Person A:
RVT; head technician at LLL Vet Clinic.
1. What percentage of
your work time would you estimate you spend writing? 10% Reading? 5% Conferencing? 85%
2. What kind of media
do you use most commonly?
One on one
with clients or coworkers and the phone. Some writing.
3. How do you
determine what media to use (memo/email/phone)?
I use what is the most expedient
and thorough.
4. What forms of
writing do you write and/or receive?
I write a lot of notes in
patient charts, but also memos and letters when conversing with other clinics
about patients. I also am in charge of inventory and deal with the invoicing.
5. What is the purpose
of these documents?
Reference
info. and informative.
6. What is the
audience for these documents?
Clients,
coworkers, Doctors, referral clinics.
7. What differences
are there between writing you do for insiders and writing you do for people
outside the company? Outside the profession?
To people outside the company, I
usually explain more in depth and don’t abbreviate as much as in patient
charts. To people outside the profession, you have to change the language to
laymen’s terms and explain in a way that won’t talk over their heads or freak
them out.
8. Explain the
examples of documents that you gave me and their use in the field. Do other
clinics use these or similar documents?
Medical patient charts= to note the patient history and current condition, diagnosis, and treatment. Inform and Reference. Widely used.
Laboratory Workup sheets= to record results of labwork like urinalysis, CBC, blood chemistries, ELISA tests, etc. Inform and Reference. Widely used.
Discharge sheets= to give clients notes on home care after surgery. Informative. Widely used.
Referral Form= refers clients to specialists and gives the new Doctor notes and history of patient. Inform and Reference. Widely used.
Memo from
Emergency Clinic= to inform us that one of our patients was seen and treated by
them, tells us the results of labwork, diagnosis, and
treatment prescribed. Inform and reference. Widely used.
9. Do you know of
forms of communication that other clinics use and their purpose?
The last document is from another
clinic that they often send us. We also receive conference calls from referral
vets about our patients. Faxes from other clinics and
shelters sending or receiving patient records. Some clinics also send
home information sheets on the disease that they have diagnosed so that the
client can read up on it.
10. In this field, what is the most difficult type of discourse,
or form of communication that you use? Why is it difficult? What is its
purpose? How have you come to make it easier?
One on one verbal communication with clients. The hard part is that there often is a lack of comprehension and willingness to follow instruction, in other words, compliance. The purpose is to educate the public about proper pet care. It never gets easier it seems because as soon as you make progress with one client, there is another stubborn one in the next room that you have to deal with. The trick is to get everyone in the clinic on the same page so that what we tell them as technicians, the doctors and receptionists backup so the message doesn’t get weakened by second-guessing within the staff.
Can you give me an
example?
Like on
heartworm prevention. People don’t always think it is necessary. So if I say
that it is [necessary], give them the information and statistics on it, then
the doctor should reiterate during his exam the importance of heartworm
prevention. And to follow that the receptionist sells them the product and
checks to make sure they know how to use it. Even when all this happens
correctly, often client compliance is still only 50%! It is very frustrating.
Person B:
The following is a transcript of my interview with Person B,
Director of Operations at The National Centralized Ultrasound Processing Lab
& Technology Center (CUP Lab) in
Memos and letters, email, phone, speaking.
I use email for more trivial items and to communicate to
people in other countries. I use memos
and letters when it is a more formal communication and the phone when I need a
quick answer or it is too complicated to write out in an email and the phone
would be faster.
Memos and letters.
Responding to requests for info, reports on meetings, requests for information from others, to communicate more
formally.
Not really.
Some proposals, marketing plans, and budget scenarios.
To communicate formal budget definitions, requirements of a
project, and the company marketing plan.
Customers, board of directors, vendors.
Very little.
http://www.cuplab.com/download_forms/CORF2003.xls
Chute
order form. Communicate order of
scanning.
http://www.cuplab.com/download_forms/Universal_Bull_Test_Barn_Sheets.doc Generic
Bull Test barnsheets. To give barnsheet
information on bulls not already listed on preprinted barnsheets
from the breed associations for bull test stations. The CUP
Lab. Animal information
http://www.cuplab.com/download_forms/Universal_Herd_Barn_Sheets.doc Generic Barnsheets. To give
us barnsheet information on cattle not already listed
on preprinted barnsheets from the breed associations
for not bull test stations. The CUP Lab. Animal information
http://www.cuplab.com/download_forms/Electronic_Weights_Form.xls Electronic Weights
form. To communicate
bull test or non-bull test station information electronicially
to our lab. The
CUP Lab. Animal
information.
http://www.cuplab.com/location.cfm?fuseaction=dspThisArticle&newsId=7 Research
article. Communicates
information pertaining to beef cattle carcass ultrasound research. Technicians and other interested
parties. Research data.
http://www.cuplab.com/location.cfm?fuseaction=dspThisArticle&newsId=25 Informational
article. Communicates information
pertaining to beef cattle carcass ultrasound research, data, etc. Technicians and other interested
parties. Research
data, definitions of terms, explanations of protocols, etc.
http://msucares.com/pubs/publications/p2253.pdf Research
article. Communicates
information pertaining to beef cattle carcass ultrasound research. Technicians and other interested
parties. Research
data.
www.asas.org/jas/symposia/esupp2/jas2278.pdf
- Could not open.
I really don’t. Many
of them are private information that is for company eyes only.
Person C:
The following is a transcript of my interview with Person C,
Director of Communications at The National Centralized Ultrasound Processing
Lab & Technology Center (CUP Lab) in
Over 50%, I spend a lot of my day on the phone talking to technicians, breeders and association folks. However, I also take considerable time to read livestock journals, breed association publications, and related literature to stay up to speed in the beef industry. In response to what I read and the questions I get on the phone, I also write a few articles to help breeders understand how to use ultrasound data to benefit their operation. I read at least twice as much now as ever I did when I was in college!
I answer a lot of email questions daily, but personally hate that form of communication. If I get the chance I usually call the person(s) involved, and most of the time, the story changes from what you thought the email was trying to say. Postal mail is very personable, but is too slow and expensive for today’s day and age. Technology is too damn convenient not to use. I enjoy talking to “livestock people” most, even if it eats up a lot of my time.
