Technical Communication

Abstract

"Technical communication" refers to the processes through which a business gathers, produces, and shares information critical to its operations. Businesses maintain employee operational structures and engage customers or clients and therefore must move in-field information. Employees need information to complete their tasks; senior executive staff needs information about operations; up and down the network chain of responsibilities, information, often highly specialized, must be moved among departments. In addition, customers must understand products, product functions, as well as the network of associated customer services that are available. This is all technical communication.

Overview

"Technical communication" is itself something of a misnomer. The term conjures images of CAD blueprints, lines of computer coding, fiscal business plans, financial spreadsheets, and design specifications. Although the fields of engineering and computer science and high finance must deal with highly technical information, that information is most often moved within a network chain to levels of staff that are already generally familiar with the information, who already have a grounding in the subject matter. When professionals speak in-field to in-field, the burden of technical communication is greatly eased. Nevertheless, technical communications must be carefully prepared—clearly written, thoughtfully organized, and proofread. The best technical communication style is no style at all—the apparently effortless transmission of clear prose, what Susan Hallenbeck describes as a "maximally transparent, neutral activity that occurs within organizations in the service of corporate or manufacturer interests" (2012, p. 306).

Research indicates, however, that reassuring communication loops—in-field to in-field—happen less than 10 percent of the time. That means that 90 percent of network communication involves gauging the information being shared to the audience toward which it is being directed. Within any network, the levels of expertise vary, division to division, facility to facility, even person to person within a single department. Designers must talk to technicians; supervisors must communicate with lower echelon staff; accountants must talk with engineers; IT people must communicate with every department; managers must talk to administrative assistants.

Given the advent of digital communications and the reality that any network now operates within a vast virtual platform, access to that virtual data reservoir depends on employees across the board being confident in usage and trained to use the computer resources effectively, efficiently, correctly, and quickly. That relies on someone in the company serving as the contact to facilitate computer usage, helping and directing employees into the correct procedures and overseeing any facility crisis.

The burgeoning field of technical communication, however, explores a far wider dynamic. Specialists within a network must be able to share information, insights, perspectives, ideas, and opinions clearly and efficiently with those at that level of expertise. Employees at differing levels of expertise must be able to understand and follow instructions, directives, work protocols, and policies. Technical communication, however, is more than that. The reality is that any business must deal with specialized information moving outside a network chain in which a worker/employee simply cannot assume any level of expertise.

Customers and clients, whether face to face or through the company’s websites, must be engaged carefully to ensure that critical information they are seeking can be shared accessibly and usefully. In this case, the person with the information must choose one of three communication patterns: (1) The person can talk at the client, bombarding them with specialized information, heavy doses of jargon, and generally verbally assault them; (2) the person can talk down to the client, using low-level vocabulary, basic sentence patterns, and clichés and conversational slang that makes the client feel that they are being condescended to; or (3) in the best situation, the person can talk with the client, exchanging information between intelligent adults one of whom is simply lacking critical bits of information.

For example, if a doctor must tell parents that their child has a serious illness, that doctor needs to be able to explain the diagnosis and recommend treatment; if a contractor wants to bevel a homeowner’s siding, that contractor needs to be able to explain what exactly will happen; if a mechanic sees the need to replace an entire brake system on a car, the owner deserves a clear explanation of the problem. Professionals in every field—computer technicians; lawyers; nurses; bank tellers; real estate agents; appliance dealers; electricians; plumbers; stockbrokers—must learn how to discipline information to make that information clear and helpful.

The trick of effective technical communication, then, is to make the audience smarter without first making them feel stupider. Whether mastering how to program a cell phone, how to set up a personal computer, how to operate a coffee maker, how to diversify a portfolio, how to post on Facebook, how to set a microwave to defrost—information clarity is an element of a business’s operations, and the responsibility to make sure their products or services are clear to a client base requires high quality technical communication.

In the digital age, moving information is simply how business gets done, and companies have begun to clamor for clear communication. New hires coming from universities and/or training programs, despite their levels of expertise, often bring to the network a largely unworkable model for writing. Many have learned the academic model, which trains students to wrestle with abstract ideas, themes and thesis statements, concepts, and theories. Some have developed an approach to writing that is primarily style-driven. Indeed, conventional wisdom long argued that English majors would naturally be adept at technical communication, but experience indicates otherwise. Technical communication suggests that a person cannot separate the content from the language used to try to share that content.

Having information possessing levels of expertise is not the same as sharing that information. Thus, in the day to day operations of any company, technical communication can cover a wide array of writing models: contracts; policy statements; procedural protocols; design specifications; prospectus and proposals; customer service agreements; catalogue entries; advertising copy; user manuals; website content; bills of sale; how-to instructions; assembly directions; research grants; refund policies; job descriptions; job assessments and worker evaluation; training manuals; employee benefit packages; and client demonstrations. Research indicates that whatever the field, professionals can expect to spend 20 percent of any work week producing or reading some kind of written material; supervisors and upper management executives, 50 percent; and CEOs and directors of operations, close to 90 percent. Indeed, in 2016, Forbes magazine listed professional/technical communication as one of only four careers that had actually grown in importance in the age of digital technology.

