INTRODUCTION TO TECHNICAL WRITING

Principles Of Technical Writing

TARGETS
• Characteristics of Writing at Work
• Writing for Your Readers
• Writing Ethically

INTRODUCTION
Technical writing (sometimes called business or professional writing) describes writing that occurs in a business or
work setting.
University offices, corporations, research centers, government agencies, hospitals, businesses of all sizes, and
nonprofit organizations produce large quantities of technical writing, which differs from academic writing.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the lesson, students are expected to:
• Provide in-context comparison between technical writing and academic writing;
• Define elements, structures, and contents of writing that is appropriate for target readers.
• Flesh out the role of ethics in writing technical papers.

WRITING AT WORK VERSUS WRITING AT SCHOOL

Workplace writing demands being accurate on paragraph development, sentence structure, punctuation and usage.
These are the fundamentals in academic writing. Which differs from technical writing in five important principles.

WRITING AT WORK :
1. Requires acute awareness of security and legal liability.

2. Requires awareness that documents may be read by unknown readers, inside and outside of the organization, at
any later time.

3. Achieve job goals.

4. Addresses a variety of readers who have different perspectives from those of the writer.

5. Requires a variety of written documents.

WRITING AT WORK REQUIRES ACUTE AWARENESS OF SECURITY AND LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY

Avoid potential security breaches:
-Remember that any text message you send will not be secure and may be accessed, whether the mobile device you
use belongs to you or to your employer. The company’s information technology office can view company email. Once
you begin working for an organization, use caution in what you discuss via text message or email.
-Avoid blogs, unless your company uses secure blogs for creating collaborative reports, for example. Remember that
others can see what you have written. Make sure that your comments exemplify tasteful, helpful, and accurate
tone and content.

-Any electronic communication—texts, emails, and social media messages— can subject to subpoena. Your internet
provider must comply with “good cause” subpoenas. Again, what you say, in cyberspace never goes away.

-Avoid using browsers available on company computers to locate information on topics not related to your work.

-Use social media carefully. Your company may have a page on one of the social media sites, but do not use it or
respond to it. Ask the purpose of the site and the rules for its use by employers. You can lose you or job if your
comments and blogs disparage the organization and divulge proprietary information.

-Many organization, before they hire new employees, will check social media to see what potential employees have
said about themselves. Divulging confidential information. Personal or professional, can have major consequences for
you or the organization which you work, have worked, or will work.

-If you have a personal web page, make sure a what you place on the page makes a positive statement about you and
does not discredit your employer in any way.

-Guard your external drives carefully. Never leave one in your computer when you work in a public office, even for
few minutes. When you purchase a flash drive, verify that it has been manufactured by a reputable company. This is
to avoid compromising the security of your data.

-Never forget that everything can be accessed by others.

TIP: Always write as if someone is reading from behind.

Follow all the rules that your employer stipulates. When you interview for a job, ask about the company’s website,
all social media sites, and management of those sites.

WRITING AT WORK REQUIRES ACUTE AWARENESS OF SECURITY AND LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY

IN GENERAL:
The only legal obligation you might face in school is all about plagiarism, but in work, all information you have and
whatever you give can be used in lawsuit. BE AWARE. BE READY.

ASK YOURSELF:
Does my report or e-mail contain any information that could be misconstrued and affect me or the organization
adversely if unknown readers see my communication?
While academic writing respond to assignments, applicable only for a specific semester, course, or professor, work
place communications have no specific life span. They can be read and then used in ways you never intended or
envisioned.

WRITING AT WORK REQUIRES AWARENESS THAT THE DOCUMENTS MAY BE READ BY UNKNOWN READERS
Unknown readers may use your report to gain understanding on the inherited job assignment. On the job, what you
write becomes much more than a knowledge indicator or a grade.

WRITING AT WORK ACHIEVES JOB GOALS

In the university, you write to show your professor that you
know the subject matter and to make a good grade. But in the
workplace, writing is the major way that the people achieve
their goals and document their work.
How well you write will suggest how well you have done your
work. It will become part of the organizations archives.

In the university, you write to your assignments for a single professor, a reader, a specialist in a subject area. In
work settings, you can expect to write to write readers who have varied educational and technical backgrounds, who
have different roles inside and outside the organization, and readers who may know less about the topic than you.

