Reasons for Writing and benefits of technical report writing

Reasons for Writing and benefits of technical report writing

1. Reasons for Writing

2. Excuses for Not Writing Several reasons (or excuses) for not writing reports that are commonly given by working engineers and scientists are described. Lack of Time Nobody Reads Reports Reduces Job Security Trepidation E-mail Is Sufficient

3. Excuses for Not Writing Lack of Time “I did not have time to write a report.” This is probably the most common reason given by technical people with a dislike for technical writing. It is hard to conceive of having time to do a project but not having time to document the results, conclusions, and recommendations of the work. Government studies in the United States determined that the adult spends upwards of 20 hours per week watching television. An investigation report on a gear failure may take less than an hour to write. One would think that the required hour could come from the 20 television hours if there was not time at work. If people have the desire, they can find the time for anything. Lack of time is an excuse, not a valid reason for not writing.

4. Excuses for Not Writing Nobody Reads Reports Sometimes people have the perception that reports are not read by the addressees, so why write them? When technical people must get funding to do projects, certainly the sponsors should be on report distribution lists. The person approving funding wants a report and usually circulates it to others. [ It has been my experience that people always prefer written solutions to problems, and they often keep reports on department problems for years. People do read and want documentation. ] LMI report could be an example.   E-mail has further invalidated the excuse of “Nobody wants to read them.” It is now common practice to send e-mail messages to teammates when a person completes his or her phase of a project. In summary, the perception that nobody reads reports is often wrong. In fact, you should always write as if your report will be published in a local newspaper. You never know who will read your work. Do not state anything that is bitter, speculative, exaggerated, or that in any way would offend others.

5. Excuses for Not Writing Reduces Job Security Some people feel that they should keep their jobs because nobody else can do them. They have some skills or knowledge that others do not have. The company will always need these people because of their critical skills . They do not want to write reports because this may allow others to acquire their treasured skills.   In a large company, only your immediate supervisor may know or appreciate your critical skills. In reorganizations, management and supervisors are often the first to experience cutbacks. If your immediate supervisor leaves because of downsizing or other reasons, knowledge of your critical skills may be lost, and there is no job protection. On the other hand, if you are diligent in documenting your work, even a new manager can read your reports and know what you offer to the organization. A record of active writing could preserve your job.

6. Excuses for Not Writing Trepidation Some technical people lack confidence in their writing skills and do not opt to write technical documents for fear that they may contain writing errors that cause embarrassment. Some managers also do not know how to review a document. The best way to conquer a fear of making writing mistakes is by practice. Writing is a skill, and practice is required to build a skill. Poor writing or spelling will disappear with practice. It is also useful to get preliminary review comments and feedback through a colleague or support person that you trust. Getting a review of a document before it reaches one’s manager prevents bad reviews while the author is honing writing skills. writing center for students in Gelman Library, GWU

7. Excuses for Not Writing E-mail Is Sufficient Even though e-mail is a useful tool, e-mail does not replace the need for formal or even informal reports. With the ease of email communication, there is a tendency to summarize work in brief email messages. This is often an inadequate method for summarizing a body of work. E-mail is wonderful for conducting business and back-and-forth communications with team members, but these are not acceptable technical communications unless they meet the criteria presented in Chapter 1 . Technical documents require facts, structure, and supporting data . If all of these are put into an e-mail message, the result is probably a technical document anyway. In summary, e-mail messages without proper structure and supporting data do not constitute technical writing.

8. Benefits of Technical Writing Working technicians, engineers, and scientists may have the option of espousing a career that minimizes the need for written documentation, but there are several benefits and needs associated with technical writing. Effective writing skills are necessary for career success in most fields, and following are some basic points on the benefits of good writing skills. The Boss Wants a Report Forces Analysis of Work Completes a Job Unreported Work Can Be Lost Forever Oral Statements Can and Will Be Altered Necessary in Global Businesses Writing Is Necessary for Standardization Career Advantages

9. Benefits of Technical Writing The Boss Wants a Report The most common reason for writing a report is that it is an expectation of the job . Many organizations use effective report writing as a performance measure . Some companies count the number of reports written and rate people on how frequently and well they write as compared to their peers. Often universities base tenure and status on a professor’s record of publishing papers in archival journals. In industry, reports are generally required for funding projects or purchasing capital equipment. These sorts of reports may include the financial benefits and other ramifications. In almost all cases, if there is no written proposal , there is no funding . Another common industrial situation is to use a technical report to document some type of work function. If one works in a testing department, the “product” may be the result of requested testing. Quality control functions often mandate reports on quality status or quality problems.