It is mostly timing. Obviously, if it’s an emergency situation the telephone is the best way to get to a resolution quickly. If correspondence comes in by email, that’s usually the way it goes out. If it’s an issue that deserves extra thought and attention, I’ll put together a memo that makes sure I say everything that needs to be said and omit things that are unimportant.
I write a monthly newsletter that keeps people involved in our business in the know on what’s going on at the lab or in the industry. I also write an equal share of memos to breed associations and beef cattle enthusiasts about what we do here and answer questions they propose.
Most of the time, it is simply to inform the people connected to ultrasound technology what is going on at The CUP Lab. We offer new opportunities for expanding their business, tips on becoming more effective in the ultrasound business, and just general industry news. Other documents are generated for “damage control” purposes, or to answer a question or falsehood that has been brought to our attention.
None really, mostly just use standard company letterhead and a professional writing style.
Just the articles I mentioned before, basically an educational term paper written once a year to help cattle breeders better understand what we do and how it can benefit them.
When you are in a small business such as this, everything you write should help grow the business. There are many avenues to get there, but its all after the same end result.
The target audience is almost always cattle breeders, but some are addressed directly at breed association executives and personnel. Others are written especially for scanning technicians, who are the backbone of our business.
Writing for people outside your profession is much more difficult; you feel like you have to “dumb it down” so the idiots can understand it. Writing for insiders is like talking to your family on the phone; you know exactly what they understand, so the writing is much easier. Writing about ultrasound technology to an audience of varying educations is the toughest part of my job. I often have to make a choice; make it so simple a third grader could grasp the concepts or talk a lingo that only progressive cattlepersons would understand.
http://www.cuplab.com/download_forms/CORF2003.xls
http://www.cuplab.com/download_forms/Universal_Bull_Test_Barn_Sheets.doc
http://www.cuplab.com/download_forms/Universal_Herd_Barn_Sheets.doc
http://www.cuplab.com/download_forms/Electronic_Weights_Form.xls
http://www.cuplab.com/location.cfm?fuseaction=dspThisArticle&newsId=7
http://www.cuplab.com/location.cfm?fuseaction=dspThisArticle&newsId=25
http://msucares.com/pubs/publications/p2253.pdf
www.asas.org/jas/symposia/esupp2/jas2278.pdf
The first four are documents used to keep ultrasound data organized and accurate. Technicians help cattle breeders fill out the forms to maintain data integrity.
I just finished an article I would love to share with you. It has no restrictions; the more people that read it the better.
Person D:
Manager, Marketing and Power Supply Planning
BBB Electric Power Cooperative
What percentage of your work time would you estimate you spend writing?
reading? Conferencing? on the phone? Almost all of my time (90%) is spent in one of
the listed activities.
What kind of communication media (writing, speaking, email, phone, etc.) do
you use commonly? I currently prefer to use voice communication, as it allows me to directly
interact with the individual(s) I am working with and it provides for the best
communication medium to be sure all parties understand what is being
communicated.... e-mail and voice mail are also a very important method to
communicate as it allows individuals to interact even though there schedules do
not.
How do you
determine whether to use a memo, an email or the phone? Communication methods
vary by situation ..... generally
written communications are required if there are legal or contractual issues
being addressed .... if there are areas of dispute and
you feel that there needs to be a very clear understanding of positions ..... if you are making a binding proposal, it is very important
to put things in writing ................................ if
you are trying to deal with detailed or complicated operational issues or
conceptual issues/ideas it generally is easier to address these verbally and
follow-up with a written summary ....................... if
you are working with individuals on your expectations I believe you always want
to address these issues verbally as it allows for two way communications.
What forms of writing (reports, proposals, memos, etc.) do you most often
write? At the current time folks that work for me are actively involved in
writing reports, proposals, memos etc ..... I
generally review most of these documents before they are finalized
....... I currently do most of my writing in e-mail form. Another
form of writing that you have not mentioned includes meeting minuets
.... these are very important as they document
what was discussed or agreed to and are import for reference in the future.
What are the typical reasons for writing these kinds of documents? Reports are generally
written to document findings or conclusions that are complex and significant or
based on numerous assumptions. These reports allow the
reader to understand what has been assumed and allows the reader the
opportunity to understand the concepts and conclusions........ Proposals are
generally documented in writing as they memorialize the concepts and make a
written record of the proposal to avoid misunderstandings
..... memos are generally written to inform or
to document actions, or to request information or action from an individual.
Are there expected formats or organizations for these documents? Memos and e-mails
generally do not have a specific expected format, they should be short, direct,
and easy to understand .... reports
generally have a specific format, but don't forget to include an executive
summary, for those folks that do not want or have the time to read the whole
report.
When you
are writing, what is your main audience (who do you relate the
document to) for whom you write to? The majority of business communication is to
communicate with those that you are working with or for .....
general categories would include 1) co-workers, 2)
senior management, 3) individuals in other organizations, and 4) legal
documents
Do you often write as if everyone can read it, if the information is viable,
or do you write it more personally from one person to another person? In a business
environment, I believe, one should always write as if it will be read by
multiple individuals .... at
times you may personalize the comments as if you were directly talking to a
single individual; however, you should never assume it will not be forwarded on
to others.
What other kinds of documents do you write?
I
believe I previously indicated meeting minuets ....
What differences are there between writing you do for insiders and writing
you do for people outside the company? Currently I do not write
for people outside the company .... if
I did however, I do not think it would be different.
When
receiving documents from people outside of Basin, but in the Marketing
department, do they often send and reply in the same format as you do. Generally all
communication seems to be in the same format ....
while such format generally includes all of the forms you are asking about
....... you will also find out, as you work with people, certain forms of
communications work better with different folks and as a result that is the
form of communication that you will use with that individual ....... as a
result you will need to become comfortable with all forms of communication.
Do you use different writing styles for different levels of employees? Such
as writing to a boss, subordinate, or an employee of equivalence, such as a
gang plank employee. Yes, you need to communicate with folks differently ..... you need to be
aware of what they understand, so you do not dwell on what they already
know: but you also need to be careful to not talk above what folks know and
understand.
Person
E:
My
interview was with Person E, my branch manager at Bank of WWW. Our interview took place on
1.
What
percentage of your work time would you estimate you spend writing?
Most of my time is spent writing and
conferencing. I would estimate that
about 60% is spent writing and meeting with customers or employees and that
only about 5% is spent reading. (This is
an estimate for any given day)
2.
