COMPUTER SYSTEM

SERVICING NC II
280HRS
COMPETENCIES
BASIC 40HRS
COMMON 80HRS
CORE 160HRS
 BASIC COMPETENCIES
PARTICIPATE IN WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION
WORK IN TEAM ENVIRONMENT
PRACTICE CAREER PROFESSIONALISM
PRACTICE OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
PARTICIPATE IN WORKPLACE
COMMUNICATION

BASIC COMPENTENCIES UNIT 1

 LEARNING OUTCOME

Obtain and convey workplace information

Complete relevant work related documents.

Participate in workplace meeting and discussion.

Obtain and convey workplace information
Obtain and convey workplace information
Effective Communication

Communication is the process of exchanging information and ideas. There are many means of
communication. To be an effective and valuable member of your workplace it is important that you become
skilled in all of the different methods of communication that are appropriate. This website looks at different
types of communication and associated technology, but before that it is important to understand the
communication process.

The Communication Process for communication to occur it must pass from a sender to a receiver. This must
occur irrespective of the form of communication. For communication to be effective it must
be understood by the receiver and be able to be responded to. This means that total communication
involves speaking, reading, listening, and reasoning skills. As communications pass from the source to the
receiver there is plenty of opportunity for its original meaning to change or alter.
Therefore listening, reasoning and feedback is an important part of the process as it is an opportunity for
the sender to make sure the receiver has understood the message. The other consideration is the “noise”
associated with the communication – what else is happening, what are the distractions, the baggage etc.
Noise can have a big impact on the message the receiver decodes.

Verbs, or action words, are expressed in tenses; past, present or future. The tense of a verb is its setting in
time.

For example: Mary walked (past tense) Mary walks (present tense) Mary will walk (future tense)
There are also other, more complex tenses not covered here. An important point is to be consistent in your
use of tense. Decide whether you are explaining an event in the past, present or future and then be
consistent in the use of that tense until there is a good reason for changing.
The incorrect use of tenses is one of the most common mistakes of grammar. For example, consider the
following sentence: “Marianne describes the new techniques, how they varied in approach and attitude”.
The verb describes is in the present tense but varied is in the past tense. The correct tensing of the
sentence should be: “Marianne describes the new techniques, how they vary in approach and attitude”.
Parts of Speech
The words that we use can be divided into these classes:

noun – A noun is a type of word that represents a person, thing, or place, like mother, apple, or valley.

verb – A verb is a type of word that describes an action or a state of being, like wiggle, walk, run, jump, be, do, have,
or think.

pronoun – A pronoun is a substitute for a noun. Some pronouns are: I, me, she, hers, he, him, it, you, they, them, etc.

adjective – An adjective is a word that describes something (a noun). Some adjectives are: big, cold, blue, and silly. One
special type of adjective is an article, a word that introduces a noun and also limits or clarifies it; in English, the
indefinite articles are a and an, the definite article is the.

adverb – An adverb is a word that tells “how,” “when,” “where,” or “how much”. Some adverbs
are: easily, warmly, quickly, mainly, freely, often, and unfortunately.
preposition – A preposition shows how something is related to another word. It shows the spatial
(space), temporal (time), or logical relationship of an object to the rest of the sentence. The
words above, near, at, by, after, with and from are prepositions.

conjunction – A conjunction is a word that joins other words, phrases, clauses or sentences. Some
conjunctions are: and, as, because, but, or, since, so, until, and while.

interjection – An interjection is a word that expresses emotion. An interjection often starts a sentence
but it can be contained within a sentence or can stand alone. Some interjections
are oh, wow, ugh, hurrah, eh, and ah.
Sentence Construction
A sentence is a collection of words that convey sense or meaning and is formed according to the logic of
grammar. Clear, short sentences are preferable, and more effective, than long, complex ones.

The simplest sentence consists only of a noun, a naming word, and a verb or action word.

For example, in the sentence “Mary walked”, Mary is the naming noun and walked is the action verb.
Mary is the proper noun in the example sentence above but can be substituted in following sentences by
the pronoun she. A pronoun is a word that can be used instead of a noun when a noun has already been
mentioned. Other pronouns are he, we, they and it.

Most sentences have a subject noun and an object noun.

For example, consider the sentence “Mary walked towards the hotel”. Mary is the subject noun (a person
or thing performing the action of walking), and the hotel is the object noun (a person or thing towards
which the action is directed)
Adjectives describe nouns. Adjectives usually come before the noun.
They are sometimes known as ‘describing words’. When two adjectives are used to describe one noun,
they are set apart with the use of a comma.

For example: The lazy dog dozed. The hairy, lazy dog dozed.

Adverbs describe verbs. The adverb should always follow the verb.
For example: Mary walked slowly. or Peter ran away quickly.
Tense

For example: Mary walked (past tense) Mary walks (present tense) Mary will walk (future tense)

There are also other, more complex tenses not covered here. An important point is to be consistent in
your use of tense. Decide whether you are explaining an event in the past, present or future and then be
consistent in the use of that tense until there is a good reason for changing.