Prospect readers may have the following question:

1. What is this?
2. Why should I read it?
3. How does it affect me?
4. What I am going to have to do?

ON THE JOB:
• Your readers are not captive audience like your professors at school.
• THEY DO NOT HAVE TO READ WHAT YOU WRITE

WRITING AT WORK ADDRESSES A VARIETY OF READERS WHO HAVE DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES

HOW TO MAKE THEM READ YOUR PAPER:

• Make your message interesting, relevant, and concise
• Ensure clarity and conciseness — vital to effective communication
• Advocate to mechanical correctness— writing should be easy to read and accurate

Academic writing includes essays, essay examinations, research papers, and laboratory reports.
At work, writings are no longer relevant to school assignments— letters, emails, feasibility studies, instruction
memos, user documentations, and trade journals.

WRITING AT WORK REQUIRES A VARIETY OF WRITTEN DOCUMENTS

What you write will change your RESPONSIBILITIES, THE KIND OF JOB you have, YOUR POSITION in the organization.

THE FOUNDATIONS OF EFFECTIVE WRITING AT WORK

Effective documents requires six stages.

SIX PROCESSES INVOLVED IN DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE DOCUMENTS

1. Planning the document

2. Determining content

3. Arranging ideas

4. Drafting

5. Revising

6. Editing

THE QUALITIES OF GOOD TECHNICAL WRITING

Good technical writing requires the following skills

WRITING SKILLS REQUIRED IN WRITING TECHNICAL PAPERS ORGANIZATIONS RANK THEM IN THIS ORDER:
1. Accuracy of information

2. Clarity

3. Conciseness

4. Readability

5. Usability

6. Correctness

7. Use of Standard English

THESE QUALITIES MEAN THAT A DOCUMENT

-makes a good impression when readers first interact with it: the document is neat, readable, well organized, and
inviting can be read selectively—some users may prefer only the summary, the introduction, and conclusion shows a
plan that reveals the purpose and value of the document make sense: ideas appear logically as evident by the
document’s design uses visuals, if necessary, to help readers understand ideas or data
-conveys an overall impression of authority, thoroughness, soundness, and honest work make sense to people who
are not part of the initial readership makes a positive statement about the writer and the organization enables
people who need to use your writing to perform a task to do

QUALITIES OF GOOD TECHNICAL WRITING

In addition:
1. Good technical writing requires the correct usage of Standard English
2. No typographical errors or ungrammatical constructions

As you practice writing in a workplace, remember these qualities and differences between the writing you do as
employee and the writing you do as a student.

TASK
Based on the qualities of a good technical writing, write a memo to your instructor evaluating the memo in Figure
1-1. What does it do right and wrong. How would you make it more effective.

-This task requires five students in a group to work collaboratively. Submit a one-to-two page memo, using the
format of the given memo for evaluation.
-Only the representative will submit the document. Other members will just turn in their assignment.
-File Name: Hurano_Arcadio_Peguit_Bergado_Galleon

Figure 1-1

WRITING FOR YOUR READERS

—Think of your readers and then your purpose

TIPS
To develop any communication, you have three main goals that connect reader, purpose, and contexts:
1. You want your readers to understand your meaning exactly in the way you intend.
2. You want your writing to achieve its goal with the designated readers.
3. You want to keep goodwill of those whom you communicate.

UNDERSTAND YOUR READERS—THE HEART OF THE WRITING PROCESS

To achieve the goals specified, you must pursue the four tasks both before and while you are composing your
document.

THESE TASKS INCLUDE:

1. Determine as fully as possible who will read what you write. Keep in mind that business readers want answers now.
Determine your readers and their perspectives.
2. Know the goals you want your writing to achieve and the business context in which you need to communicate.
Determine your purpose.

3. Understand your role in the organization as the writer and how your role should be reflected in what you write.
Understand your role as the writer.

4. Determine the content by considering your reader’s frame of reference and your purpose in writing. Plan the
content. Anticipate the context in which your writing will be received.

Make sure that important information appears on the first page of a report and in the first paragraph of an email,
memo, or letter and that you answer the following questions your readers will ask:
• What is this?
• Do I have to read it?
• How does it affect me?
• What will I have to do?
• What are the main ideas?

KEEP IN MIND THAT BUSINESS READERS WANT ANSWERS NOW.

As the writer you need to reflect on these questions also:
• Who will read what I write?
• Who will act on what I write?
• Who else may read what I write?