What
kind of communication media (writing, speaking, email, phone,ect) do you use commonly?
Well, all are forms that can or are used on any
given day, but the three most common are telephone calls, face-to-face meetings
with customers and employees, and email is very big between employees of varies
departments.
3.
How
do you determine whether to use a memo or email or the phone?
Well, that definitely depends on who I am working
with or speaking to. Also, another
important aspect is how well I know the individual I am working with. When I am interacting with employees I use
email probably the most and then the phone.
The employees that work at my branch are always face-to-face
interaction.
4.
What
forms of writing (reports, proposals, memos, ect.) do
you most often write?
Well, in the banking business majority of forms that
I or the customer fills out are already preprinted. They are forms that all bank locations must
use. The types of writing that I would
then do the most of that I create myself would be correspondences such as
letters or emails. We follow the
standard letter set-up when typing them to keep them professional looking and
feeling.
5.
What
are the typical reasons for writing these kinds of documents?
Like I said before majority of forms that we use for
customers such as loan applications, credit card applications, or forms to open
a checking account are preformed, so it is just a matter of time to fill in the
information. But I do write my own
letters, emails, faxes extra to customers and the main reasons for these forms
are that customers have a question or requesting specific information, or they
may just have a concern.
6.
What
other kinds of documents do you write?
There really aren’t any other documents that I can
think of that I write, besides cover sheets for emails or possible ideas or a
tidbit that I will need for speaking at a Bankers or Teller meeting.
7.
What
are their purposes?
Majority of the forms/documents that I write or that
I fill in that are standard prewritten forms are always used to obtain
information or a product for a customer.
There are times that we send out letters to customers to update them of
any changes with their account, banking products, banking policies, or just to
say thank for their business.
8.
Who
do you write to when you write these documents- what kind of audience do they
have?
When I write and letter, email, or fill out a prewritten
form it is for a customer, whether existing one or inquiring one. Some types we may also have to communicate
with other departments of the bank or an outside company, such as in the case
of mortgage loan and maybe at times a car purchase, but majority of the time it
is our customers and fellow employees.
9.
What
differences are there between writing you do for insiders and writing you do
for people outside the company?
There are few differences the biggest ones are the
style, tone, and words/terminology I use.
With coworkers I can use email most of the time and you can call them by
first name, use abbreviations, and use bank jargon and your point will still be
known. With customers I always make sure
to use a business letter format, write/speak in a professional manner, and use
their proper name.
Here again, it really depends on who I am working
with, whether a customer or a coworker.
10. What type of skills do you think are needed the
most to succeed in your position?
I would say without doubt customer service
skills! You really need to have a
combination between personality and good positive attitude. You have to be able to have diplomacy and
learn to read your customers and then adapt to their needs/style.
11. What
advice could you give to someone enter you position that would help them excel
in your position or any position within a bank?
I would definitely say listen, listen, and
listen. I always say you have two ears
and only one mouth, so you should always listening twice as much as you talk,
and with customers you really need to master this skill.
12. What do you think is the biggest communication
barrier that you encounter?
There is at times a lot of bank jargon, which you
can’t use with customers, so you always have to keep this in mind. I would also say the number of
employees. There are some many employees
working for a bank, even in each branch that to be able to communicate with
every one and to make sure that we are all on the same page, especially when
product promotions or changes are happening.
I currently work at the same location as Barb and I
myself have been working in the banking profession for a few years, and I
definitely agree with Barb on every question.
She has been working in the banking profession for many years and is
very experienced with customers, customer service, and many forms of
communication. I have found that a
majority of our communication is verbal.
Majority of our transactions with customers is always face-to-face and
if we work with customers in a written form of communication it is in the form
of an application or a brochure.
Barb did mention that our number one goal is our
customers, which we are working to provide them with financial solutions that
are right for them. We are only able to
succeed at this by listening and listening to our customers. The more we know are customers the better we
can provide service for them. So
overall, the most important form of communication for the banking profession,
which we used repeatedly, is verbal communication!
Person F:
Discourse Interview
The following is an interview conducted with Person F, KVVV-TV-Fox
Sports “Journalist.” The interview took place via a phone conversation on
1.
What percentage of your work time would you estimate you spend writing? reading? conferencing?
I probably spend the most time writing. All
of the games that I shoot require a shot sheet or some write-up for the anchor
to read. Since I came here, I haven’t read any stories yet so the biggest
portion is spent writing.
2. What kind of communication media (writing, speaking, email, phone, etc.) do you use commonly?
I guess that I will use them all.
3. How do you determine whether to use a memo or email or the phone?
Probably on the basis of how well I know the
person. If I think that I will be uncomfortable talking to them on the phone I
will send an e-mail. Also, if it is very important the phone is the best
option.
4. What forms of writing (reports, proposals, memos, etc.) do you most often write?
Game write-ups is
the biggest one. When I have miles of tape to look through that needs to be
condensed into a 90 second piece that is where my writing takes place.
5. What are the typical reasons for writing these kinds of documents?
You need to have copy to go along with the
pictures.
6. Are there expected formats or organizations for these documents?
Definitely. They really need to be concise and to the
point. When you only have so long to read a highlight you can’t waste time with
a bunch of useless words.
7. What other kinds of documents do you write?
None.
Summary
From interviewing Person F I saw that communication is the basis for their entire business. Without being able to communicate, through writing or verbally, Fox-TV would go absolutely nowhere and this was among the topics that Person F and I discussed. He also stressed being sure to be informed on the topic that you are working on because credibility is so important in the profession.
Person F used the term
“journalist” to describe his current profession and hopes to be behind the desk
reading the sports reports soon, which was his past job in
Person G:
Discourse In Your Field Interview
The
following is a summary of my interview with Person G, who is a Senior Vice
President of Sales at xxx Marketing Inc. in yyy,
1.
What
percentage of your work time would you estimate you spend:
Writing? 30%
Speaking with clients? 35%
2.
What kind of
communication media (writing, speaking, email, phone, etc.) do you use
commonly?
All of these. I write emails, use fax, and do a great deal of phone work. I also teach continuing education to insurance and stock brokers and conduct financial seminars.
3.
How do you
determine whether to use a memo or email or phone?
I try to use email a lot because it is convenient and very cost affective. I end up using the phone most because I do a lot of consulting with brokers.
