When newcomers join an organization, one of the most challenging tasks that they face is learning to write the way that particular organization recognizes as appropriate. Supervisors who review the writing produced by those newcomers are often expected to ensure that the documents meet organizational standards. This article, based on an ethnographic study of newcomers in two organizations, describes what newcomers need to learn in order to write appropriately and suggests resources and strategies that can help guide employees through the maze of organizational discourse conventions. Part II of this article will describe how newcomers learn and will provide further suggestions for facilitating learning about writing in the workplace.

For part I see ibid., June 1998. Part I focused on what newcomers need to learn in order to write appropriately on the job and suggested resources and strategies to help supervisors guide their new employees through the maze of organizational discourse conventions. This article, based on the same ethnographic study of newcomers in two organizations which provided the basis for Part I, will describe theories that explain how newcomers learn, show evidence of those theories in action, and provide further suggestions for facilitating learning about writing in the workplace.