Determine as much as you can about your readers:

• How much do your readers know about your topic?
• Do your readers have expertise in this area?

Readers with technical expertise in the area you discuss have different from perspectives from those non experts.
• How much do your readers know about your topic?
• Do you know or can you estimate your readers’ educational levels?
• Do you know your readers’ cultural backgrounds?

If you work in an organization that does business with readers from other cultures, plan to do background reading
on these cultures.
• Will your readers have the interest in what you write? If no, how could you present your message to make it
appealing?
• What kind of relationship do you have with these readers? Do you know the reader’s attitude toward you, the
subject matter you need to communicate, the job you have, and your area within the organization? Do you have the
credibility with these readers?

Reader’s profile affect their perception: age, family, geographical settings, and cultural background.
• How well do you know your readers?
Knowing your readers attitude toward the topic addressed
in your message will help you determine how to present
your information.
• Who else might read what you write?

You also need to consider the needs and perceptions of those who receive the copies of your writing.
• What is each person on the distribution list receive a copy?
• How much does each person on this list know about your topic?

Your primary reader may know the situation you are discussing, and the purpose of the report may be to inform
others within the organization by going through proper channels.
• What situation led to the need for this document?

DETERMINE YOUR READERS AND THEIR PERSPECTIVES.

You can better understand your reader’s perspective if you understand the situation that requires you to write the
document. The need for written communication develops from interactions of people involved in a work
environment. To select the appropriate information, level of language (technical or general), and amount of
explanation needed in a business context, a writer must carefully determine the needs of each reader.

1. Determine as fully as possible who will read what you write.

DETERMINE YOUR PURPOSE.
As a writer, you need to understand that purpose relates to the readers:
• Why do you need to write this document?
• What do you want to achieve with your document?

2. Know the goals you want your writing to achieve and the business context in which you need to communicate.
UNDERSTAND YOUR ROLE AS THE WRITER.
To have credibility as a writer in an organization, the image that you project should be appropriate to your
position.
• What position do you have in the organization?

3. Understand your role in the organization as the writer and how your role should be reflected in what you write.
PLAN THE CONTENT.
Once you have analyzed your readers and your purpose, you can decide what do you need to include and how you will
phrase and arrange your ideas.
• What ideas should you use to achieve the goals of the message?
• What ideas should you omit?
• How should you arrange your ideas?
• How do you want your message to sound?

4. Determine the content by considering your reader’s frame of reference and your purpose in writing.
ANTICIPATE THE CONTEXT IN WHICH YOUR WRITING WILL BE RECEIVED.
Knowing how your readers use your writing can often guide you in deciding not only what to include but also how to
organize the information and arrange it on page.
• Under what certain conditions that the document may be received by the readers?

THE BASIC PARTS OF COMPOSING PROCESS

—this is an integral to your analysis of audience

SIX MAIN STAGES OF THE COMPOSING PROCESS:

1. Analyzing the situation

2. Choosing/ discovering information

3. Arranging information

4. Drafting

5. Revising

6. Editing the finished draft

Note: A writer who tries to do all stages at once usually create a document that will fail. Writing takes time.

ANALYZING THE SITUATION

• Calls for analyzing the purpose, readers, and context.
• First step is the most critical—why you need to write, what you want to achieve, what situation or problem
prompted you to write this document.
• Writing responds to both —readers and situation

CHOOSING/ DISCOVERING INFORMATION

• Select information based on your purpose, what your reader needs, and how you think your readers will perceive
the subject.

ARRANGING INFORMATION
• What is the most effective order in which to present your ideas?
• Memos— begin with the news or essential information
to ensure that readers at least read what’s most important before they start skimming.
• Reports— begin with an introduction or a summary
• Create a folder for each segment of your document.
You can track material use and insert appropriate citation.
DRAFTING
• Most writers work on a document in a start/ stop fashion.
• Begin your draft by typing your ideas.
• During the drafting stage, revise only what’s needed to improve the meaning.
• Do not be disrupted with mechanical errors because it will disrupt your thinking process.

REVISING
During the formal revision process, you need to revise several times and focus on different issues:
1. Logic
2. Completeness
3. Style
4. Illustrations
5. Document designs

Issues Considerations
Logic
• Does your presentation make sense?
• Try reading your paragraphs aloud that sound confused or confusing.
• Hearing what you have written often tells if/ where problems in logic occurs.
• Does your material occur in appropriate order for your purpose and for your readers

Completeness
• Does your presentation seem complete in terms of your purpose and your readers’ needs and requirements?
• Have you checked all your information for correctness?
• Does your document contain all the requested information?