4. What forms of writing (memos, proposals,
and reports) do you most often write?
I don’t write many memos, proposals, or reports; most of my work is done through email.
5.
What are the
typical reasons for writing these kinds of documents?
Correspondence between employees and clients
6.
Are there
expected formats or organization for these documents?
No. For the most part we are an informal organization.
7. Who do you write to when you write these
documents? What kind of audience do you
have?
Typically, my audience is educated professionals in the financial industry.
8.
What
differences are there between writing you do for insiders and writing you do
for people outside your company?
People outside of my company get a much more formal, professionally formatted piece of correspondence.
Person H:
Transcript with Person
H, Sergeant, FPD on
Well we have all kinds of reports that we need to write-accident reports, incident reports, ect. Now a days, officers are having to teach a lot more. We have to make lesson plans and course agendas. I as a Sergeant also have to fill out a lot of purchase orders. I, for example, had to just buy three motorcycles for the motorcycle program.
Well communication is very important in this field. You have to go from having to be forceful with a suspect when you make an arrest and then maybe have to talk to a 3-year-old trauma victim. You have will have to have a stern voice with the arrest and then be gentle with the child. You really have to know when to change your tone with the varying situation.
Well it varies when you are on the street or the office. I spend about a third of my time interacting with other people because I am in an office all day. Patrol officers spend at least 75% of their time talking with people from stops, calls, and public relations.
Again it’s about a third for office work. You always touch base with other agencies or when you are making investigations. Patrol is about maybe 20% over the phone. On patrol you may have to deal with a person suspected in a crime, directly talk to another officer when the radio isn’t appropriate, or possibly respond to a citizen caller.
I never use it. Patrol officers only use it very minimally. Radios are open lines and only for dispatch and for short communication with other officers.
Again it’s a third of my time. Sometimes its easier to write emails out when you need to communicate with outside agencies that don’t need immediate response. Patrol officers rarely ever use email if ever.
Again you have to change your tone depending on the situation. You are more formal with supervisors. With suspects your tone has to be stern, yet respectful. Coworkers can be more casual.
Person I: Interview Transcript
The
following is a transcript of the interview I conducted on
1. What percentage of your time would you estimate that
you spend writing?
Writing-
25%
2. What kind of communication media (writing, speaking, email, phone, etc.) do you use commonly?
I use speaking the most. It is part of my job to converse with clients and educate them on the needs of their pets. I also have to talk with my coworkers about certain patients and the treatment they are receiving.
3. How do you determine whether to use a memo or email or the phone?
The telephone is the only way I communicate with clients outside of the hospital since our hospital doesn’t have an e-mail address.
4. What forms of writing (reports, proposals, memos, etc.) do you most often write?
I don’t know what you would count client files/records as. I guess a report because you have to summarize everything that was done on the animal, and any new treatment the animal is going to receive.
5. What are the typical reasons for writing these kinds of documents?
Well, to tell everything that has been done to the animal like vaccinations, surgery, medication, etc. This tells us the animals’ history at our clinic so that anyone who opens the file knows what has been done to this animal. These files are also legal records, so we must write down everything.
6. Are there expected formats or organizations for these documents?
The most important thing about writing in these files is completeness and thoroughness. Sometimes even the smallest detail about a procedure can end up being important information to have.
7. What other kinds of documents do you write?
Nothing really of any more importance than client files. The clients fill out consent forms and information sheets.
8. What are their purposes?
They tell us the owner information such as addresses and phone numbers. The consent forms are also a legality incase a legal situation comes up. They tell us that the owner of the animals consents to us doing certain procedures on their pets.
9. Who do you write to when you write these documents--what kind of audience do they have?
The audience is other people in my field- the veterinarians and the technicians.
10. What differences are there between writing you do for insiders and writing you do for people outside the company?
You have to be careful when talking/writing to clients so that you don’t talk above them, but at the same time not treating them like they don’t know anything. When the employees at the clinic talk, or write in files, we can use all of the medical talk that the clients might not understand.
Person J:
This is an interview with Person J. She is the manager of the fine jewelry department at Marshall Fields. This interview was conducted at her place of work on Saturday the 19th of February.
What percentage of your work time would you estimate you
spend writing?
Writing: 10%
Conferencing: 0%
Speaking with co-workers: 40%
What kind of communication media (writing, speaking, email, phone, etc.) do you use commonly?
I use all of the above types of communication media. The most commonly used is phone.
How do you determine whether to use a memo, email, or
phone?
I have to stay with company policy and their procedures dictate.
What forms of writing (reports, proposals, memos, etc.)
do you most often write?
I write sales reports and receipts. I also, to stay in communication with my employees, write weekly information and post it for people to review and stay up to date with things going on.
What are the typical reasons for writing these documents?
To complete sales and document that the transactions happened.
Are there expected formats or organizations for these
documents?
Yes, receipts need to clearly indicate sku information, price, vendor number, and vendor style number. This helps the company with future inventory.
What would happen if you didn’t write these documents?
Our inventory would be affected and daily counts of supplies would be affected.
How vital to the company is it that you keep track of
these documents?
100% vital!
Who do you write to when you write these documents---what kind of audience do they have?
I write to customers, my head manager, other sales associates, and auditors.
What other kind of documents do you write?
Daily counts, returns, defective information on pieces of jewelry.
What are there purposes?
These documents track inventory and make proper sales.
What differences are there between writing you do for insiders and writing you do for people outside the company?
Outsiders don’t get the full amount of information that is required to us.
How do you communicate with “outsiders” through written
communication?
Their sales receipts.
Do you have any examples of written communication you can
share with me?
No
After conducting this interview with Person J, I found out that there is a lot more information that buyers are not aware of. From a management perspective she is responsible to keep everything straight and on track. If she would slack at this for one day, the whole year could be affected. These written document are 100% crucial to the company. This information is also very important to the employees. The employees are daily informed through postings of new information.
This information is really interesting to me. I think that I have a much greater appreciation for the stress involved in managing a company. Especially one that has millions of dollars of inventory.
Person K:
This Interview took place
I spend most of my work time
writing. Simply because that is what the bulk of my job consists of. I write
quite a few newsletters, and I am also the editor for the North Dakota
Stockmen’s Magazine. Some days, however, I do spend time in meetings or working
with co-workers and a variety of different people.
