journalism and scholarly writing, technical writing also has
distinct features that readers expect to see in documents that fall within this genre. These include the use of:

o Headings to organize information into coherent sections


o Lists to present information concisely
o Figures and tables to present data and information visually, and;
o Visual design to enhance readability
Designing technical communication is like designing any other product for an intended user: the ultimate end-
goal is to make it “user friendly.” Key words here are accessible, usable, clear, goal-oriented, effective, and
reader-centered. The characteristics of technical writing support these goals and concepts.

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