Lesson 4
Planning, Logic
and Organisation
Objectives: This section will examine planning
the structure of communication, regardless of
how you are communicating, to ensure that
you give yourself every opportunity to be
understood.
By the end of this section, you should have a
sound understanding of the importance of:
·
planning and organisation when
communicating with your audience; and
·
logic in communication.
Professional and Technical Communication COMM11003 - Lesson 4
Planning
In any type of communication, you need to plan and logically organise your
information, regardless of your audience. Locker and Kaczmarek suggest that you
should set aside ‘two thirds of your time for planning and revising’ when writing
(2004, p.62) and this is a good rule of thumb for most communication practice.
To plan is to establish a scheme or structure for how you are going to do something.
This involves setting aims, goals, actions, evaluation strategies, and so on. A plan is
not necessarily doing something, but deciding on how you are going to do something.
A plan can be useful from writing an e-mail to a colleague, to organising a major
conference.
For example, you are asked to write a report on why a department is running over
budget. You could just write the report, or you could plan how to best write the
report so that it will answer the questions it needs.
An example of where planning is particularly relevant is in complex communication
tasks, such as creating content for a website, or creating a multi-chapter manual. You
need to look at the ‘bigger picture’ before you start on the detail.
Planning for successful communication should consider the PAIBOC principles
covered in Week 1. These are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Purpose
Audience
Information
Benefits
Objections
Context
In addition, when planning, you need to consider what method of communication
is most appropriate, as discussed in our previous lesson. Also try to anticipate the
response, although you should be careful not to ‘second guess’, which is putting
words into someone’s mouth. If you think about the range of responses you may get,
you can prepare yourself for alternative suggestions, and won’t be taken by surprise.
Anticipating a response can be taken to the level of presenting alternative solutions
(eg. Preferred Option 1, Preferred Option 2). The best planners are always prepared
for the worst case scenario, although resist the temptation to focus on negatives. Stay
focused on what you want; however, be prepared to discuss extraneous issues.
Are you an organised or disorganised person? Are you a natural planner or do
you never think ahead? Do you work with lists or try to remember everything in
your head? Think of your own ‘planning status’ and imagine the alternative...how
would you achieve it?
Now we will look at the importance of general organisation to help you communicate.
2
Professional and Technical Communication
Organisation
Successful communication in a professional environment is reliant on personal
organisation. From impromptu meetings, to formal presentations, you must be
organised. The key to organisation is, like planning, thinking ahead. A simple
organisation checklist is:
•
•
•
•
•
•
do I have everything I need for this meeting/presentation?
am I fully aware of the issue being discussed?
have I done adequate prior research?
am I aware of the formal agenda for this meeting?
do I know the role of people with whom I am dealing?
are my instructions to others clear?
Often, disorganisation is prompted by the fact that you are not really aware of the
issues yourself. For example, you have not done enough research, or you are sure
of what you want to get out of situation. Taking time to think is important in this
process. Appearing disorganised or ignorant of issues will not only make you appear
‘unprofessional’, it will also impede discussion or resolution of issues, particularly in
a group scenario.
Organisation is also important when writing. There are a number of different methods
that will help you organise your ideas, and ultimately you will find a method that is
most appropriate for you own personal style. Some people use post-it notes, white
boards, computer notepads and so on. You should work toward clustering your ideas
into groups so that you can logically discuss your arguments. For example, you may
need to write a user guide. You notes could be structured as such:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Purpose - provide instruction on building a ‘prefab’ stool
Audience - home handyperson
Information - everything you need to know about putting together our stool
(bought in hardware store). This will be your document.
•
materials...
•
tools...
•
pre-preparation...
•
putting together...
•
testing...
•
final touches...
•
safety issues...
Benefits - consumers able to build stool correctly, reducing complaints and returns
Objections - nil if manual correctly written
Context - low sales of product, lots of complaints and returns requesting refunds,
target market is amateur handyman.
The manual content is the INFORMATION. Headings/groupings will help you
then structure your information in an orderly and understandable fashion. The other
information guides you as you write so that you have clear direction. We will look at
writing in more detail in the next lesson.
3
Professional and Technical Communication COMM11003 - Lesson 4
Logic
Is this logical?
