A process is “a usually fixed or ordered series of actions or events leading to a result,” (Merriam Webster Online). When you’re writing to help people get work done, a process description is woefully incomplete without a step-by-step procedure that explains how to work the process.
Much of what infowriters do is writing procedures. Just today I organized simple, step-by-step instructions for a new employee to:
- Set up a CIFS share on a Netware server
- Store an operating system (OS) image on the share
- Configure a custom-written application to automatically install the OS on a workgroup’s new laptops.
(For the record, CIFS is Common Internet File System, a protocol based on the low-level file system implemented by Microsoft Windows, but that’s not the real point here.)
The message is that everyday procedures written by infowriters–like us—either assist or antagonize our co-workers and clients as they try to get their work done.
I’m putting together a series of articles about making written procedures more useful to the captive audience that relies on documented procedures to accomplish essential tasks. Only two posts so far, but there are more in the pipeline. Why not subscribe today so you won’t miss any of them?