I most often use email because it
is quick and ideal for me because I work with a variety of people from around
I most often write newsletters.
There are a variety of things going on in the beef industry and newsletters are the Stockmen’s Association’s way of keeping the media aware.
Yes, I am required to write my newsletters in APA format.
I also write articles for the ND Stockmen’s magazine.
This magazine is issued across
My audience is
When writing for insiders more technical “ranching” jargon can be used, and my writing will be more in depth. However, when writing for outsiders I need to associate something else that may interest the audience, not just ranching, such as when referring to beef include health issues which effects all sorts of different people.
Person L:
The following is an interview with Person L, who is the
owner of insurance agency in
This interview took place on
1. What percentage of your work time would you
estimate you spend writing?
Writing: Job has
a lot of taking notes from clients but does not include a lot of lengthy
writing.
Conferencing:
There are a lot of meetings with the office staff to keep everyone in check
with what’s going on in the office to help it run as smoothly as possible.
Meetings with clients is also very important to learn about what needs they
need to be met and to get the information needed to write the type of insurance
that they need.
Computer: Everything now-days seems so technologically advanced. It’s very important to have good computer skills and experienced as most offices are now proceeding to the paperless systems that have made most filing systems virtually extinct.
2. What kind of communication media (writing,
speaking, email, phone, etc.) do you use commonly?
The most common communication media would be phone and
email. When communicating with the
companies, email and phone calls are the primary form of communication. The phone and one-on-one contact is very
common when dealing with the public clients.
The clients will come into the office most often to write business and
being able to sell yourself to them about your knowledge of the product is very
important. The mail system is also very
important when dealing with the customers as well. We have to send memo’s and letters to the
insured’s asking them for additional information or to inform them about what’s
going on with their insurance policies.
3. How do you determine whether to use a memo
or email or the phone?
You would use a memo when you need information from a client most often. Depending on the amount of information needed, type, and urgency you could also use the phone – although most clients would rather see a professional letter or memo sent to them.
When dealing with the various companies you would usually use email and
phone. You’d use emails for questions
directed to the underwriters or to submit requested information from the
companies. You would use the phone when
you need the information ASAP or if the client is right there waiting for a
reply to a question you can’t answer.
4. What forms of writing (reports, proposals,
memos, etc.) do you most often write? What are the typical reasons for writing
these kinds of documents?
The most often form of writing would be proposals, memos and
letters. The proposals are the quotes
that we show the clients after we have submitted the information to the various
companies. Memos would be used to ask
for additional information and letters would be used to inform clients about
situations.
5. Are there expected formats or organizations
for these documents?
Every memo, letter, email we send has a specified company
standard that must be met. Letters are
usually used on the company’s letter head that is provided and the format is
usually already set up so all you have to do is fill in the information. The same goes for the memos that are
sent. The e-mail’s that are sent will have
your name, position, company information, phone number, fax number and any
other important contact information as a signature that comes up everytime you compose a letter. We strongly advise a professional use of
e-mail’s and encourage appropriate format.
6. What other kinds of documents do you write?
What are their purposes?
We take a lot of just random notes of information. There are many ‘forms’ that we fill out to
make sure that we get all of the information needed to complete the specific
task that is being requested. Phone
message pads are also very important part of the business. We make sure that every agent uses a
carbon-copy phone pad when ‘writing’ information down, so that we can go back
for legal issues if the need arises. Then the information is transferred from
the pad to email. We use this system as
most of the time it’s easier to grab a pen and the pad then to log on to the
email system when you are receiving a great number of phone calls at any given
time. (This is usually the case)
7. Who do you write to when you write these
documents--what kind of audience do they have?
When the messages are written, they are written to other
agent’s in the office. For example the
secretary may take the information to add a vehicle onto their auto policy and
she writes that information down and then e-mail’s the specific agent who
writes the client’s policy to do the change.
8. What differences are there between writing
you do for insiders and writing you do for people outside the company?
The writing we do for the ‘insider’s’ is very blunt and to
the point. There is a lot of
abbreviation use among the agents because they know what you are usually
talking about. As for the people outside
of the company…clients for example…we must be very thorough in what we are
trying to get across. Abbreviations are
not used as the clients; more then likely will not understand what we are
talking about. When we send things to
the companies we work for, it’s generally in “insurance lingo”. There are a lot of abbreviations and short-to
the point answers. We generally do not
go out of our way to give really thorough answers (unless requested) as it’s
generally not necessary.
9. I found several examples of documents that
I think are common to this field on the web. Would you look at a couple briefly
and tell me what they are and what they are used for? What is this? What
function does it perform? What is the typical audience for these kinds of
documents? What content do documents like this usually contain? How does this document
differ from the same kind you write in your work?
http://www.nmicfb.com/coverages/fire-homeandfamily.shtml
http://affinity.progressive.com/product/auto.asp?code=8003500324
The nmicfb website document is an explanation of what types of coverages are available for homeowners insurance. This document is typically directed for consumers as it explains what products are available and what each coverage offers. It describes the types of situations that can occur and if the client has these coverages if their insurance will cover the loss. This is a good web-site for client-education purposes. Many clients have a hard time understanding the insurance lingo and need extra information about what products to purchase and why.
The Progressive website
document you showed me is actually a website that we use here in our office
very frequently. We use this website to
offer quotes to clients. These quotes
are just estimated prices of the insurance policy they are interested in. The
clients can actually go onto this website themselves and quote a policy or have
an agent like us do it for them. We
generally recommend that an agent helps a client with this, as many clients
don’t understand many of the coverages they should
have or shouldn’t have.
10. Do you have any examples you can share with
me? If so, what kind of restrictions do you have on my use of them?
They did have examples from me and she did not express any restrictions on my use of them.
Summary: After my
interview with Person L, I felt that I learned a great deal about the discourse
in the insurance field. I learned that
client – agent relationships are very important and that the clients require
more of a thorough-informal communication then the companies they work
with. The communication should be more
informal because most of the clients that are dealt with are average ‘Joe’s’
off of the street and don’t understand the lingo. If an agent starts talking to the client like
they would to another agent, the client wouldn’t have a clue what you’re
talking about (that is assuming they don’t know much already about insurance.)
