Curriculum Vitae

PhD in Science

Technical writer for 3 years (Docaret)

Technology companies

Documentation for engineers and technicians

Instructions manuals

Training material

Research scientist for 5 years

Fabrizia Poli

Fabrizia Poli

Paris Diderot - 5ème Colloque International Communication technique de plein champ

February 3, 2017

Intra-organizational communication

without barriers:

a case study of a technical communications team

within a large organization

Outline

Introduction of the company and the TechComm team

Description of the collaborations between the TechComm

and other partners

Methods to break down/prevent barriers

Conclusions

Corporate Profile

Technology company in energy

Over 100 engineering and technology centers

Over 100,000 people

Over 100 nationalities

80 countries

Communcation Functions

Technical

Technology

Review

Corporate Marketing

Communication

Media relations

Social media

Corporate website

& communication

(press releases,

advertising …)

Articles on tech

innovation and history

Semi-annually

Open access

Marketing campaigns

Online marketing

Trade shows

Advertising animations

Public website

Brochures, posters etc.

Operations support &

Technical documentation

User’s manuals

Knowledge and information

management

Information technology

Corporate Profile

100 TechComm specialists

3

4

4

TechComm Team

Doc Manager

Lead specialist Lead specialist Lead specialist

Technical writers

• Client-specific projects

• Existing products

• Content re-use

• Tight deadlines

• Engineering project

s

• Long development

phases

• Sustaining projects

• Existing products

• Content re-use

Client/

Product

support

Client/

End User

Manufacturing

Inform.

Technology

Marketing

Product

developers

TechComm

TechComm Partners

TechComm Collaborations

Client/

product

support

Client/

End User

Manufac

turing

Informa-

tion

Techno-

logy

Marke

ting

Product

developers

TechWriter

TechComm & Product Development

Content creation

Information collected

Content review

Content editing Publication

Collaboration Communication

Two-ways

Direct Computer-aided

Collaborative efforts

Main information source

Face-to-face

TechComm & Client Support

Develop Review Approval Publication Amendment

Matter expert

reviewer Manuals on client

support page

Informed about serious

problems/risks

Collaboration Communication

One-/Two-ways

Direct /indirect Computer-aided

Intermittent Face-to-face

TechComm & Client

Develop Review Approval Publication Amendment

Field test Feedbacks

Collaboration Communication

One-/Two-ways

Direct /indirect

Computer-aided Intermittent

TechComm & End user

Client/User TechComm Client

support Alert

Feedback Feedback

Per year: ~70,000 users, ~ 10 Million views, 120,000 tickets

TechComm Client/User

Feedback

Field test review

Collaboration Communication

One-/Two-ways

Direct /indirect

Computer-aided Intermittent

TechComm & Barriers

How do we break these barriers?

Can we prevent these barriers?

Barriers

Time

Knowledge background

Communication skills

Language

(spoken, technical glossary)

Distance

(geographical, time zone, cultural,

scopes)

Engineer

collaborative

and involved

Adap

tab

ility

Curi

osity

Project plan

Interpersonal skills

Breaking down Barriers – Writer skills

Time

Knowledge background

Communication skills

Language

Distance

Breaking down Barriers – interpersonal skill

Adapta

bility

Project plan

Interpersonal skills

Curiosity

Time

Knowledge background

Communication skills

Language

Distance

Breaking down Barriers - Adaptability

Curiosity

Adap

tab

ility

Project plan

Interpersonal skills

Engineer

collaborative

and involved

Time

Knowledge background

Communication skills

Language

Distance

Breaking down Barriers - Planning

A

dapta

bili

ty

Curio

sity

Planning

Interpersonal skills

Engineer

collaborative

and involved

Time

Knowledge background

Communication skills

Language

Distance

Curi

osity C

urio

sity

Project plan

Interpersonal skills

Breaking down Barriers -Curiosity

Engineer

collaborative

and involved

Time

Knowledge background

Communication skills

Language

Distance

Engineer

willing to

share/work

Curi

osity

Adap

tab

ility

Project plan

Interpersonal skills

Is it enough?

Time

Knowledge background

Communication skills

Language

Distance

Breaking down Barriers – Databases shearing

Project Plan

Topic Map

Review record

Drawings

Specifications

Manufacturer manual

Testing procedures, etc

Client

support

Engineer TechComm

End user’s best practice,

Share knowledge, Alerts

Time

Knowledge background

Communication skills

Language

Distance

Breaking down Barriers – Communication channels

@

Video

Conferencing

Telephone calls

Software

calendar

Instant messages

Emails

Is it enough?

Time

Knowledge background

Communication skills

Language

Distance

Breaking down Barriers – Information Management

Documentation life cycle Development, fields, review… .

Responsibilities Author, reviewer, approver

.

Formal review Feedbacks of all reviewer are recorded

Timeline Controlled timeline

Building an effective

collaboration at all levels

TechComm processes

known to all parties

Time

Knowledge background

Communication skills

Language

Distance

Summarizing

Knowledge sharing

Team work

Openness

Company values Work to prevent barriers

(well-established process,

upward communication)

Managerial

philosophy

Personal / technical

skills

ThechWriter

Communication

framework

Communication channels

(e-mails, messaging, etc.)

Knowledge sharing

(Database access,

community of knowledge)

All of you for the attention

My team leads

Docaret

&

TechComm - Authoring and publishing tools

Arbotext

Illustrator, Photoshop

Custom Content Management System

• DITA map and topics

• Content re-use

• Single-Source

• Multi-channel publishing (Web help, multi-pdf, pdf)

Product/Client support online page