Category: Proceedings

Articles published in the STC Technical Communication Summit Proceedings related to policies and procedures.

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P&P SIG Spring 2022 Meeting of the Minds

Calling all Policies and Procedures (P&P) SIG members! Join us in a virtual meeting of the minds on Tuesday, March 22, 2022, from Noon EST/11am CST (1 hour). Come and get to know the SIG’s new co-Managers and other volunteer leaders, find out what we’ve been up to, and learn how you can contribute. We would also like to hear from you to get your input, ideas, and interests. Feel free to submit any questions or topics of interest prior to the meeting.

The webinar is FREE. To register, reply to manager@ppsig-mailstc.org with:

  • Your name
  • Your contact email address
  • Any input, ideas, interests, or questions.

We will respond by sending you a link to the webinar. Thank you in advance, and we look forward to talking with you.

One more thing!

We will be attending the STC Summit in Rosemont, IL 15 -18 May 2022.

It’s not too late to join us!

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Procedures – The Sacred Cow Blocking the Road

Proceedings-1998; By Michael Hughes and Loren Burke; Summary by Maria Christophel (2006)
This article introduces characteristics of procedures that produce a mismatch when compared to characteristics of users’ needs and expectations. It explains the principles of user interaction with written documentation and elaborates in detail on the emerging non-relevance of step-by-step- procedures as written today.

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Information Gathering for Policies and Procedures

Proceedings-1996; By Christine Dodwell; Summary by Maria Christophel (2006)
This article provides a view of the various methods for collecting, using, and maintaining policies and procedures information. It defines internal sources, external sources, and publications as places to begin research. It explains the steps for collecting the information as interviewing, researching, outlining, detailing, and following up. It presents the need for maintaining files of the research and documentation process.

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Writing Clear Policies and Procedures with Playscript

Proceedings-1999-J. Richard Flemming CMC; Summary by Maria Christophel (2006)
This article presents Playscript as a documentation technique, and addresses the most important benefits of using this technique for writing policies and procedures. It defines “Performance Orientation,” and details a method for using action writing. It establishes the need for structured writing as a complementing format to the Playscript technique to achieve clarity; and provides examples for using structured writing.

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The Team Approach to Writing Policies and Procedures

Proceedings-1996; By Diane L. Whitmer; Summary by Maria Christophel (2006)
This article provides a brief insight of the benefits inherent in using the team approach for writing policies and procedures. The article provides a method for structuring the documentation teams, for planning the writing, and for developing the documentation. The article describes team consensus, sense of ownership, stronger writing skills, and sense of hard-earned accomplishment as benefits of using the team approach.

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Flowcharting Processes and Procedures

Proceedings-1994; Raymond E. Urgo; Summary by Maria Christophel (2006)
This article is a brief summary of the discussion presented at the STC Conference. It introduces Flowcharting as a tool, which technical writers may use for communicating processes and procedures. This article notes the difference between a process and a procedure, and it defines the appropriateness of flowcharting for either. It mentions interrelation of processes, the source of flowcharting symbols, and the techniques of flowcharting design.

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Dynamic Content Management

Proceedings-2002-By Ann Rockley; Summary by Maria Christophel (2006)
This article defines dynamic content and provides examples of its use by companies of diverse operations and by E-commerce. It lists and explains the requirements for developing dynamic content, and provides a diagram that defines the process of dynamic content. It discusses the delivery of dynamic content documentation and explains the importance of dynamic content engines to retrieve the stored information. It notes this new writing method to be an opportunity for technical communicators, information designer/architect.