Insurance is a very important thing with a lot of ‘lingo’ that must be learned
to completely understand – which is why reading, writing and phone is a very
important part of the business. It
provides access to continual education that is necessary to be successful (by
talking to other agents and company underwriters) Good relationships among your
business peers (even it’s the competition) is very important also.
Person M:
Discourse in the Field Interview
The following is the summary of my interview with Person M,
a licensed commodities broker and professional market analyst. She is employed with xxx Ag, which is an agricultural commodities
marketing firm, which provides marketing services and advice, as well as
trading. They also provide crop
insurance. This interview was conducted
on
Writing: 30%
Conferencing/ talking with customers: 35%
Other: 10%
Writing: daily & weekly commentary, speaking on the phone: recommendations to customers.
Email/Text messaging: recommendations and commentaries
Fax: Recommendations
DTN: Commentary
Every function requires certain media usages.
For example, recommendations are best put forth over email, fax, or phone depending on the length and importance of them. Taking orders is almost a must over the phone because of the importance of getting the message immediately, and the daily commentary is expected by our customers to be dispersed via email, the internet(Progressive Ag website), and the DTN.
I write the daily commentaries every day and a weekly summary on Fridays. I also write the text message alerts for the recommendations that go out. These are the main written documents that I compose.
They are to alert customers of market changes and new recommendations for cash commodity sales, as well as new hedging recommendations in futures and options markets. Customers rely on this information.
Yes, we use the same format daily to keep it easy reading for the customers. They expect it to be a certain way. We also always use word documents for composition.
I also write up market promotions for our services. These can be in the form of postcard mailings, brochures, newspaper ads, or radio ads. I have done all of these at one time or another.
We send them out to make potential customers aware of the services we offer and how they can benefit from them.
The majority of the people that receive these documents are farmers, but there is the occasional non-farmer that might be interested in trading.
Pretty much all of the writing I do is for outside readers, but I suppose you can consider memos, notes, and emails as communication inside the office. Obviously these types of documents are shorter, to the point, and usually on a more casual basis, compared with the writing I do for our customers.
Yes, here is a copy of the newsletter that is sent out bimonthly, and here are a couple of marketing promotions I have done. One is a postcard, and the other one was a newspaper ad.
From my interview with Person M, I learned the specifics of what her job entails in the lines of communication. She was very informative, and I could tell she has a true passion for what she does. That was very inspiring to me. Her job includes a lot of writing. She writes daily commentary every day that is read by hundreds of people. Therefore, her communication skills have to be up to par every day. She has to be knowledgeable, to the point, and put many factual data and other ideas into a format that is easy to understand by the readers as a whole.
I feel that her position is an excellent example of someone who must be on their toes when it comes to communicating. Thousands of dollars are exchanged through Person M’s computer and telephone every day. She has to be an excellent communicator.
Persons ME and ED:
I chose to interview the two real-estate agents that I currently assist, Person ME and Person ED. I chose to interview more than one agent because in the real estate business, ways of communication are very unique to each agent.
The
following is a transcript of the interview I conducted at the yyy office on
ME – Writing: 35%, Reading: 5%,
Conferencing: 10%, Talking on the Phone: 50%
ED – Writing: 25%, Reading: 10%,
Conferencing: 40%, Talking on the Phone: 25%
ME –
Speaking via Telephone/Cell Phone
ED –
Speaking via Conferencing/Face-to-face
ME – “It
depends on what is required and how much time it will take”
ED –
“Whatever is most convenient and effective”
ME – “I most
often email”
ED – Email
ME –
“Because email is fast and leaves a paper trail”
ED – “Email
is quick and easy and I would guess it’s what other agents use most also. We have all gotten used to being closely
attached to our computers.”
ME – “No,
not really”
ED – “Not
really”
ME –
Purchase agreements & related documents
ED
– “Purchase agreements, offers, legal things like that and marketing material
like newspaper ads and postcards and holiday cards.”
ME – “To
engage in a contract to purchase or sell a home or a property lot”
ED – “To buy
property or sell property”
ME
– “The title company, closing companies, loan officers, buyers and sellers and
other agents.”
ED –
“Professionals mostly, generally those documents are not well enough understood
by the buyers or sellers although they do have access to them or copies of
their own.”
ME – “The
words agents use, and abbreviations”
ED –
“Tons. Tone, courtesy,
brevity, etc.”
Purchase Agreement:
ME
– “This is what we use to make an offer on a house, or it’s what we receive
from another agent’s office that says that someone is making an offer on the
house that we have listed.” In short,
The Purchase Agreement is a legal and binding agreement to purchase a property
if all the included stipulations are met, most importantly the price.
Counteroffer Addendum:
ME
– “For example, When an offer is made that is not quite as high as the seller
would like it to be, they counteroffer, or suggest a price that is often less
than the list price, but higher than the price of the original purchase
agreement.” The counteroffer does not
only affect price, however. It can also
be used to change the date of closing, to request inclusions (like appliances
or furniture) or to ask for allowances for things like flooring, paint,
windows, etc.
Closing Worksheet:
ED
– “This is a form all agents fill out when they turn in a sale. It allows Corporate to be able to take one
look at the sheet and know what to do with the file.” The closing worksheet is a fill-in-the-blank
generic sheet all agents use as a cover page for their files in transaction.
Estimated Seller’s Expense:
ED
– “This is a sheet I would fill out and give a client who was going to list
their house with me. It just gives the
seller a good idea of the dollar amount they will take with them after their
home sells in the case that it would sell for $X, $X or $X; three different
prices. It includes estimates of costs
such as my services, closing costs, and fees.”
I found that both the agents I interviewed use ESE sheets, but that some
real estate companies do not require that they be used. Personally I think that they are a great tool
for clients who want to see the bottom line.
ME, a young, successful, and independent agent affiliated with yyy, has been in the real estate business for over 6 years. In her experience, she has worked with a variety of people in many different neighborhoods of the Twin Cities.
ED is also affiliated withyyyand has a record of over 13 successful years as a
real estate agent. Unlike Marti,
After interviewing each of the agents, I have found both slight and major differences in the way each of them does business. ME relies mostly on word of mouth advertising. Her style of making friends out of clients has helped her to obtain many referrals and has been vital to the success of her business. Her style of communication with clients is mostly informal, in a friend-like manner. She most often communicates via telephone and email, as those are the fastest and most effective methods for her. Often she uses fax machines to forward paper documents and obtain required signatures because her clients may be a considerable drive away and faxing provides the timeliest response.
