THE MAKING OF A SUCCESSFUL SEMINAR:

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1 PNL-SA THE MAKING OF A SUCCESSFUL SEMINAR: PACIFIC NORTHWEST LABORATORY'S "QUEST FOR QUALITY" C. C. Lurntta S. L. Downs K. A. Parnll R. E. Alln Octobr 994 DISCLAIMER This rport was prpard as an account of work sponsord by an agncy of th Unitd Stats Govrnmnt. Nithr th Unitd Stats Govrnmnt nor any agncy throf, nor any of thir mploys, maks any warranty, xprss or implid, or assums any lgal liability or rsponsibility for th accuracy, compltnss, or usfulnss of any information, apparatus, product, or procss disclosd, or rprsnts that its us would not infring privatly ownd rights. Rfrnc hrin to any spcific commrcial product, procss, or srvic by trad nam, tradmark, manufacturr, or othrwis dos not ncssarily constitut or imply its ndorsmnt, rcommndation, or favoring by th Unitd Stats Govrnmnt or any agncy throf. Th Viws and opinions of authors xprssd hrin do not ncssarily stat or rflct thos of th Unitd Stats Govrnmnt or any agncy throf. Prsntd at th "'Working Smartr, I' Socity for Tchnical Communications Sminar Octobr 20-22, 1994 Vancouvr, British Columbia Prpard for th U.S. Dpartmnt of Enrgy undr Contract DE-AC06-76RLO 1830 Pacific Northwst Laboratory Richland, Washington 99352

2 DISCLAIMER Portions of this documnt may b illgibl in lctronic imag products. Imags ar producd from th bst availabl original documnt.

3 Th Making of a Succssful Sminar: Pacific Northwst Laboratory's "Qust for Quality" Cathrin C. Lumtta, Shannon L. Downs, Klly A. Parnll, and Robrt E. Alln Pacific Northwst Laboratory* Richland, Washington Abstract Fiv contractors locatd on or nar th Hanford Sit in southastrn Washington Stat support tchnical communications staffs, all trying to mt th nds of on primary customr: th U.S. Dpartmnt of Enrgy. Historically, ths staffs hav maintaind mrnt procsss and standards with rgard to documnt production, and littl intraction or infomation-sharing has occurrd To bgin rmdying that situation, th communications staff of Pacific Northwst Laboratory, a multiprogram national laboratory locatd in Richland, Wash., plannd and hostd a on-day "Qust for Quality" sminar. Th sminar was th first of its kind to compris tchnical communications profssionals from all th local DOE prim contractors, including tchnical ditors and writrs, publications assistants, txt procssors, and documnt production staff. Th goals of th sminar wr to idntify ways to improv th quality of Hanford's communication products and procsss, to strngthn tis among tchnical communications staffs, and to opn th lins of communication for futur collaborativ fforts. An ight-prson committ slctd topics, arrangd facilitis, rcruitd spakrs, coordinatd activitis, hostd th sminar, and prpard procdings. *PacificNorthwst Laboratory is opratd by Battll Mmorial Institut for th US.Dpartmnt of Enrgy undr contract DE-AC06-76RU) Snd corrspondnc to Cathrin Lumtta, Pacific Northwst Laboratory, Po Box 999, MSIN P7-58,Richland, WA