Style
• Examine each paragraph and each sentence. Are your paragraphs really paragraphs?
• Do they have topic sentences? Do all sentences in the paragraph pertain to the meaning you are building in the
paragraph?
• Start your paragraph with a topic sentence.
• Make your sentences clear, concise, precise to encourage readers to follow your ideas.

Illustrations
• Do you need tables, photos, graphs, drawings, or videos to help your reader understand and remember key ideas?
• Illustrations combine with texts often provide the best means of communicating with your readers.

Document design
• Document design refers to the way you arrange information and display it on page. The importance of how
information looks on the page cannot be stressed enough. If you want to your writing to be read, design the page or
the screen so that the information is inviting and accessible.
EDITING THE FINISHED DRAFT
HABITS OF EDITING:
1. FOR MECHANICS
• Spelling, usage, punctuation, sentence structure
2. FOR WHOLE DOCUMENT
• How does it look, sound, contain important information
3. FOR CITING SOURCES
• Make sure you provide credit or sources to for all information
This means that you must not try to correct all errors in one reading.
Editing requires care, objectivity, patience, and diligence.

TASK
Find a news or feature article online that is aimed at specialists in your field. Revise the article for a specific
group of readers outside your field who might need to know this information (e.g., local legislators, senior citizens,
union officials, business managers).
Include a link to the original article in your revision, and submit the revised version to your instructor with a list
of major changes you made in adapting the information for your target audience.

-This task requires five students in a group to work collaboratively. Submit a one-to-two page paper.
-Only the representative will submit the document. Other members will just turn in their assignment.
-File Name: Hurano_Arcadio_Peguit_Bergado_Galleon

WRITING ETHICALLY
-analyzing ethical dilemmas in the working environment

INTRODUCTION
On the job, you won’t always have a lot of time to analyze all the issues related to ethical dilemmas. You might
have to decide quickly— in minutes or seconds— what you will or won’t do. If this is the situation in which you
find yourself, think of individuals in your company or in your profession you admire for their integrity and good
judgment: for example, a favorite colleague, a supervisor, or a mentor. Ask yourself, “How would he or she manage
this dilemma?” Allow your answer to this question guide you in your actions.

“THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD.”

Explain the above passage with writing ethically being put into context.

YOUR PROFESSIONAL OBLIGATIONS

No one can separate himself from the traffic of human society. And in order for us to perform as non-obstructive
element in that traffic, we need to be aware of our obligations.

DIMENSIONS OF YOUR PROFESSIONAL OBLIGATIONS

Your Obligations To yourself
To your discipline

To your academic institution

To your employer

To your colleagues

To the public

YOUR PROFESSIONAL OBLIGATION TO YOURSELF

• You will have to make decision and take actions that allow you to support yourself financially while establishing
and maintaining your reputation of your field.
• You can’t quit (or lose) your job every time that you object to a policy or decision of your boss

YOUR PROFESSIONAL OBLIGATION TO YOUR DISCIPLINE AND PROFESSION

• As a member of your profession, you have a responsibility to advance the knowledge and reputation of your field.
• You must share information with your colleagues that will improve the practices of your profession, offer
insights, and advance the training that bring credit to your discipline.
• You must communicate in a manner that brings credit to your profession and inspires the next generation to
want to study and join your profession.

YOUR PROFESSIONAL OBLIGATION TO YOUR ACADEMIC INSTITUTION

• You have a moral obligation to the institution that trained you for your profession. Your success or failures
will signal the strengths and weaknesses of that institution and its faculty.
• if you disgrace yourself by illegal or unethical actions, for example, investigating officials and the public might
assume that you were never taught better behavior.
• If you demonstrate moral courage, on the other hand, you will be prove the merits of your education.

YOUR PROFESSIONAL OBLIGATION TO YOUR EMPLOYER

• Your responsibility as an employee is to serve the legitimate interests of your organization, to promote its
products and services, to support its mission and to shield confidential information and intellectual property,
especially if doing so offers a competitive advantage.