On the other hand, ED uses a different approach toward communicating with clients and potential clients. Unlike ME, ED often uses paid advertising to communicate the ability of her services to the public. Although, like ME, she has many clients referred to her, ED would say that her main medium of attracting clients is through mailings, newspaper announcements and sign and bench advertising.
ED tends to prefer face-to-face interaction over phone calls and email. She says that whenever she can she tries to meet with her clients to discuss in person the progress of their buying/selling status and when reviewing and filling out documents. She does use telephone and email regularly, but for the majority of interaction with her clients, she conferences with them directly.
Although these two agents use dissimilar communication styles and mediums when corresponding with clients, I found that they use similar communication styles when speaking with other agents. Hardly a secret to anyone, convenience and speed are key when dealing with the fast-paced real estate market. All successful agents understand this and abide by an unstated rule of brevity. In my first interaction with a real estate agent other than the two that I assist, I felt a sense of contempt from the agent I spoke with, as if I were inconveniencing him just for calling. After more experience and a greater understanding of the daily routines of agents, I realized that he didn’t intend to be disrespectful or ill-mannered when speaking, but that he expected me, as an agent’s assistant, to understand and speak in the same way. What I realized was that agents are a group of people who, when speaking with others in their field, interact in such a way that is meant to waste not even a smidgen of time. They use abbreviations for everything that to the unfamiliar ear sounds like pieces of secret code only other agents can decipher. They seem to say what they need to and only what they need to as fast as they can say it, then move on to the next item on their to-do-list. As you can obviously tell, this is quite a different style of communication than the approach agents need to take when speaking with their clients.
The interviews I conducted as well
as the experiences that I have had have shown me that even though two people do
the same line of work and even work under same company, their communication
styles may differ considerably in some ways, but be very similar in others.
Person N:
Interview with Person N, farmer, rancher, and member of Farmer’s
The percentage breakdown consists of 5% writing, 15% reading and as little as 1% conferencing.
Talking on the phone mainly, calling about grain or livestock markets, machinery or Ag product salesmen. There are also many conferences and meetings with peers and other producers, Ag officials etc
Phone is most convenient and practical
Memos, field and livestock records, market price tracking
The majority of the writing is for record keeping and the memos are mainly to remind him of prices of products, phone numbers and other figures needed upon command.
The records often follow a logical format, but the majority of the writing has no format.
There are a variety of insurance and certification documents that must be dealt with, but he only reads and signs them.
There are a variety of insurances required for farming in addition to the domestic ones. Crop insurance is extremely important, especially for farm programs and subsidy payments. Crop acres and what is planted must be certified at the ASCS office.
The majority of the documents are for self interest purposes.
Communication is extremely important to success. Acquiring knowledge of markets enables you to sell your products for the most profit. Communication with people in your field also keeps you abreast of new products and operational practices.
Telephone, fax and person to person interface
Operating by your self for the majority of the workday often presents communication challenges. The distance between your workplace and other places of importance (elevator, sales barn, vet, chemical dealer etc.) can make it difficult to actively communicate with your audience.
The majority of communication within the farmer/rancher field is to keep well informed on your business. Calling market and product representatives make up the majority of daily communication. Communicating effectively with these individuals may make the difference in thousands of dollars in sales or capital purchases. Maintaining a large knowledge base is the only way to remain competitive and successful in an increasingly difficult occupation.
Transcript taken Friday, Sept. 3
Person O, Director
What percentage of your work
time would you say that you spend writing?
Well, this defines my
job. I do a lot of phone and emailing, I
read to stay current on the issues. As far as conferencing, I refer to this as
‘resourcing’ – a lot over the phone for information.
What media form do you use
commonly – writing, speaking, email, phone, one-to-one?
Email and phone are used
most. I am a resource to the community,
so I get an array of calls, such as: how
to find swimming classes, where piano lessons are offers,
how to pay a speeding ticket. Recently,
the new Harley Davidson shop called to see how to go about getting a beer
permit for the open house. Most calls start out “I know this is a dumb
question….”
How do you determine whether
to use phone, email, or a memo?
I use what is most
convenient, and most immediate. So much is answering the phone or email, and its my cardinal rule that every one gets a response.
What forms of writing do you
most often write – reports, proposals, memos, etc?
Thank you cards,
and letters of support for business looking for funding. I also put out the COC Newsletter, and I am
putting together the Chamber manual for the upcoming retreat, which has the
budget and yearly work. At the meetings,
I take the minutes and write up the agenda.
What are the typical reasons
for writing these kinds of documents?
Well, its
my job.
Are there expected formats
for these documents?
No. The one thing I always do, is on the back
page of the newletter, I always put this reminder to
shop locally, and the reminder that ‘Chamber Bucks’ are available (to spend at
member businesses). (I then asked if the newsletter is online) It isn’t sent online, because some businesses
don’t have email. And I also do cutting
and pasting – physically cutting and pasting.
What other documents do you
write?
I put together membership
information for new businesses, and welcome-to-the-neighbor packages, if people
call and request them.
What are their
purposes?
Good rapport – to remind
them of “direct membership benefits” in the “back of their minds”, to show
appreciation for the membership support.
What audience are they
written for? Who are they written to?
Some things are for members
only, such as the newsletter, but this also goes out the neighboring county
chambers as well. The info packets are
for non-members.
What differences are there
between writing for insiders, and writing for people outside of the Chamber?
Its less formal for
insiders. I always want even emails to
look professional, but I may sign something going inside as “Thanks, LW”.
When are the Chamber
meetings held?
Every 3rd
Thursday of the month,
Who are they open to? Can
anyone attend?
They are open, because there
is an ‘open meeting law’ in
How are they announced?
In the
newsletter.
What types of issues are
generally discussed?
Upcoming projects,
challenges, economic development, tourism, sometimes a guest speaker is
invited; treasury report, old business, new business.
Who determines who can speak
at these meetings? Is it an open forum?
President runs the meeting.
(this is about all she would say)
Are the minutes published
for the general public?
No, but members can request
a copy of the minutes.
Since the chamber acts on
behalf of all the towns in
“They don’t.” (I prompted her for a little more, and she
gave this for explanation: For instance, I held one planning meeting, and I
asked for a rep to be sent from all the towns. One town member from outside of
Glenwood came to the meeting.
