In Unit Three, we learned how to write with a ‘You Attitude’. It was a great lesson and I particularly enjoyed Chapter 11 of Technical Communication which gave concrete examples on how to tweak your writing to accomplish the ‘You Attitude’.
Researching the report was fun. It largely consisted of thinking up questions whose answers would be beneficial to the findings and recommendations of the report. I used SurveyGizmo to conduct the survey. In the future, I will use Google Forms since the user experience is easier for creating, editing and sending the survey as well as viewing the results.
Even though the survey only asked six questions to thirteen employees, because the questions were open-ended, it took a while to read through all the responses and organize everything that was said. I found this part the most exciting since it really made the formal report draft come together.
Writing the formal report was surprisingly painless. This is in large part due to the roadmap that was supplied—that of Joanne Leesing’s Example Report.
Reviewing my peer’s formal report draft was the trickiest part of this unit. Since I was a novice at formal reports, I felt a little out of my depth offering advice. The structure of my peer’s report was different from mine, so I was unsure if it was correct of him to include similar conclusions in different areas. I erred on the side of caution and assumed it was.
Overall, I am very happy with this unit, I am continuously trying to apply the ‘You Attitude’ in all of my correspondence, in class and out.