Many employees, however, are called upon to issue reports or otherwise communicate important information, but have never faced the challenge of explaining information to someone who does not already know it. Technical communication has given rise to a specialized field of professional writing. Technical writing is subject to the dynamics of the subject area and its user. The writer has the responsibility of answering the specifications of the company and meeting high standards of accuracy and clarity. The writing represents the company brand and must often adhere to a particular brand "voice."

Even the most basic item description on a website sales page, for example, or instructions for assembling a shelf, has to be written by someone, and that someone must be able to share specs and critical information clearly and concisely. Poor technical communication skills—mangled syntax, inexact diction; turgid prose; grammatical errors—can only result in office confusion, repeated tasks and redundant processes, inefficient operations, incensed customers and clients, and frustration, even anger. Indeed, employers have ranked communication skills above expertise, social ability, and computer skills as the most preferred characteristics of a promising hire.

Communication systems are far more advanced than paper and pen. "The workflows of today’s technical communicators are mediated by conditions that either did not exist or were not prevalent in the late 1990s: by new tools (always connected smartphones and touch screen devices, widely available eye-tracking systems for usability research, inexpensive and expansive digital storage); by new technologies (instant=text=multimedia messaging, social media…); by new spaces (hybrid work locations, coworking venues, virtual offices); and by new practices (contextual design, user centered design, interaction design, single sourcing)" (McNely, Spinuzzi & Teston, 2015).

Applications

For technical communication specialists, any sentence has the sole purpose of moving content (information) to a targeted audience with specific needs and expectations. Take an example in which a supervisor informs an immediate superior of the impact of a company investment: "The new power staplers that were recently purchased by our company have caused an increase in our worker productivity." From the perspective of a technical communication specialist, the problem with the sentence is that it uses too many words—most of which do not contribute relevant information. If the power staplers are new, it is redundant to point out that they were recently purchased; workers are the productivity, and the only productivity of interest is "our" productivity. Technical communication values clarity: "The new power staplers have increased productivity" describes the situation accurately and concisely in only seven words.

Technical communication specialists create copy intended to be moved, intended to be used, intended to be circulated. Technical communication aims at achieving one of three defined purposes: (1) to inform an audience—that is, move specialized information the audience does not have but needs; (2) to persuade—that is, to use language to move a client/customer to follow a course of action beneficial to the company; or (3) to instruct—that is, to help an audience follow and complete successfully a set of procedures or steps. Unlike formal academic writing, which is expected to offer page after page of unbroken type, technical communications use "eye relief"—that is, graphic design devices that maximize the white space on a page—strategically placed illustrations, and fonts, color, and typeface, which highlight information and direct information flow for the reader. Concise information presented in chunks is more easily digested and enables its audience to skim or pick out desired bits, thus processing the communication quickly.

Technical communication broadly sets up a handful of basic criteria for directing information packaging. These guidelines help those involved in making often highly specialized information clear. The first rule is that the provider of the technical communication must have a clear and correct grasp of the information. Confused concepts generate confusing writing. The "non-style" of technical writing employs a number of rules intended to strip down verbosity and make for easy reading of often difficult content. Technical communication values shorter sentences—on average, 8–12 words is the maximum length before a reader begins to feel uneasy. Rather than allowing complex information to appear in large blocks, the writer will attempt to break serial or sequential content into handy lists with bullet point formatting. Data should be presented in tables or graphics, and illustrations not only make for a more visually interesting page layout but also help clarify instructions. To help readers with unfamiliar vocabulary, a glossary of terms can be inserted into the document.

To construct neutral, easy to read prose, the technical writer avoids subordination—that is, comma constructions that imbed information in longer sentences. Vocabulary range is best pitched to the expectations of a senior level high school student. Boettger and Wulff (2014) suggest that "this" and "that" should never be left unattended—that is, used without or in place of the nouns to which they refer. Strong verbs are preferred, and adjectives are discouraged as unnecessarily bulking up a sentence beyond its precise meaning. Likewise, prepositional phrases should be minimized, as they most often only add clutter without adding information.

The model for technical communication is not brevity. Often the information is complex and requires levels of explanation. Rather, technical communication strives to be lean, economic, and efficient. That means that technical communication compels the writer to weigh every word for its content. Technical communication is not "dumbing down," and technical writing must avoid coming across as robotic or patronizing. The burden of explaining and sharing specialized information rests not with the audience but with the person generating the communication.

Viewpoints

Poor technical communication commonly results from two premises. The first is that any employee with competent writing skills will make a strong candidate for the technical communication team (Opsteegh, 2015). The second premise is that documents full of complexity, density, and jargon create an aura of authority and impress customers and clients. The intention is often to emulate the high-flown language of legal documents, which are typically dense and virtually unreadable.