4 Th Making of a Succssful Sminar: Pacific Northwst Laboratory's "Qust for Quality" Cathrin C. Lumtta, Shannon L. Downs, Klly A. Parnll, and Robrt E. Alln Pacific Northwst Laboratory Richland, Washington Introduction Th tchnical communications staffs of fiv contractorslocatd on or nar th Hanford Sit (southastrnwashington Stat) all try to mt th nds of on primary customr: th U.S. Dpartmnt of Enrgy (DOE).Historically,ths staffs hav maintaind diffrnt procsss and standards with rgard to documnt production and hav had littl intraction or informationsharing. Toward rmdying th situation, th Applid Tchnologis Communication (ATC) sction of th Tchnical Information and Communications Dpartmnt (TI&CD) at Pacific Northwst Laboratory (PNL) hostd a "Qust for Quality" sminar in Novmbr Eighty-ight tchnical communicators attndd th half-day sminar, which covrd such topics as documnt dsign, sitwid production standards, and "rinvntinggovrnmnt." Th sminar was th first of its kind to compris tchnical communicationprofssionals from all Hanford Sit contractors; attnds includd tchnical ditors and writrs, publications assistants, txt procssors, and documnt production staff. Our goals for th sminar wr to idntify ways to improv th quality of Hanford's communication products and procsss, and to strngthn tis among tchnical communication staff at th sit. W also hopd to opn th lins of communication for futur collaborativfforts. This papr will addrss th planning and organization of th sminar, and th lssons larnd from th xprinc. Forming th Committ Svn ATC staff mmbrs voluntrd to plan th sminar. Each committ mmbr undrtook activitis in which h or sh was intrstd or had a particular xprtis: Th projct managr intrfacd with dpartmnt managrs and othr support staff, trackd progrss toward th assignd activitis, st up th committmtings and agndas, maintaind th sminar rgistration, and supportd th othr committ mmbrs whn ndd. Th liaison intrfacd with ky contacts at othr Hanford contractors and with th local profssional socity, and distributd initial survys dsignd to glan idas for possibl sssion topics and prsntrs. Th spakr advocat contactd th spakrs and panl mmbrs to dirct thm in planning thir prsntations, mad arrangmnts to organiz ndd matrials, wrot inviting sssion dscriptions for a sminar brochur, and nsurd propr st-up of th mting rooms on th day of th sminar. Th dsktop publishing xprt cratd a profssional imag for th sminar by dvloping a logo to carry th sminar thm throughout all our printd matrials: invitations, brochurs, namtags, survys, thank-you nots, and procdings.

5 Th scrtary had all th right contacts for ordring lunchs, stting up confrncrooms, and taking car of th all-importantcoff and rfrshmnts. Two documntation spcialists wr rsponsibl for putting togthr th confrnc procdings, which involvd arranging in advanc for nottakrs and providing thm instructions; gathring th lists of sssion attnds; diting and rwriting th mting summaris into a cohsiv styl; and putting togthr a quality documnt that corrctly summarizd th sminar prsntations and activitis. Gtting Organizd Th planning procss bgan 6 months bfor th sminar. Th committ first mt in May for dvlopmnt and discussion, and rsumd organizing actions in Octobr. At our first mting, w brainstormd and assignd th following tasks. Snd a lttr, signd by th TI&CD managr, to th managrs of all potntial attnds informing thm of th upcoming sminar and its purpos. Distribut a survy, via lctronicmail, to all potntial attnds to hlp idntify topics of intrst. Th rsponss would b compild and prsntd to th committ for discussion. Idntify and schdul confrncrooms. Produc and snd invitations to all potntial attnds. Snd a mssag to staff mmbrs in our own organizationrqusting thy sign up to bring rfrshmnts for th sminar. (A voluntr systm was chosn to kp costs down and to add a mor prsonal touch to th sminar.) Idntify and organiz prsntrs, nottakrs, sssion facilitators, group ladrs, tc. Writ, dit, produc, and distribut a procdings. Aftr tasks wr dtrmind and assignd, w assssd th tim it would tak to do ach task,thn dvlopd a schdul. Each mmbr prpard a cost stimat for his or hr tasks. Th projct managr compild th stimats and submittd thm to th ATC sction managr for rviw. Th nxt stp in th planning procss was to dtrmin th structur and thm for th confrnc. Our tim for th confrnc was rstrictd to 2.5 hours. W workd out a possibl schdul for th sminar: A 30-minut introductiodgathringwith two 45-minut sssionsof two topics ach, a 15-minut brak btwn thm, and a 15-minutwrap-up. Aftr much discussion,w dcidd to inmas th numbr of sssions to four in ordr to offr mor choics to th participants. Th thm of th sminar took a littl mor discussion and a lot mor thought. W dcidd that th sminar should focus on quality, and brainstormd th "Qust for Quality" titl. Bfor stopping work for th summr, w st a dat for th sminar and schduld th confrnc rooms. W chos a day of th wk that th most popl would likly b at work, and trid to avoid typical "busy sasons." Wdnsday, Novmbr 17 was chosn, and thn confrnc rooms wr schduld basd on thir siz and proximity to ach othr.

