Eng 331
From WolfWikis
Contents |
COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE REPORT
Communication in the Workplace Report published by the Professional Writing Program link
Overview/Abstract/Executive Summary
(hint: see pages 313-316 and Week 14 NOTES)
Introduction
(hint: use a purpose statement)
Effective communication is an essential requirement for any job. Understanding how this communication takes place can make working with others easier and more efficient. The intent of this study is to give an overview of the communication tasks that occur in the workplace.
Forecast
(hint: this should be a short overview of the entire report and include a mention that you are comparing your results to the Communication in the Workplace report published by the Professional Writing Program)
This report is divided into...
Analysis
What do professionals tell us about writing and speaking on the job?
Who responded to the survey?
Our survey was answered by four engineers: two software engineers, one electrical engineer, and one textile engineer. Our electrical engineer and one of the software engineers graduated in 2008, our textile engineer was a 2006 graduate, and our remaining software engineer was a 1986 graduate. All are currently employed in a relevant position.
Why and to whom do they communicate?
The consensus among all four of the surveyed subjects was that writing is primarily done to share the details of their work on their particular projects with the other members of the company. There didn't seem to be any indication among any of those surveyed that their writing was read by anyone outside of the employees of the company.
How do they spend their time writing at work?
All of the surveys showed consistent significant use of e-mail, though it was somewhat less prominent in the software engineers. The software engineers compensated for the relative lack of e-mail use with online chats. Neither the electrical or textile engineer claimed any time spent using chats. The remainder of the writing time was consistently split between short, internal memos and longer internal proposals and reports, with a noticeable bias toward short memos. None of those interviewed claimed to spend any time writing blogs or external memos. These results are all consistent with the Communication in the Workplace Report.
How important is their writing?
Three of the four surveyed said that the quality of their writing is critical both for their job performance and their career advancement. All three listed both as being either essential or very important. The older software engineer was an exception, listing writing as not being very important for performance and not important for career advancement. This was an exception both for our survey and the Communication in the Workplace Report, which agreed with the first three engineers that writing was crucial.
Do they communicate with people of other nations and cultures?
The textile engineer and one of the software engineers indicated that they regularly spent a small amount of time communicating with people from other countries, averaging to about 7.5% of their time between them. These numbers are slightly lower than those in the report, but not significantly different based on sample size.
What forms of oral communication do these professionals use?
The three younger engineers were in agreement about oral communication being overwhelmingly in person both for one on one and group communication. The other software engineer claimed a more even split between direct contact and some sort of telecommunication. The report showed numbers somewhere between the extreme of the younger engineers and the balance of the older engineer.
How is technology affecting the communication patterns of professionals?
The two youngest engineers both claim not to have noticed much change, which should be expected since they've been with their respective companies for a short period of time. The two older engineers both commented on the fact that improvements in technology have made employees more connected because they have improved tools to communicate with people in other locations.
How did they learn to write at work?
All four of those surveyed indicated that a significant part of their knowledge of writing came from on the job experience. The textile engineer was the only to give credit to school, saying that he learned about half in each place. The key issue that seemed to come up in all four interviews was the need for company specific formatting and the need for input from other engineers already in the field.
Were there significant differences among professional fields?
There were some slight differences between the fields as noted above, but it is hard to draw any major contrasts since all four of those surveyed work in such similar fields.
What do professionals say about college instruction in writing and speaking?
The overwhelming opinion among those interviewed was that their writing instruction in college held very little importance. Aside from learning basic technique, they attributed most of their skills to what they learned after starting work at their respective companies.
What did the student interviewers learn from the assignment?
Brendon
I was surprised to learn how much of the day was generally spent just doing things like sending e-mails and writing memos. It made me put a lot more focus into what I've been studying in technical writing. After the interview, I definitely consider it much more relevant to my future than I did earlier in the semester.
Conclusion
(hint: be sure to wrap up with a statement that shows a comparison to the Communication in the Workplace Report)
What are the most important things we learn from this study?
Author Information
Include brief bios for each contributor.
Matthew Miskiewicz is a Junior at NCSU, studying Electrical and Computer Engineering. He enjoys his studies very much and plans to attend graduate school after getting his BS. Aside from school, Matthew likes to program, tinker with electronics projects, juggle, and play disc golf. Matthew is currently employed as an engineering intern at Progress Energy.
Brendon Stout is a Chemical Engineering major at NCSU. Brendon is an eager student, but is excited to start work in the industry in the next couple of years. He is a college football lover and a science and math junkie.
Anish Sukumaran is currently a junior at NCSU. Anish is majoring in Computer Science and enjoys programming, video games, and volleyball. He recently interned at SAS developing software for financial management and expects to continue working at internships during the summer.