Technical Communicators: Who are We

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Technical CommunicatorsWho are We?

• Personality Characteristics of Technical
  Communicators

Deborah E. ShapiroPOB 8235Nesher 36781e-mail
debbies_at_barak-online.net
Research performed in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for an MA in Technical
Authorship Sheffield Hallam University, UK
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Reasons to look at personality

• TC literature focuses on cognitive psychology
• Cognitive psychology is intertwined with
  personality
• Criteria for being a good TC border on
  personality related issues
• Preliminary survey 19 TCs agreed that soft
  skills were more important than technical and
  professional expertise!

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The research question

• Are there personality characteristics that TCs
  have in common?

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Why Personality May be Important to Technical
Communicators

• A Look at Technical Communicators and the Five
  Factors of Personality

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Personality tool The Big 5

• Five-Factor Model of Personality

Openness
Conscientiousness
Extroversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
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Openness
Schriver KS (1997) Dynamics in Document Design.
John Wiley Sons, New York.

• Professional literature stresses the need for TCs
  to be open to new knowledge
• May relate to a TCs curiosity
• Ability to learn new technologies and tools
• Openness includes creativity and the desire to
  learn new things

Terminology of Howard Howard, 2000
Preserver Moderate Explorer
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Conscientiousness
Porter LR and Coggin W (1995) Research Strategies
in Technical Communication. John Wiley Sons,
New York.

• Professional literature places emphases on the
  TCs interest in detail, high ethical standards,
  and research skills
• Related to motivation
• Ability to meet deadlines
• Attention to small details
• Self-control and ethics

Terminology of Howard Howard, 2000
Flexible Balanced Focused
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Extraversion
Aiken LR (1997) Psychological Testing and
Assessment. Ninth edition, Allyn and Bacon,
London.

• Personality research indicates that introverted
  people may be more sensitive to pain, more easily
  bored, and more easily disrupted by
  over-stimulation
• How well can the TC communicate with others?
• Team work
• Sociability

Terminology of Howard Howard, 2000
Introvert Ambivert Extravert
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Agreeableness
Molisani J (1999) Tools or talent? Hiring a
technical writer. Intercom, 46 (2) 24-25.

• Want ads often include phrases like, ability to
  get along well with others.
• TCs are often advised to work on their people
  skills
• Is the TC cooperative with others?
• When hiring, we want to like our colleagues

Terminology of Howard Howard, 2000
Challenger Negotiator Adaptor
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Neuroticism
Sharples M (1999) How We Write writing as
Creative Design. Routledge, London.

• Writing ability has been shown to be affected by
  apprehension, anxiety, and motivation
• Reflection of the extent to which various stimuli
  affect a person
• Is the TC easily upset/disturbed when challenged?
• Do schedule changes affect their writing ability?

Terminology of Howard Howard, 2000
Resilient Responsive Reactive
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Research Expectations based on the Literature
O
Preserver Moderate Explorer
C
Flexible Balanced Focused
E
Introvert Ambivert Extravert
A
Challenger Negotiator Adaptor
N
Resilient Responsive Reactive
Terminology of Howard Howard, 2000
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Results

• 223 Respondents

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Results
Terminology of Howard Howard, 2000
22 74 127
26 128 69
37 129 57
6 69 148
108 95 20
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OCEAN Results (for handout)
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But what does it all mean?

• There is a dynamic for the interaction of various
  traits.
• Looking closely at this, we can begin to see what
  is most important to us as TCs and why.

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Opennessa key factor!
Moderate (o) 33
Explorer () 57
Preserver (-)10

• Openness to new experiences, a strong inner world
  and enjoying working with ideas and intellectual
  interests seems to be a common factor across the
  board.
• Largest group of Preservers (9 of 22) were
  Israelis!
• Openness should be a major consideration in
  career counseling and curriculum planning

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But so is Agreeableness!
Negotiator (o)31
Adaptor ()66
Challenger ()3

• The importance of Agreeableness lies in its
  relation to the other factors
• A, Eo (n81) people have a flexible style of
  relating
• Co, A (n72), people find the balance between
  research writing, in a friendly communicative
  manner.
• Agreeableness will be a factor that affects team
  work and cooperation. Since TCs are prone to
  being adaptors, they may need to learn how to
  negotiate more.