6 Brainstorming th Dtails In Octobr, th bginning of th nw fiscal yar, th committ bgan mting again. W r- stimatd OUT tim and costs for th sminar and an accounting cod was st up to track th costs. This task hlpd us accuratly track th associatd costs, bcaus managmnt was intrstd in possibly putting togthr anothr sminar on a largr scal. M r th committ discussd idas for topics (.g., bnchmarking, production managmnt, compiling multiauthor documnts, tc.), th liaison and spakr advocat draftd th topic survy, snt it out to all of th othr committ mmbrs for approval/commnts,finalizd th survy, and maild it to th potntial attnds. Whn th survys wr rturnd, th liaison compild th rsponss, and th committ analyzd for audinc intrst th topics that rcivd th gratst numbr of positiv rsponss: Would th topics chosn b of intrst to txt procssors? Publications assistants? Editors? Was thr at last on topic in ach sssion that would intrst ach of ths groups? Aftr w dcidd on our topics (s Tabl l),th committ stimatd th attndanc for ach sssion. From th intrst indicatd by th survys, w suspctd that Documnt Dsign and Documnt Production Standards would draw th biggst audinc. Thos topics wr slatd for both sssions. Th rmaining topics wr prsntd in on sssion. Also basd on th audinc assssmnt,w dcidd which confrnc room would host which topic and during which sssion (i.., th two topics that w assssd as probably having th most attnds wr placd in th largr confrnc rooms; Projct Collabmtion and Standard GnralizdMarkup Languag [SGML] wr put in diffrnt sssions bcaus thir main audincs wr th sam). Tabl 1. Sssion Topics Sssion I I T 3ics Dos and Don'ts D o c u rn n t of Documnt P ro d u c t io n Dsign Standards Undrstanding th UpandCorning SGML Dos and Don'ts D o c u m n t Documnt P ro d u c t io n Dsign Standards Collaboration of II Ralistic Projct Planning and Tracking What Dos it Aftr th topics wr chosn, th committ idntifidpotntial spakrs, facilitators, and nottakrs. Th spakr advocat mad contacts until suitabl spakrs wr found for ach sssion. W prfrrd to vary th prsntation formats, and suggstd to spakrs such options as lctur, panl prsntation, or storyboarding. Th documntation spcialists organizd th facilitators and nottakrs. Invitations wr prpard by th dsktop publishing xprt and approvd by th committ. Invitationswr snt to vryon who had indicatdintrst in th sminar, along with many othrs who wr idntifid as possibl attnds. Th invitation includd a rgistration form to dtach and rturn to th projct managr, which providd a way to track th numbr of participants. v attnds also wr invitd to ordr a box lunch or bring thir own and stay aftr th sssions toicontinu th lins of dialogu.

7 "h spakr advocat and dsktop publishing xprt prpard a brochur for th sminar that containd topic summaris (which wr also snt out ahad of tim via lctronic mail), spakr/facilitator biographical sktchs, sssion locations and tims, tc. This brochur was givn to th participants as thy ntrd th sminar. At th final mting in Novmbr, nam tags wr approvd for production, nottakrs wr finalizd,and day-of-sminar tasks wr assignd. Th lattr includd stting up rooms, work th rgistration tabl, organizing th food as it was brought by sction staff, gtting th lunchs from a local dli, and handling th dividrs in th larg confrnc room. Running th Sminar Smoothly W arrivd at th sminar sit at last 2 hours arly to nsur that th many last-minut adjustmnts wr mad. Th activitis on th last day includd th following: Mov chairs, tabls, and room dividrs as ncssary. St up chck-in tabl. Mak crtain microphons, ovrhad projctors, sound systms, tc. wr in working ordr. St up tabls with coff itms. Arrang rfrshmnts as thy wr dlivrd Plug in coff makrs approximatly 40 minuts bfor sminar bgins. Ic down cans of h i t juics and soft drinks. Locat cloak rooms and placs to hang umbrllas and stor outrwar. Travl to grocry stor, if ncssary, for xtra food itms, ic, or bvrags. Chck in gusts as thy arriv; hand out prprintd namtags. Mt with th prsntrs a fw minuts bfor th sminar to mak sur thy had vrything thy ndd. Mt with facilitators and nottakrs bfor sminar to mak sur thy had ncssary supplis, instructions, and dirctions to confrnc room. At th bginning of th sssions, chck with th facilitators or prsntrs to s if thy ndd xtra copis of handouts, supplis, tmpratur controls in th room, tc. Pick up th lunchs from th dli. During th sminar, it was ncssary for committ mmbrs to roam th sssions. W mad copis and trackd down supplis, collatd handouts for unprpard prsntrs, and took photos. Basd on th convrsations bfor th sminar and during th brak, w anticipatd that on of th sssion topics that didn't gnrat much intrst in th survy actually was going to hav th largst attndanc. W quickly switchd confrnc rooms to accommodat th largr group, which turnd out to b a vry wis dcision.

