1. Technical Communication Skills
Book Reviews
Meetings and How to Survive Them
Blay Whitby 2005

2. Technical Communication Skills
Book Reviews
A Basic Technical Communication Skill
Fairly Common in Academia
Quite Common in Industry
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Technical Communication Skills

3. Technical Communication Skills
Book Reviews
Familiar Principles apply:
You are helping someone else
Know your Target Audience
Samples?
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Technical Communication Skills

4. Technical Communication Skills
Book Reviews
Approach with questions already prepared:
Is it worth buying?
Do we need a copy in the library?
Is it better/as good/worse than other books in the area?
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Technical Communication Skills

5. Technical Communication Skills
Book Reviews
Questions already prepared:
Who needs to buy this book?
Who needs to read this book?
Who will be able to understand this book?
If you are given guidelines – use them
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Technical Communication Skills

6. Technical Communication Skills
Book Reviews
These, in turn, lead to more specific questions:
Does it cover enough subject matter?
Does it cover the subject matter in sufficient depth?
How deep?; how dense?
Is the style suitable for likely readers?
If so, who are they?
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Technical Communication Skills

7. Technical Communication Skills
Book Reviews
specific questions:
Does the index work adequately?
How useful are contents, page layout etc?
What is the market?
Will the publisher make money?
Be honest.
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Technical Communication Skills

8. Technical Communication Skills
Meetings
Meetings, ....! Meetings
Meetings can and do waste an awful lot of time
So why do we bother with them?
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Technical Communication Skills

9. Technical Communication Skills
Meetings
Functions of Meetings. Meetings can:
Define the group
Revise or increase group knowledge
Let individuals know group aims
Create a commitment to group aims
Allow a leader to lead a team
Provide a status arena
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Technical Communication Skills

10. Technical Communication Skills
Meetings
There are many types of meetings:
By Size:
Public lecture - 1:100 approx.
Council meeting - 1:40 approx.
Committee - 1:10 approx.
Review – 1:1 approx
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Technical Communication Skills

11. Technical Communication Skills
Meetings
Types of meetings:
By frequency:
Daily
Weekly
Annual
Ad hoc
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Technical Communication Skills

12. Technical Communication Skills
Meetings
By motivation:
Shared – e.g., football team
Confrontational – e.g., court
Mixed - management
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Technical Communication Skills

13. Technical Communication Skills
Meetings
As with reading, writing, etc., the time spent in meetings may be much reduced by being clear in advance about objectives and processes.
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Technical Communication Skills

14. Technical Communication Skills
Meetings
So:
What is the meeting intended to achieve?
What would happen if we did not hold it?
How will I judge whether this has been a success or a failure?
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Technical Communication Skills

15. Technical Communication Skills
Meetings
Answers tend to fall under 1+ of 4 headings:
Informative/digestive – could it be done in some other way?
Constructive/originative – brainstorming
Executive – shall we do it?
Legislative – what are the rules?
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Technical Communication Skills

16. Technical Communication Skills
Meetings
Preparation saves time:
People – many meetings are overloaded, 4 –7 ideal,10 tolerable.
Chairperson – essential
Agenda – vital – few can use one properly. Needs to be circulated in advance. Items: for information/for decision
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Technical Communication Skills

17. Technical Communication Skills
Meetings
Timing
Early part of the meeting is lively
People waste time on trivia
People are tired after 2 hours
It is essential to have a fixed end time
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Technical Communication Skills

18. Technical Communication Skills
Meetings
How to Chair Meetings
There are as many ways as chairpersons but only one rule:
You are there for the benefit of the meeting and not vica versa
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Technical Communication Skills

19. Technical Communication Skills
Meetings
Bad chairpersons:
Use the meeting to fuel their egos
Impose their will at all times
Never impose their will
Steer the meeting even when it isn’t going anywhere
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Technical Communication Skills

20. Technical Communication Skills
Meetings
Structure (yet again). If everyone knows the structure then responses are quick and efficient:
What seems to be the trouble?
How long has this been going on?
Would you please lie down on the couch
You seem to have slipped a disk
Take this prescription to the chemist….
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Technical Communication Skills

21. Technical Communication Skills
Meetings
Some of the important jobs
1. The Subject:
Studies have shown that meetings usually have 2 leaders: a team leader and a task leader
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Technical Communication Skills

22. Technical Communication Skills
Meetings
Present the subject – options and actions
Keep to the subject
Focus on practical decisions (ultra vires)
Close quickly after a decision
Ensure the decision is recorded – at the end of each item give a summary of the decisions.
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Technical Communication Skills

23. Technical Communication Skills
Meetings
Some of the important jobs
2. The People
Facilitation – getting maximum performance from the people present
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Technical Communication Skills

24. Technical Communication Skills
Meetings
Control the garrulous
Draw out the silent
Protect the weak
Encourage a clash of ideas
Watch out for suggestion-squashing reflex
Come to the most senior people last
Close on a note of achievement
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Technical Communication Skills

25. Technical Communication Skills
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Technical Communication Skills