Speaker 1: Clear and accurate instructions and procedures are essential to the world of work. Instructions tell and frequently show how to do something, perform a simple task, operate a machine, construct, install, maintain, monitor, adjust, or repair equipment. Let's take a look at how to write instructions for business. While the purpose of writing instructions is to explain how to perform a task in a step-by-step manner, the process of writing procedures is slightly different. Often the two terms are incorrectly used interchangeably. Procedures refer to policies, duties, protocols, and guidelines that a business or organization expects its employees to follow. Perhaps no other type of occupational writing demands more from the writer than do instructions because there's so much at stake for both you and the reader. The reader has to understand what you write and be able to perform the steps. You cannot afford to be unclear, inaccurate, or incomplete. Instructions are significant for many reasons, including safety, efficiency, and convenience. Well-written instructions help the business run smoothly and efficiently. No work would be done if employees did not have clear instructions to follow. Clear and easy-to-follow instructions make a customer's job easier and less frustrating. Instructions reflect a product or service's quality and convenience. They can create goodwill or destroy it. How many times have you heard complaints about a company because its instructions were hard to follow? Instructions can be given in a variety of formats, both in print and online, and can include numbered steps, bulleted steps, concise paragraphs, and outline instructions. Assess your audience needs by putting yourself in the reader's position. Do not assume that your readers have performed the process before or have operated the equipment as many times as you have. The more you know about how and why your reader will use the instructions, the steps will likely to cause problems, and the background information you need to supply, the easier and clearer your instructions will be to follow. Here's some key questions to ask yourself about your audience. The more you know about your audience, the better your instructions will be. To determine your reader's needs, ask yourself the following. How and why will my readers use instructions? How much background information should I provide? What steps will most likely cause the most trouble? And what types of visuals do I need to supply? To make sure your instructions are accurate and easy for your audience to perform, you must plan your steps, perform a trial run, write and test a draft, and revise and edit your instructions. To make sure your instructions are accurate and easy for your audience to perform, you must plan your steps, perform a trial run, write and test your draft, and revise and edit. Plan your steps Before writing, do some research to understand completely the process you're asking someone to perform. Make sure you know the reason for doing something, the parts or tools required, the steps to follow in the right order, the results of the job, and the potential risks or dangers. Perform a trial run. Actually do the job. Go through it a number of times. Take notes as you go along and be sure to divide the job into simple, distinct steps for readers to follow. Don't give readers too much in any one step. Each step should be complete, sequential, concise, and easy for your audience to understand and perform. Write and test your draft. Transform your notes into a draft or drafts of the instructions you want your readers to follow. Then conduct a usability test by asking individuals from the intended audience, like customers or technicians, to follow your instructions as you've written them. Ask participants to read your instructions aloud and ask questions. Observe where they run into difficulty or get results different from yours. Revise and edit. Based on your observations and user feedback, revise your instructions to avoid missing steps, too many activities in one step, steps that are out of order, or unclear and incomplete steps. To write instructions that readers can understand and turn into effective action, observe the following guidelines. Write clear, short sentences in the active voice. Use precise terms. Include connective words as signposts and number each step. Readers welcome visuals in almost any set of instructions. A visual can help readers get a job done more quickly and increase their confidence to see what an object looks like fully assembled, identifies the size and placement of parts, understand how to assemble parts, and illustrate right and wrong ways of doing something. Further, they help the audience see if a piece of equipment works properly, identifying possible sources of danger, and determining whether a problem is serious. The number and kinds of visuals you include will, of course, depend on the process or equipment you're explaining and your audience background and needs. Some instructions may require only one or two visuals. Except for very short instructions, a set of instructions generally contains six main parts. Let's take a look. These parts include an introduction, a list, steps to perform, warnings, conclusion, and troubleshooting. The function of your introduction is to provide readers with enough necessary background information to understand why and how your instructions work. Clearly, some instructions do not need a list of all the materials readers will need, but when you do, make sure your list is complete and clear and provided up front. The heart of your instructions will consist of clearly distinguished steps that readers must follow to achieve the desired results. At appropriate places in the steps of your instructions, you may have to stop the reader to issue a warning, a caution, or a note. A conclusion might also tell readers what to expect once a job is finished, describe the results of a test, or explain how a piece of equipment is supposed to look or operate. Troubleshooting guides and tips help customers avoid frustration at the expense of a service call. Instructions are a critical tool in business communication. A procedure is an established or official way of doing something. Procedures deal with a wide range of how-to activities within an organization. Policy procedures have a major impact on a company and its workers. They affect schedules, payrolls, acceptable and unacceptable behaviors at work, and a range of protocols governing the way the organization does business internally and externally. Procedures also help an organization to run smoothly and consistently. Adhering to them, all employees follow the same regulations and standards. Many times, procedures involve a policy or a change in the work environment. Help readers by including, whenever necessary, definitions, headings, and explanations, and offer to assist employees with any questions they might have. Always present the procedures to management to approve or revise before sending them to employees. No one ever complained that a set of instructions or procedures were too clear or too easy to follow. you