8 Aftr th sminar, many of th participants stayd for lunchtim convrsations. W committ mmbrs stayd to clan up th confrnc rooms, thn mt to discuss our prcptions of how things wnt and to captur on papr all of th lssons larnd. In th wk following th sminar, w snt thank-you nots to thos individuals who hlpd mak th sminar a succss. W also submittd a nomination for an stablishd award for thos communications staff who hlpd mak th sminar a succss (prsntrs, panl mmbrs, facilitators, and nottakrs). Procdings wr distributd to all who attndd th sminar. Gathring Fdback As th participants wr laving th sminar, w askd thm to fill out a survy to provid us thir fdback and imprssions. Excpt for a qustion asking rspondnts to rat th topics using a givn scal, all survy qustions wr opn-ndd, and includd th following: How could th sssion(s) hav bn mor rlvant or intrsting (plas spcify sssion[s])? How did you fl about th tim allottd for th sssions? Of th sssions you attndd, wr thr any spakrs/storyboardrs/panl mmbrs who gav outstanding prsntations, in ithr a positiv or ngativ sns (plas spcify and xplain)? Ovrall, did you fl th sminar nhancd your work xprinc? If so, how? Th following list summarizs th findings. Most attnds thought thr had not bn nough tim allottd for ach sssion--"w wr just gtting warmd up!" Only on sssion rcivd ngativ commnts rgarding th quality of th spakrs; howvr, thos rsponss wr mild, for xampl, "nd mor prsntation xprinc...but I'm sur tim and practic will chang this." Most rspondnts thought th sssions would hav bn mor rlvant or intrsting if mor xampls had bn usd in th prsntations. Almost vryon who rspondd thought th sminar nhancd thir work xprinc. Thy wr also vry xcitd about attnding a similar sminar in th futur. Thy wantd th sam topics covrd so thy could attnd th sssions that thy had missd this tim. Othr suggstions includd adding mor discussion in ach sssion and a wrap-up at th nd. Many popl commntd via th survys and vrbally that th food was an xcllnt and imprssiv touch, rinforcing th thory that if you fd thm, thy will com.

9 Lssons Larnd Th planning committ mt immdiatly aftr th sminar to discuss and list th lssons larnd throughout th procss. Ovrall, th sminar was a vry positiv xprinc; howvr, w idntifid svral ways th procss and sminar could hav bn improvd: Snd out th intrst survy as a hard copy to gt a bttr rspons. W suspct many popl didn't bothr to rad th lctronic mail mssag and thn dltd it. Mak th rgistration as obvious as possibl. Th smallrgistration form at th bottom of th invitation was ovrlookd by many. Don't rly on managrs to provid information to thir staffs. Gt information out dirctly by obtaining organization charts from th othr companis. Many of th ditors at on company didn't sm to hav rcivd th information. Hav attnds prrgistr for spcific sssions for mor accurat attndanc. (Many of th folks trid to prrgistr anyway.) Ask th prsntrs to giv dry-run prsntation to th committ to improv th quality of th prsntation, handouts, viwgraphs, tc. St up th wlcom tabl ar& to b rady for th arlybirds. St up a room for th spakrs to prpar thir matrials. Mt with th spakrs a fw minuts bfor th opning rmarks so w can b sur thy ar thr and rady. Provid a wrap-up or closur. (W trid unsuccssfully bcaus it was hard gtting vryon back into on room.) Provid a plac for nams on th fdback survy. Hav all th mting rooms closr togthr. (Avoid confrnc rooms on diffrnt floors.) Ask ach sssion prsntr to thank th attnds for coming and lt thm know about th wrap-up. Fd th attnds! Ovrall, w wr vry plasd at th turnout for th sminar, and th rsponss w rcivd to our follow-up survy wr vry positiv. W'd lik to s mor of ths typs of gathrings in th futur, prhaps vn a confrnc for tchnical communicators fromgovrnmnt laboratoris nationwid.