Can a town like Malvern have
its own chamber of commerce?
(She answered “Oh yes” very
enthusiastically) But then said that cost and time are the
main challenges. The bank that she is located in houses it for free, and
allows use of it’s equipment, etc. She has no secretary due to cutbacks, and a
lot is done by hand.
Person P:
Interview
Transcript and Summary
The following is a transcript of an interview with Person P,
Farm Manager at CCC Farms in xxx,
1. What percentage of
your work time would you estimate you spend writing?
It is hard to tell, with all of the things that I do, but I guess around 10 to 15% of my time at work, but I do a lot of writing for work when I am not clocked in. In the winter time I spend a little more time.
1a. About 20%?
Yeah, probably 20 – 25% depending on the
day and weather.
2. What kind of
communication media (writing, speaking, email, phone, etc.) do you use
commonly?
I use them all. Mostly I use the phone. This darn cell phone rings all the time. One time I dropped it in the pond. I keep losing it, but the boss just keeps
getting me another one.
2a. When would you do any writing?
I write when I need to send
information to the extension agency. We
want to make sure they have accurate information if they’re going to tell us
what’s going wrong with the crops. And,
periodically, I am writing to our local and state governments. Someone has to let them know there are still
farmers out here. They seem to forget
that when their working down there in
3. How do you determine whether to use a memo or email or the phone?
I don’t usually have time to use
emails or memos. We’re always in the fields,
on the road, or somewhere in between.
That’s why we have these cell phones.
3a. Can you think of any specific instances where you use emails or memos?
I am the guy that keeps track of
the records, so after hours I may send information to the boss, if I see
something I think he needs to know…. And I’ll email companies to get
information about products and things like that.
4. What forms of writing (reports, proposals, memos, etc.) do you most often write?
Most of my time is spent doing
record keeping in a Log Book.
5. What are the typical reasons for writing these kinds of documents?
I keep track of everything. It is all about increasing efficiency and
being able to figure out problems. If a
batch of tobacco plants has a problem, I have records to show what bed those
plants came from. That way there I can
make sure we don’t plant any more from that bed and we can figure out what went
wrong. I record information about the
workers and what they do each day. I
need to know about irrigation, planting, spraying, and all that stuff. If we need to send something to the extension
agency or lab to be diagnosed, I have records to show them what went into the
crop up until that point.
6. Are there expected formats or organizations for these documents?
No.
The agency has some standard paperwork that they can give you that asks
you questions that you can answer. But,
we don’t use those, we know what information they need and I just write an
informal note, or memo you would probably call it.
7. What other kinds of documents do you write?
In the fall I write sales brochures
for the flowers. And of course, there’s
the standard stuff like, paperwork, time cards and chemical logs. I also have
to fill out insurance paperwork, rental and lease agreements, propane
contracts, sales receipts and invoices.
I have to write warning letters to employees, to keep it legal if I need
to fire them. Then there’s a letter of
dismissal, when I fire them.
8. What are their purposes?
We just talked about their
purposes. Most is done to keep important
records. Some things are written,
because we have to. It’s the law.
9. Who do you write to when you write these documents--what kind of audience do they have?
That’s pretty self explanatory.
9a. I am interested how your writing differs depending on the audience. Without getting into too much detail, what do you know in the back of your mind about your audience when you are writing? Let’s use an employee warning letter and a sales brochure for your mums.
I know the employee will not be happy, when he gets the letter. I don’t want to fire anyone, so I try to let him know that I want him to stay on, but he needs to straighten up his act, or I will let him go. The biggest concern here is legal. We have to do things by the book, this is a business. The sales brochures need to have an appealing look. We have them around town, but no one will even see them if they’re not flashy. People like flowers, but we have to be competitive. We have the nicest mums, but we just have to get people out here to see them.
10. What differences are there between writing you do for insiders and writing you do for people outside the company?
Well, an email to the boss, or a
note to one of my workers, will be quick, accurate, and to the point. I can say, “Go to Schmansky’s
field and see if the North edge needs to be topped” and all of us insiders will
know what that means. If I am writing to
our representatives, or even the extension agency, I need to be more formal and
explain things in greater detail. It
just has to be more official.
11. I found several examples of documents that I think are common to this field on the web. Would you look at a couple briefly and tell me what they are and what they are used for? Sure.
Item 1
----What is this? A fact sheet.
----What function
does it perform? Gives information
about current research and issues.
----What is the typical audience for these kinds of documents? Any farmer, landowner, or anyone interested, it is for the public. .
----What content do documents like this usually contain? They’ll have research and stuff that is relevant to what’s going on with the crops, or pests, diseases. They have a whole lot of other topics, but we mostly read the ones that deal with farming.
Item 2
----What is this? It is a seed catalogue.
----What function
does it perform? It has seed and farm related items
for sale. It explains some of the pros
and cons to the different kinds of seeds available.
----What is the typical audience for these kinds of documents? Anyone that wants seeds.
----What content do documents like this usually contain? Like I said, it’s got the pros and cons of the different seeds. Then, there are germination rates, zone information, days to harvest, plant and fruit description and identification, and anything else that is relevant to growing the plants.
12. Do you have any examples you can share with me? No. I really don’t
have anything right here. But, you can
look at my log book. It’s just something
I designed. It serves its purpose.
12a. Looking through your log book, I noticed it was well
organized. Do you have an audience in
mind when you write in it? I mostly write it for myself. But, I try to keep it organized in case someone
needs to find something when I am not around, or maybe the guy that replaces me
someday might make use of it. The boss
goes through it sometimes, if he’s looking for something specific and I don’t
have time to help. Who knows I might
give it to the
Summary
My interview with Person P, confirmed there is more to communication as an agriculture producer, than what meets the eye. His concern for saving time and being efficient are his primary motivations for choosing a method of discourse. There are instances where he is bound by the norms within a discourse community, like when he fills out “standard” paperwork. But, there are also times when he makes up his own ways to communicate. His log book is in essence a method of recording and sharing important information with a format that he constructed, so that it could best meet his need for clarity and effectiveness. He is sensitive to his audience when he writes. Some typical forms of discourse he uses are sales brochures, legal documents, and various logs.
Person P is a manger on a small farm
in