MEMO TO: Julie Freeman FROM: Amanda Jones DATE: September 1, 2003 SUBJECT: Interview with Sharon Rangazas The memo will both summarize and analyze the information obtained in my interview with Mrs Sharon Rangazas, Senior Lecturer and Assistant to the Chair of the Department of Mathematical Sciences at IUPUI, regarding professional writing skills used in her particular workplace I will also outline the personal goals I have set for my own writing Interview Summary According to Mrs Rangazas, the two most important characteristics of effectively written documents are clarity and concision Always a mathematician, she believes sound, logical arguments are the keys to achieving this in her writing This practice helps her eliminate wordiness and omit superfluous information as well as achieve brevity in her overall document Keeping her documents brief and to the point, she says, is a sign of respect toward her readers and their valuable time Sound arguments also help ensure that readers will be able to follow her thought process and arrive at the conclusion she desires Mrs Rangazas writes for many different audiences, often with varying levels of knowledge These may include the department chair, faculty and occasionally staff from other units It is important, she says, to keep the needs of the readers in mind Even readers with the highest level of knowledge about a subject need to be kept informed about changes and advancements She also advises that writers remember that documents are often passed along to other readers (perhaps outside the intended audience) She feels it is important to take care in what is written so as not to offend or place blame on others Especially in a business setting, these things have a way of coming back to haunt you The writing process of brainstorming, outlining, obtaining feedback, reviewing and revising is common to most writers, and Mrs Rangazas is no exception She follows this process for most documents, including large-scale projects and proposals and, occasionally, even e-mails The first step, she says, is to pinpoint the purpose of the document and then decide what needs to be done She attempts to come at an assignment from the reader’s perspective so that she can anticipate their next question By doing so, she is able to guide their thought process to her desired conclusion Mrs Rangazas also asserts that it is imperative to present all of the necessary information at once so as not to leave the reader hanging If a writer does not provide a full explanation, then the reader is likely to make wrong assumptions and the purpose of the document will not be achieved Miscommunication can lead to confusion, frustration and further correspondence A writer can avoid these unnecessary hassles be anticipating and meeting his reader’s needs and being sure that his purpose is achieved before he considers his document complete To obtain the information necessary for most of her workplace writing, which is geared toward departmental administration, Mrs Rangazas communicates with other faculty members, other departments and even other universities personally She does often need to employ traditional research methods for media such as trade journals, publication or reference materials The timeframes for completing writing tasks vary greatly depending on the assignment Many emails and business letters can be completed daily However, some administrative writing can take weeks to complete This is because the nature of the assignments requires input and feedback from many different sources Generally, Mrs Rangazas spends at least two hours writing each day, especially as e-mail correspondence replaces her daily telephone communication E-mail has come to play a very important role in today’s modern workplace Whereas, in the past, all electronic communication was backed up, today, it is the preferred method of communication in many offices With the advancements of e-mail software, it’s similarity to word processing and the availability of attaching files, documents can now be produced and received more quickly, without losing format and quality This instantaneous communication also saves time previously needed for one-on-one meetings, which can be difficult to arrange between hectic schedules of co-workers Although many of her writing tasks are self-assigned, all of Mrs Rangazas’ tasks are means for addressing problems which need to be solved Sometimes her chore is as simple as sending an e-mail to obtain information from someone Larger undertakings (such as proposals) require collaborative work and a much longer timeframe For these documents, created within a committee, the work is divided fairly among members until a draft of the final document can be made The draft will then be edited by each member until they all feel it addresses it purpose successfully Mrs Rangazas will also often edit documents from the department chair or other faculty members to be sure that their arguments are convincing When trying to encourage others to spend money or other resources for her department’s goals, it is very important to depict the need for cooperation while remaining upbeat and persuasive Mrs Rangazas enjoys writing professionally, but only when it is effective If a document has not served its purpose, then she feels her time has been wasted and could been better spent doing something else That said, there are many documents she has written which fill her with a sense of pride Documents present not only a writer’s message, but also characteristics of the writer personally Effective, well-formed documents can portray a writer as able to solve problems and worthy of respect In this sense, writing is an indispensable tool in the workplace Mrs Rangazas also discussed some problems her organization is currently experiencing One of those is the textbook confusion experienced at IUPUI She explained that breakdowns in both organization and communication led to textbook unavailability in nearly every department For the most part, the books were sitting in the university’s warehouse (just a few blocks from the bookstore), but no one at the store felt it was their duty to retrieve them and thus make them available for purchase As and administrator and a teacher, Mrs Rangazas invested a great deal of time and effort in tracking down and retrieving books for her students – although these tasks are probably not listed in her job description Personal Goals While I feel that there is little I need to improve upon in my writing mechanically, after speaking with Mrs Rangazas, I feel there are several key areas I can focus on stylistically The following are my goals for this semester and my professional writing in general: • • • • • Determine a specific purpose and be sure that I have achieved it Determine a specific audience and its needs Anticipate questions and use answers to guide readers Eliminate wordiness Use peer feedback (especially for meeting the needs of a reader) I’m looking forward to enhancing my writing skills this semester in W231