Why Technical Communication is Essential to Your Success

1. Instructions Not Included: Why Technical Communication is Essential to Your Success Linda Hobrock The Boeing Company

2. ET&T | Product Standards Office About Me • I started in aerospace in 1995, and I have been with Boeing since 2000. • Originally, I wanted to be a high school teacher. I actually have a B.A. in English Literature from UCLA and an M.A. in Communication from Gonzaga University. • The year I finished my B.A., school districts were downsizing. Aerospace, however, was hiring, and they needed technical writers. • I thought I would stay for a year, but that first tech writing job surprised me, waking up a passion for STEM and STEM education I didn’t know I had. I never looked back.

3. ET&T | Product Standards Office About This Presentation • My current job requires me to mentor engineering teams on various forms of communication. I usually do this on an informal basis. • Last year, my site hired a lot of new engineers, many of whom were struggling with the basics of technical communication. • I talked to management and senior staff about developing group training sessions. I wanted to do something structured but informal, providing our new hires with an experience that introduced them to foundational topics in a fun way. • This presentation is a version of the intro course in that developing series.

4. ET&T | Product Standards Office What is Technical Communication? • Technical communication = Any form of communication about specialized topics in STEM fields. • That includes writings, drawings, demonstrations, models, presentations, TED talks, etc. • Bottom line: If you are talking about your job as an engineer, you are engaging in technical communication.

5. ET&T | Product Standards Office Putting Technical Communication in Perspective • It’s easy to think technical communication is just about documenting scientific and engineering theory, principles, practices, and processes. • HOWEVER, the only reason to write anything down is so people can retrieve the information later. • Bottom line: Technical communication is all about people.

6. ET&T | Product Standards Office There’s Always a Community in Communication • Every time you communicate, you participate in a community. • To be successful, you have to understand both the concepts you want to talk about and the audience you want to talk to. • You need to know what “concepts, values, traditions, and style” define your community.* • Bottom line: If you understand who your audience is (what they want and need), you will have a better understanding of how to connect with them. *From Teaching Technical Communication: Critical Issues for the Classroom. Boston: St. Martin's Press.

7. ET&T | Product Standards Office Why Should You Care? • Building complex products is team sport. • Coordinating the efforts of many people—and keeping everyone on task—requires clear communication of both goals and work plans. • All that project planning and execution necessarily includes specifics about the technologies your teams use or create. • Bottom line: Your success in engineering is largely determined by your ability to communicate goals and ideas to people who can help you achieve them.

8. Let’s Try It Out: Identifying and Developing Good Requirements

9. ET&T | Product Standards Office The Game • Your identity: You are a hermit, working alone in a basement as a subcontractor. Your biggest contract is with Omni Corp. Omni Corp sent you requirements for a new product. No additional guidance or information was included. No one from Omni Corp is available to answer questions. • Your mission: Use the requirements as-received to deliver the product on time. • You have 5 minutes.

10. ET&T | Product Standards Office The Requirements(as-received from Omni Corp) • Create an illustration that meets the following parameters: • Illustration must contain three overlapping triangles. • Triangles should have a circle at the top, two straight lines at the base, and curved lines at the sides. • Decorate as appropriate. • If necessary, label per standard practice.

11. ET&T | Product Standards Office Let’s Talk About It • Share your illustrations. • Are there variations in the results? • Did everyone meet the requirements? • So, what’s (potentially) wrong with these pictures?

12. Ready to See the Model?

13. ET&T | Product Standards Office Time Out • I need some volunteers. One member of each team. • Your new identity: Quality Checker (QC). As the person who will verify your team’s work, you are critical to their success!

14. ET&T | Product Standards Office Vector Drawing I: Three Triangles Must contain 3 overlapping triangles. Triangles should have a circle at the top, 2 straight lines at the base, and curved lines at the sides. Decorate as appropriate. If necessary, label per standard practice. green yellow blue

15. ET&T | Product Standards Office Time for Teamwork • Work with your team to rewrite the requirements so they accurately describe the model. • As you work, have your QC try to draw the illustration (i.e. continuously verify your requirements). • QC: Only draw what is required per your team’s written specifications. • Continue to edit the requirements with your QC until the team agrees they are clear and complete. • The team with the best match to the model wins a (tiny) prize! • You have 15 minutes.

16. Report Out: Share your final results