YOUR PROFESSIONAL OBLIGATION TO YOUR COLLEAGUE

• You have a duty to your colleagues on the job to do your fair share of the work assigned and to do it with
integrity, accuracy, and efficiency.
• You also have a responsibility to use no more than your fair share of the resources allotted and to take no more
than your fair share of the credit (or blame) given.

YOUR PROFESSIONAL OBLIGATION TO YOUR COLLEAGUE

• Your obligation to society is to contribute to the public good through greater safety, fuller liberty, and a better
quality of life.
• Your decision and actions on the job could allow communities to thrive in resilient and sustainable developments
or to deteriorate from private greed and callous disregard for public action.

YOUR PROFESSIONAL OBLIGATIONS

• Your ethical obligations are dynamic instead of static because of the changing landscape of the working
environments. You have to consider that something can be legal but not ethical.
• Sometimes, the choices is not always between what is right or wrong. Sometimes, all choices may be not
satisfactory.
• Thus, you have to decide based on what is the priority.
• Inaction is itself a choice with serious implication.
• Doing nothing when you know that your organization is doing illegal stuff will make you equally unethical and
would endanger your future employment.

CODES OF CONDUCT AND STANDARDS OF PRACTICE

-defining our roles and obligations in the workplace

-Your professional organization and your employing organization will have codes of conduct or ethical guidelines
that specify their expectations regarding appropriate behavior.
Your employers’ code of conduct will identify the principles of the organization and the behaviors expected of every
employee.

-Familiarize yourself with the codes of conduct that specify ethical communication for your company and your
profession: you might have to interpret and cite their guidelines to justify decisions regarding ethical dilemmas on
the job.

-Your colleagues and supervisors will usually find it more persuasive if you justify your decisions by citing
corporate code of conduct instead of your opinion or your conscience.

SAMPLE:
SOCIETY FOR TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION’S ETHICAL PRINCIPLES FOR TECHNICAL COMMUNICATORS

Adopted by the STC Board of Directors September 1998

Legality Honesty Confidentiality

Quality Fairness Professionalism

SOCIETY FOR TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION’S ETHICAL PRINCIPLES FOR TECHNICAL COMMUNICATORS

We observe the laws and regulations governing our profession. We meet the terms of contracts we undertake. We
ensure that all terms are consistent with laws and regulations locally and globally, as applicable, and with STC
ethical·principles.

Legality
We seek to promote the public good in our activities. To the best of our ability, we provide truthful and accurate
communications. We also dedicate ourselves to conciseness, clarity, coherence, and creativity, striving to meet the
needs of those who use our products and services. We alert our clients and employers when we believe that material
is ambiguous. Before using another person's work, we obtain permission. We attribute authorship of material and
ideas only to those who make an original and substantive contribution. We do not perform work outside our job
scope during hours compensated by clients or employers, except with their permission; nor do we use their
facilities, equipment, or supplies without their approval. When we advertise our services, we do so truthfully.

Honesty
We respect the confidentiality of our clients, employers, and professional organizations. We disclose
business-sensitive information only with their consent or when legally required to do so. We obtain releases from
clients and employers before including any business- sensitive materials in our portfolios or commercial
demonstrations or before using such materials for another client or employer.

Confidentiality
As technical communicators, we observe the following ethical principles in our professional activities.

We endeavor to produce excellence in our communication products. We negotiate realistic agreements with clients
and employers on schedules, budgets, and deliverables during project planning. Then we strive to fulfill our
obligations in a timely, responsible manner.

Quality
We respect cultural variety and other aspects of diversity in our clients, employers, development teams, and
audiences. We serve the business interests of our clients and employers as long as they are consistent with the
public good. Whenever possible, we avoid conflicts of interest in fulfilling our professional responsibilities and
activities. If we discern a conflict of interest, we disclose it to those concerned and obtain their approval before
proceeding.

Fairness
We evaluate communication products and services constructively and tactfully, and seek definitive assessments of
our own professional performance. We advance technical communication through our integrity and excellence in
performing each task we undertake. Additionally, we assist other persons in our profession through mentoring,
networking, and instruction. We also pursue professional self-improvement, especially through courses and
conferences.

Professionalism
As technical communicators, we observe the following ethical principles in our professional activities.
RECOGNIZING UNETHICAL COMMUNICATION
Essential to effective and ethical communication, is your ability to recognize the ways in which colleagues or
supervisors on the job might violate or disregard standard of practice.