“Generally, however, your audience will be trying to anticipate. Making sense of
something will also depend on audience perspective. However, when communicating,
we don’t necessary want our audience to come to their own conclusion, particularly
when dealing with technical concepts. Logic is essentially the arrangement of information
to promote understanding. What makes sense to someone from one cultural background
will seem entirely ridiculous to someone from another. It is something that ‘makes
sense’, or allows you to come to a conclusion by act of reasoning. If you are not
maintaining a logical flow of information, your audience may get confused, and
therein, folks, lies the potential for misunderstanding.”
Confused? Why don’t we try again.
“Logic is essentially the arrangement of information to promote understanding. It is
something that ‘makes sense’, or allows you to come to a conclusion by act of
reasoning. However, when communicating, we don’t necessary want our audience
to come to their own conclusion, particularly when dealing with technical concepts.
Making sense of something will also depend on audience perspective. What makes
sense to someone from one cultural background will seem entirely ridiculous to
someone from another. Generally, however, your audience will be trying to anticipate.
If you are not maintaining a logical flow of information, they may get confused, and
therein lies the potential for misunderstanding.”
Was that a little easier to understand? You need to lead your audience into and out of
concepts you are trying to communicate. Your audience should have an idea of what
is coming next at every step of the communication stage, unless you are specifically
trying to confuse them (as in the case of a play, movie, suspense novel).
If you are having trouble comprehending information, your eye tends to wander, or
you have difficulty concentrating, because your brain is becoming confused as to the
messages it is receiving. Your job as a communicator is to make it as easy as possible
for your audience to understand you - reduce the noise, so to speak.
It is important to remember that what ‘makes sense’ to you, may not make sense to
someone else. Logic is a term that must be understood within a cultural context. That
is why you need to understand your audience.
Remember that all good communication, regardless of form or function, should
have:
•
•
•
an introduction
a body
a conclusion
All communication should also have the full attention of the audience. It is quite easy
for something to sound illogical when you are not listening!
4
Professional and Technical Communication
This ranges from asking your parents for a loan to having a general conversation with
a friend. Imagine you reaction if someone rang you and didn’t say hello, but launched
into something they wanted to say:
JENNY: Hello.
DAVID: Shopping this afternoon.
JENNY: What?
DAVID: I am going shopping this afternoon.
JENNY: Who is this?
DAVID: Oh, sorry, David. I’m in a rush. Do you want to go shopping this
afternoon? I’m looking for some new shirts.
JENNY: Oh, yes, sounds good.
DAVID: (hangs up)
Compare this to:
JENNY: Hello.
DAVID: Hi Jenny, it’s David. I’m going shopping for some new shirts this afternoon.
Do you want to come?
JENNY: Sounds great. What time?
DAVID: Around 4. I’ll pick you up then.
JENNY: OK. Bye.
DAVID: Bye.
The second scenario leaves Jenny in no doubt as to whom she is communicating
with, why, and what is now expected of her (be ready at 4 pm when David will pick
her up). In the first example, there are still unanswered questions which could cause
confusion.
We have looked at planning, organisation, and logic in relation to communication.
The structure of a particular type of communication defines the details of how
something can be said or written. We will look at structural techniques for written
and oral presentations in following chapters. You should now do the required reading
and exercise to complete this lesson.
References
Lockyer, K. and Kaczmarek, S. 2007, Business Communication: Building Critical Skills, 3rd
edn, New York: McGraw-Hill.
5
READINGS
TEXTBOOK: Business Communication: Building Critical Skills
1. Module 4 - Planning, Writing and Revising p.60 - 72.
2. Module 19 - Planning, Conducting, and Recording Meetings p.322 - 332.
Exercise 4
Let's look at planning. Specifically, you are going to plan for your first assignment,
which is due in two weeks.
Prepare a one page plan that addresses all the individual tasks you will need to do,
the time you will need to do the work, and what issues you will need to consider. Be
realistic about the time you think you are going to need to do tasks. It is not going
to take you three hours to write, review, edit the paper. It will probably take much
longer. The rule of thumb is that things take three times longer than expected!
Refer to Module 4 of your text, Business Communication: Building Critical Skills to give
some guidance on planning. Your plan should be in a table, such as that below.
Task
Review assignment question,
highlighting main points.
Review specified websites, and
print off manuals.
Review each manual in detail
using PAIBOC.
Time
1/2 hour
Date to be Completed By...
Now!
1 hour
Now!
2 hours
Friday, Week 4
External students should submit this in Week 6 with Assignment 1.
Internal students should hand this in at your weekly workshop.
VISit the www site
You should now visit the course website to access web-based links and readings,
and to discuss any thoughts you have on this lesson. The website address is in your
course profile, or can be accessed via http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au