Technical communication specialists are almost always facing pressing deadlines, but nevertheless they must read, edit, and reread a document to ensure clarity, efficiency, and accessibility. They develop what is called an objective ear—that is, the ability to read material like a person who is receiving the information. Technical communication specialists will target noticeable verbal tics and habits that thicken prose. Technical communication specialists reviewing authored documents, however, must be careful about making changes to specialized language. A grammatical fix can unintentionally alter meaning.

A company runs on words: conveying complex engineering concepts, clarifying medical procedures, explaining home repairs, documenting employee behaviors, using marketing copy to entice a customer to make a purchase, scheduling an IT repair session, setting down the principal agreements in a contract, itemizing the exact coverage from an insurance policy, generating e-mail correspondence explaining a new company initiative. The efficient and confident use of language skills to move all that information has emerged in the information age as a skill set no company can afford to ignore.

The importance of technical communication continues to be examined as new contexts emerge. For example, the rise of so-called big data as a vital aspect of virtually every industry in the twenty-first century led experts to reiterate the value of skilled technical communication in conveying the key messages found in massive data sets. While some viewed the unprecedented scope of big data and its potential to circumvent human bias as a threat to the communications profession, Frith (2017) asserted that technical communication would remain invaluable as "data never speak for themselves. Someone must always speak for them."

Terms & Concepts

Big Data: Term referring to extremely large and complex data sets, as became central to analytics in many fields by the early twenty-first century.

Communication Loop: The conceptual connection between speaker and audience or writer and reader.

Dynamic: Any binding arrangement that involves two parties.

Eye Relief: A method for laying out a page—in print or online—that maximizes white space to invite the eye to read it. Wide margins and line spacing, for example, make a page look less dense, and elements such as illustrations, subheads, and bullet lists give a less blocky shape to the text.

Jargon: Specialized highly technical information used most effectively in in-field communication.

Objective Ear: The skill developed in writers to assess their own writing for clarity, economy, and audience appropriateness.

Platform: A linked system of information and/or data maintained by a single company or entity.

Syntax: Sentence structure.

Bibliography

Boettger, R., & Wulff, S. (2014). The naked truth about the naked this: Investigating grammatical prescriptivism in technical communication. Technical Communication Quarterly, 23(2), 115–140. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Business Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsu&AN=94773608&site=ehost-live

Frith, J. (2017). Big data, technical communication, and the smart city. Journal of Business & Technical Communication, 31(2), 168–187. Retrieved October 23, 2018 from EBSCO Online Database Business Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsu&AN=121559939&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Garrison, K. (2018). Moving technical communication off the grid. Technical Communication Quarterly, 27(3), 201–216. Retrieved October 23, 2018 from EBSCO Online Database Business Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsu&AN=130647919&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Hallenbeck, S. (2012). User agency, technical communication, and the 19th century woman bicyclist. Technical Communication Quarterly, 21(4), 290–306. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Business Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsu&AN=78238073&site=ehost-live

Jones, N. N., Moore, K. R., & Walton, R. (2016). Disrupting the past to disrupt the future: An antenarrative of technical communication. Technical Communication Quarterly, 25(4), 211–229. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Business Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsu&AN=118415286&site=ehost-live

Kherbachi, S., & Qing, Y. (2016). Predicting technical communication. Journal of Modern Project Management, 4(2), 84–89. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Business Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsu&AN=118238203&site=ehost-live

Locker, K. (2003). Will professional communication be the death of business communication? Business Communication Quarterly, 66(3), 118–132. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Business Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsu&AN=10811924&site=ehost-live

McNely, B., Spinuzzi, C., & Teston, C. (2015). Contemporary research methodologies in technical communication. Technical Communication Quarterly, 24(1), 1–13. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Business Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsu&AN=100145532&site=ehost-live

Opsteegh, M. (2015). A practitioner’s guide to teaching technical communication. Intercom, 62(9), 12–17. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Business Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsu&AN=111200829&site=ehost-live

Suggested Reading

Johnson-Sheehan, R. (2014). Technical communication today. 5th ed. New York: Pearson.

Lauren, B., & Pigg, S. (2016). Networking in a field of introverts: The egonets, networking practices, and networking technologies of technical communication entrepreneurs. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 59(4), 342–362. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Business Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsu&AN=119770731&site=ehost-live

Löfstedt, U., & Holmberg, S. (2016). Social media as a mean for improved technical communication. Systemic Practice & Action Research, 29(4), 297–312. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Business Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsu&AN=116622556&site=ehost-live

Markel, M., & Selber, S. A. (Eds.) (2018). Technical Communication. 12th ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

Vealey, K. P., & Gerding, J. M. (2016). Rhetorical work in crowd-based entrepreneurship: Lessons learned from teaching crowdfunding as an emerging site of professional and technical communication. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 59(4), 407–427. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Business Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsu&AN=119770727&site=ehost-live