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What about Extroversion/ Introversion?
Extravert ()26
Ambivert (o)57
Introvert (-) 17

• Introversion may interfere with effective
  interpersonal communication.
• Extroversion contributes to a job well done!
• High Openness (Explorer) compensates for
  introversion!
• Training should focus on the TCs individual
  style of communication since introversion may
  interfere with meeting others needs

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Conscientiousness
Focused ()31
Balanced (o)57
Flexible (-)12

• Contrary to implications of TC literature, high
  conscientiousness was not a common factor
• But it was for Editors and Managers!
• High Conscientiousness (Focused) may prevent one
  from knowing when to stop - an important factor
  for TCs who are handling ever changing deadlines
  and products.

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Neuroticism
Reactive ()9
Responsive(o)43
Resilient (-)48

• For TCs, the importance of this factorappears
  when correlated with Conscientiousness
• Conscientiousness Neuroticism provide a
  reflection of a persons competitive performance
• May also be a reflection of motivation and
  self-confidence
• The majority of TCs had a Co/N-
  (Balanced/Resilient) or C/N- (Focused/Resilient)
  profile
• None of the managers surveyed had a Reactive
  score
• Highest of Reactives was among Editors

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Review What TCs had in common O, Co, Eo, A,
N-/No

• Explorers, O
• open to new experiences knowledge
• have a well developed inner world
• enjoy working with ideas intellectual interests
• Balanced, Co
• able to move from production to research and back
• Ambiverts, Eo
• able to work in a group, or in isolation
• handle collaborative work situation better than
  introverts or extroverts

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Review What TCs had in common O, Co, Eo, A,
N-/No

• Adapters, A
• straightforward, frank
• willing to help others
• yield under conflict
• Resilient/Responsive, N-/No
• emotionally stable in competitive situation
• not easily ruffled
• when combined with C (Focused), is the
  stereotypical achiever

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Bonus Info Results from Israel
9 (of 22) 24 (of 74) 28 (of 127)
5 (of 26) 36 (of 128) 20 (of 69)
13 (of 37) 35 (of 129) 13 (of 57)
4 (of 6) 17 (of 69) 40 (of 148)
30 (of 108) 26 (of 95) 5 (of 20)
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Conclusion

• Skills, language knowledge are not enough
• Cognitive skills are not enough
• Personality does affect our work
• The TCs surveyed did have personality traits in
  common O, Co, Eo, A, N-/No
• TC training should teach interpersonal skills
  with a focus on the TCs own personality
• Personality traits should be a consideration in
  career counseling

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What Do You Think?
Deborah E. Shapiro POB 8235 Nesher 36781 Tel
04 820 7728 E-mail debbies_at_barak-online.net
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Selected Bibliography

• Buchanan, T. (2001). Online implementation of an
  IPIP Five Factor Personality Inventory On-line.
  Available http//wwwffi.individualdifferences.org
  .uk
• Coe M (1996) Human Factors for Technical
  Communicators. John Wiley Sons, NY
• Delanghe S (2000) Using learning styles in
  software documentation. IEEE Trans on
  Professional Communication vol. 43, no. 2, pp.
  201-205
• Howard PJ and Howard JM (1992) The Big Five
  Quickstart An introduction to the five-factor
  model of personality for human resource
  professionals. Vol. 60, No. 2 Journal of
  Personality
• Kellogg RT (1994) The Psychology of Writing.
  Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford.
• Molisani J. (1999) Tools or talent? Hiring a
  technical writer. Intercom vol. 46, no. 2 pp.
  24-25
• Pervin, L.A. (1996) The Science of Personality.
  John Wiley Sons, Inc., New York.
• Piedmont, R.L. (1998) The Revised NEO Personality
  Inventory. Clinical and research applications.
  Plenum Press, NY
• Schriver KS (1997) Dynamics in Document Design.
  John Wiley Sons, New York.