10. Benefits of Technical Writing Forces Analysis of Work Even if you are not ordered by management to write a report, another important reason is that doing so helps you organize yourself . Report writing forces a systematic analysis of data, review of related facts, and organization of one’s thoughts on a project. This applies to individual study in industry and school as well. The process of collecting and organizing data into reports is a very useful tool, even in learning a new topic or trying to grasp a complicated situation or process. This type of approach has been used effectively on a personal level by many authors. It can be an internal check on what you did, or it can help you check the work of others.

11. Benefits of Technical Writing Completes a Job Industrial downsizing often means fewer people to do the same or increased volume of work. Many technical professionals find themselves juggling multiple projects, maybe ten or twenty. Reports can be used to end a project. A report can show your boss that you met the goal of the project; it tells others what to do about a problem. You have documented what you did. If a similar problem arises in the future, your report will show what has been done.

12. Benefits of Technical Writing Unreported Work Can Be Lost Forever Many times in engineering and science, people spend considerable time and money investigating a new approach to a problem, designing a new mechanism, and formulating a new chemical , and for some reason, the work is stopped . If a report is not written on what was done, the work may be unnecessarily repeated by others, or , worse yet, it may be lost forever. Even if a project is completed, work not documented may be repeated by others who did not know the work was done .

13. Benefits of Technical Writing Oral Statements Can and Will Be Altered An important reason in favor of written documentation is that the alternative—an oral report—can be unreliable , risky, or even dangerous . Verbal communication can be altered each time it is repeated. Verbal statements are prone to misinterpretation, alteration, or they may simply be ignored. A written document should always be used to close a study or project. It gives credit to the person(s) who did the work, and it shows responsibility for the work. They have completed their task.

14. Benefits of Technical Writing Necessary in Global Businesses The trend in business and industry in the 1990s and at least for the start of the new millennium is to do business on a worldwide basis . Those companies that do not tend to remain the same size or fail. The largest countries in the world, China and India, both use English as a language for international business . Most Europeans speak at least some English. There are English language television stations in many foreign countries, which helps mastery in those countries. What this means is that companies in English speaking countries can do business in English with customers and business partners in many non-English speaking countries. This global scope of business places even greater needs on effective writing. Written documentation for all agreements, contracts, procedures, specifications, and so forth is more important when dealing with nonnative speakers of any language. Written comprehension is usually better than the spoken word because of pronunciation differences . One must have reasonable writing skills. Poorly constructed documents with misspelling and poor grammar may confuse people who normally speak a language different from that of the writer.

15. Benefits of Technical Writing Writing Is Necessary for Standardization Standardization of designs, business practices, materials, and so forth requires reasonable writing skills on the part of the author. Standardization is the wave of the future in business and industry . Carefully crafted “standard” documents provide information on how to make standardization possible. Use of standard designs greatly reduces engineering costs and elapsed time in new products. Using standard materials (bearings , motors, rollers, frames, etc.) allows economies of scale and use of preferred suppliers. This saves costs on purchased items. Standard manufacturing processes reduce training and capital equipment. Good writing skills are needed to write standard methods, tests, and practices and most businesses, governments, and industries want standards. They do not want to have ten different ways of purchasing, five different performance appraisal systems, and sixteen different ways of supporting rollers.

16. Benefits of Technical Writing Career Advantages There are many basic benefits in having good writing skills , not the least of which is the beneficial effect on an entire career . Expectations regarding engineering employments

17. Benefits of Technical Writing Career Advantages Procrastinator: someone who keeps delaying things that must be done Haphazard: lacks plan, direction