COMMON VIOLATIONS OF STANDARD PRACTICE

Plagiarism and theft of intellectual property
Deliberate use of imprecise or ambiguous language
Manipulation of numerical information
Use of misleading illustrations
Promotion of prejudice
Failing to make information accessible
Distributing misinformation

PLAGIARISM AND THEFT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

- FIVE KINDS OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
1. Copyrightable material
A composition of original material fixed in a tangible medium, such as books, journals, software applications,
computer programs, video or audio recordings, and illustrations. This includes materials available in digital files,
e-mail and text messages, and web pages.

2. Trademark
A display of words or symbols communicated in text, expressions, or sounds that identifies and distinguishes the
goods and services of a manufacturer or supplier, such as the name or logo of a company.

3. Trade secret
A design, formula, list, method, pattern, or processes that offers a competitive advantage over parties who don't
have the same information, such as a special recipe.

4. Invention
A new and unique design, device, method or process that is subject to patent protection.

5. Tangible research property

Tangible items created during research related to copyrightable materials, trademarks, trade secrets, and inventions,
such as databases, diagrams, drawings, notes, prototypes, samples, and associated equipment and supplies.

Copyrightable material
Copyrightable material is unique in that for certain purposes you have the right to borrow limited portions or
presentation or publication without explicit permission of the owner. If the borrowing is extensive, however,
permission is necessary.
Recycling material or content management in a company is efficient, and it is entirely legal and ethical as long as
the participating writers recognize and allow this sharing of effort. In such cases, the words and images that are
being recycled are the intellectual property of the company itself. If you have doubts about the propriety of this
content management within your company, ask the writer directly for his or her permission.

If it isn't your company's materials that are being used, however, you must acknowledge the sources of borrowed
words, images, and ideas.

Use proper documentation such as proper citation or standard style, such as the MLA, the APA or the Chicago
Manual Style.

To use the words, images, or ideas of others without attribution is plagiarism.

It constitutes a misappropriation of intellectual property and is highly unethical and potentially illegal. With
whatever your intentions , it is plagiarism if it is deliberate or if it is entirely unintentional. You must, therefore,
exercise caution to avoid danger reasons : your organization could find itself the subject of a criminal case or a
civil suit, and you could lose your job and your reputation.

• if you quote a source, mention the name of the source.

• if you paraphrase, mention the name of the source.
=these are simple means of avoiding plagiarism.

-ON PLAGIARISM AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Important:
If the borrowing is a substantial portion of the original source, for example, several paragraphs or a single image,
you will have two ethical and legal duties:
1. ACKNOWLEDGE THE SOURCE
2. REQUEST PERMISSION FROM THE OWNER OF THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Creative Commons
it's a searchable source of materials that are specifically licensed by each creator for no
cost access and sharing. The only stipulations are that you must abide by the licensing conditions and cite the
source of the material.

Public domain materials

-intellectual property for which copyright protection has already expired or material created by the government
-this requires no permission, but you must always cite the source of the information you are using ted by agencies
of the government

DELIBERATE USE OF IMPRECISE OR AMBIGUOUS LANGUAGE

• Unclear and ambiguous language is usually a writer’s unintentional error, but it could also indicate a deliberate
effort to mislead or manipulate the reader by hiding or disguising information.
• Writers can imply that things are better or worse than they really are through their choice of words.
• Example: “No wonder virus software does more or costs less than Info-insulator”.
(Misleading negative assertions)
• With the words “does more” and “costs less” in the claim, you might think that this software is truly better
and lower in price. Notice, however , that this software doesn't truly have to be better or lower in price to make
its claim . It could have the same functions and be the same price as other antivirus software. Their real claim here
isn't that it's better and cheaper product but that it's just as good and just as cheap .

MANIPULATION OF NUMERICAL INFORMATION

• Manipulated statistics are a leading source of deception.
• For example, the writer of our recommendation report tries to give the impression that a controversial change
in corporate policy has wide support. She surveys only the twelve managers in the company; only seven of the 12
complete the survey, and only four of the seven approve of the change. In the recommendation report, she writes,
“almost 60% of those completing the survey support the policy change”. By not revealing that this almost 60% is
only four people, and that it constitutes only a third of the company's managers, she aggregates the thin support
for the controversial change. This isn't exactly a lie, but it is certainly a distortion of the truth.
• Or you may say- 50% of the respondents agree that gaslighting has impacted their self-support system in a
negative way, yet you have two respondents.