The incorrect use of tenses is one of the most common mistakes of grammar. For example, consider the
following sentence: “Marianne describes the new techniques, how they varied in approach and attitude”.

The verb describes is in the present tense but varied is in the past tense. The correct tensing of the
sentence should be: “Marianne describes the new techniques, how they vary in approach and attitude”.
Complete relevant work related
documents.
Types of Forms

In every workplace you will be required to complete forms. Each workplace will have forms specific to their
requirements. You must make sure that you know which forms to fill in, when you need to use forms and
where to find the necessary forms.

When filling in a form:

• read the form carefully
• fill in all the required details
• only include necessary information
• write clearly and simply
• check that you have completed it properly
• send or give it to the appropriate person, or file in the appropriate place
Work instructions are the most basic tool
used in every business or organization to help workers follow a sequence of steps. Inadequate work
instructions are likely to result in a variety of problems in the workplace that could range from:

 returned products
 loss of materials
 customer complaints
 liability issues
 poor work performance

Work instructions can have a major impact on the effectiveness and productivity of a workplace. If
instructions are difficult to follow, workers will make errors in implementing the steps.
A good work instruction

is a detailed sequence of steps that workers need to follow each time they perform a task. The
purpose of a work instruction is to organize steps in a logical and systematic way so that workers
can easily follow it independently. This means a consistent format for your work instructions is
important. Workers can read the information faster and absorb it more quickly if it follows a
consistent font and format. It also makes the development of further work instructions far
simpler as you have a template to follow.

Technical Writing

Technical writing is a type of writing where the author is writing about a particular subject that
requires direction, instruction, or explanation. This style of writing has a very different purpose
and different characteristics than other writing styles such as creative writing, academic writing or
business writing.
Uses for Technical Writing
Technical writing is straightforward, easy to understand explanations and/or instructions dealing with
a particular subject. It is an efficient and clear way of explaining something and how it works.

The subject of technical writing can either be:

Tangible – Something that can be seen or touched, such as a computer or software program, or
information on how to assemble a piece of furniture.

Abstract – Something that involved a series of steps that aren’t related to a tangible object. One
example of this might be steps required to complete an office process.
Some examples of technical writing include:
 Instruction manuals
 Policy manuals
 Process manuals
 User manuals
 Reports of analysis
 Instructions for assembling a product
 A summarization of a long report that highlights and shortens the most important elements
Tips for Good Technical Writing
Regardless of the type of document which is written, technical writing requires the writer to follow the
properties of knowing their audience, writing in a clear, non-personal style and doing extensive research
on the topic. By including these properties, the writer can create clear instructions and explanations for
the reader.

Know your audience. An expert in the field will understand certain abbreviations, acronyms, and lingo
that directly applies to such a field. The novice will not understand in the same manner and, therefore,
every detail must be explained and spelled out for them.
Use an impersonal style. Write from a third person perspective, like a teacher instructing a student. Any
opinions should be omitted.
The writing should be straightforward, to the point, and as simple as possible to make sure the reader
understands the process or instruction. This at times may appear as simply a list of steps to take to
achieve the desired goal or may be a short or lengthy explanation of a concept or abstract idea.
Know how to research. Gather information from a number of sources, understand the information
gathered so that it can be analyzed thoroughly, and then put the information into an easy to
understand format to instruct those who read it. The more inexperienced your audience, the more
information you will need to gather and explain.

Be thorough in description and provide enough detail to make your points; but, you also have to
consider that you need to use an economy of words so that you do not bore your reader with
gratuitous details.

A good technical writer can make a difficult task easy and can quickly explain a complex piece of
information.
Participate in workplace meeting and
discussion.
Participate at Work
Every workplace will have staff meetings/team meetings, formal and informal discussions.
When a business places a proper value on the time spent by people preparing for and attending
meetings, it is quickly seen that they are a very expensive exercise.

Have you ever been to one of those meetings where no objectives were met, no actions were agreed
upon and generally it was a complete waste of your time? Effective meeting
procedures are essential to ensure that the maximum output is gained from a meeting.
Some basic expectations are:
A clearly defined purpose to your meeting – Ask questions such as; Why are we meeting? What
are we trying to achieve? Are we meeting for meetings sake? However, consider that at times
the purpose of bringing people together for a meeting may be to achieve other important
interpersonal objectives like team building, brain storming or group problem solving. Make sure
that you clearly communicate the meeting purpose well before hand, this gives attendees time
to gather ideas or research issues prior to attending the meeting.
Advise people of the meeting in time for them to be able to attend – It is amazing how often key
people are left out of meetings or are not able to attend simply due to a lack of planning and sufficient
notice.

Set an agenda – An agenda aims to keep discussions on track and to keep everyone focused on the
issues. The agenda should be distributed to attendees before the meeting.

Start and finish on time – Make sure the meeting starts and finishes on time so participants feel that
their time is valued and that they can plan for effective meeting participation to fit within their work
load.

Manage the participants – It is important that every person feels their attendance and contribution is
valued. People must be given the opportunity to express their opinion as well as recognizing they must
also listen to others without interruption. Clear conflict management strategies must be in place.