What it really comes down to is the 'context' the abbreviation or acronym is being used in.
If you have a group that all know the subject being discussed or written about, most will likely know the particular 'shorthand'. But it is still poor form in technical magazines or journals to use them without spelling them out the first time they are used in an article.
I read a rather wide range of trade magazines because my work involves so many industries and processes, and there are a lot of the same abbreviations in different industries that mean completely different things. I become very annoyed if I have to go digging for the proper meaning if the writer (And their editor!) forgot to include it!
I've been in meetings where it was necessary to stop and straighten out the mess caused by the misunderstandings due to abbreviations and acronyms. Cases where these shortcuts ended up costing a lot of time.