USE OF MISLEADING ILLUSTRATIONS

• Like words, illustrations have the capacity to misrepresent and mislead.
• For example, a company of 100 employees has three who have physical disabilities. In the recruiting materials it
carries to college campuses, the company displays photographs of a a
dozen doing different jobs, including all three of its people with physical disabilities. This display constitutes an
ethical communication because it implies that people with physical disabilities constitute 25% of the employees - a
gross distortion of the real situation.

PROMOTION OF PREJUDICE
• Writers also communicate and ethically by voicing prejudice through their choice of words
and illustrations.
• If you use titles for men but not for women, you make women seem less credible and authoritative.
• The photographs in the company's annual report always show women sitting and staring at computer screens
while men sit in a big conference stables listening to reports and making decisions, the pictures imply that
men occupy, or deserve important positions as executives where women are suited to clerical positions.
• As a communicator, make sure that you don't reinforce or inspire prejudice and bigotry. Always discuss and
depict people without biases related to the race, religion, language, age, weight, height, disability, sexual orientation,
gender identity, national or social origin, or marital or family status.
• Offer only valid and reliable findings, fair and unbiased analyses, and logically justified good collusions

FAILURE TO MAKE INFORMATION ACCESSIBLE

• Your job as a communicator is to make pertinent information readily and equally available to your audience
regardless of their physical abilities.
• This obligation applies to text and images as well as to audio and video materials.
• Make your text easy for assistive technologies to navigate by keeping the display as simple as possible and
support your illustration with textual description of the images.
• Failure to make information accessible injures the individuals thus excluded and indicates your disregard for
their merits and dignity. Your insensitivity also damages your reputation and the reputation of your organization.

DISTRIBUTION OF MISINFORMATION
• On social media especially, people find all kinds of incorrect information, manipulated images, distorted
depictions, and dubious claims.
• If you use the material you find without judging its accuracy, assessing the credibility of your sources, or
verifying validity across multiple sources, you could easily distribute dangerous and damaging misinformation.
• Your negligence here makes you look unethical and inept.
• To build a reputation for integrity, you must exercise vigilance, recognize exaggerations and fabrications, and
accept responsibility for the truth of the information you communicate.

WRITING COLLABORATIVELY
• In the workplace you may write documents on your own or as part of a team.
• Collaborative writing occurs in numerous ways that continue to evolve as technology evolves and office
environments change from physical locations to only spaces.

THE KEY TO EFFECTIVE AND ETHICAL COLLABORATION IS PLANNING.

Planning involves the following:
Decide when, where, and how you will meet.

Decide who will do what.

Determine the deadlines and work scheduled for each document segment.

Learn to work together. note that when people from different countries and cultures collaborate, the need for
sensitivity to cultural differences is critical

Assign one number the task of editing the document to make the style consistent throughout.

The team leader

• Ensures that all team members know their task and have the resources to complete the task.
• Lunch is the airport and provides everyone with the document requirements, format, timetable for completion,
and purpose of communicating about the document.
• Create a safe and supportive environment that allows team members to work effectively and efficiently.
• Monitors development so that the report is completed as required.
• Ensures that the completed document has a single style throughout and contains all the information and
required segments.

Requirements of the team leaders

• Maintain a positive attitude.
• Demonstrate respect for your team members in your words and actions.
• Solicit input and respond promptly to it.
• Encourage comments and questions from every team member.
• Keep records of all communications.

Requirements of team members

• Keep the schedule as determined by the project leader. If you find you have an issue that threatens your keeping
to the schedule, notify the team leader immediately.
• Demonstrate respect for the team in the Wilson actions. Exhibit A cooperative attitude, even if you feel
stressed.
• Lately we see that seriously consider comments or suggestions from your team members and project leader. Be
courteous and solution-oriented in offering your comments and suggestions to others. Raise questions, including
ethical questions, with care and humility.
• Do your part of the project. Do not assume that if you get behind, another team member
can or will do your work for you. The quality of the team project stems from the quality of the work performed
by each member of the entire team.

MANAGING UNETHICAL SITUATIONS

Always remember that unethical behavior has potential serious consequences.

HOW DO YOU MANAGE UNETHICAL SITUATIONS?

• If you find yourself directed by supervisors, colleagues, clients to do something that
we consider unethical, therefore, don't hesitate to ask polite questions.
• Never make accusations or declare their directive unethical, but carefully explain the
issues involve you. They might be unaware of that difficult moral position that they
are putting you and might immediately modify their directive.
Note also the people of different cultures might have different ethical perspectives.
Example :
The dominant ethical perspective in the culture might assume that fairness requires considering all people as equal
and giving privilege to none , but in your colleague’s culture this idea may be considered unfair because family,
friends, neighbors are ordinarily thought to deserve special consideration.
• In this situation, you could acknowledge each side's intention to be ethical as you try to determine a solution
that is satisfactory to all.
• If explanations and negotiations don't satisfy you and time allows, visit with a supervisor or mentor for
guidance.
• Review the code of conduct of your professional company for passages that might support or challenge your
position.
• If your investigation until liberation fail to quiet your moral doubts, explain in writing that you don't feel
comfortable doing X but you could do Y.
• In other words, identify both the thing you cannot do, for example the unethical action solicited , and thing
that you could do or the ethical alternative.
• If asked justify your decision, say the appropriate passages of your professions or companies code of conduct.
• Make it clear that it isn't only you who is opposed to the directive but that it is your profession or your
company that proscribes this behavior .
• Again, don’t be impolite and don't accuse.
• If you discover activity on the job that you think is unethical, discuss situation with your supervisor or
mentor.
• If the investigation fails to satisfy you with that this activity is justified, consider your several ethical
obligations, including to yourself, to your profession, and to the public.
• Always make the decision that you could live with if your decision were made public
—the decision that would make your family and teachers proud of you.
• That's the final piece of advice keep in mind that you bring to important credentials to a job:
1. a knowledge of your field, and;
2. a reputation for integrity in the exercise of this knowledge
• If you damage your reputation for integrity, your knowledge of your field can't be trusted.

TASK
You have noticed the practice in your office that you consider unethical: your colleagues do a lot of unnecessary
printing, wasting both paper and ink cartridges. For example, the agendas for upcoming meetings are printed for all
potential participants instead of distributed in text or e-mail messages. The resumes and cover letters of job
candidates, though submitted online, are printed —in triplicate —for the hiring committee in their preparation
for interviews. Paper copies of policy memos and financial reports are circulated for editing and revision, and final
versions are again published in paper copies. You realize that all these extra printing costs money that could be
better applied to upgraded office equipment or higher salaries, but it is also ecologically unfriendly. Yes, all the
paper and plastic cartridges are recycled, but you know that the first word in the refrain of “reduce, reuse ,
recycle” has the highest priority in sustainability efforts. Compose a brief e-mail message to your office manager in
which you identify this ethical issue and propose a satisfactory solution.
-This is a task designed for each student and will be done individually.

SUMMARY

Characteristics of Writing at Work

• Writing at Work versus Writing at School
• Requires acute awareness of security and legal liability
• Requires awareness that documents may be read by unknown readers
• Achieves job goals
• Addresses a variety of readers who have different perspectives
• Requires a variety of written documents
• The Foundations of Effective Writing at Work
• The Qualities of Good Technical Writing

Writing for Your Readers

• Understand Your Readers-The Heart of the Planning Process
• Keep in mind that business readers want answers now
• Determine your readers and their perspectives
• Determine your purpose
• Understand your role as a writer
• Plan the content
• Anticipate the context in which your writing will be received
• The Basic Parts of the Composing Process

Writing Ethically
• Your Professional Obligations
• Codes of Conduct and Standards of Practice
• Recognizing Unethical Communication
• Plagiarism and theft of intellectual property
• Deliberately imprecise or ambiguous language
• Manipulation of numerical information
• Use of misleading illustrations
• Promotion of prejudice
• Failing to make information accessible
• Uncritical use of information
• Writing Collaboratively
• The team leader
• Requirements of team leaders
• Requirements of team members
• Managing Unethical Situations

SOURCES
Howard, R. M. (2019). Writing matters: A handbook for writing and research (comprehensive edition with exercises)
(3rd ed.).
McGraw Hill. Saba, R. (2017). Composing to communicate: A student’s guide with APA 7e updates (1st ed.). Cengage
Learning.
Tebeaux, E., & Dragga, S. (2020). The essentials of technical communication (5th ed.). Oxford University Press.
Thomson, P., & Kamler, B. (2016). Detox your writing: Strategies for doctoral researchers (1st ed.). Routledge.