#31945
The Five Hidden Costs of Running a CMS
We all know content management systems (CMS) can be beneficial for most websites. However, they do come with five hidden costs. Many think of a content management system as a magic bullet that solves all of their content woes. Unfortunately the cost of a CMS is greater than its price tag. Before making a decision about whether to adopt a CMS, or indeed which CMS to choose, you first need to be aware of the hidden costs. These include: the cost of training; the cost to quality; the cost to functionality; the cost of redundancy and flexibility; the cost of commitment. It is important that you understand the impact of each beginning with the cost of training.
Boag, Paul. Vitamin (2008). Articles>Content Management>Management
#28597
Five Levels of Agile Planning: From Enterprise Product Vision to Team Stand-up 
Existing agile methods often focus on small, single-team projects and overlook the broader impact of large, multi-team and multi-year projects. This paper outlines a distinct planning framework that has been used successfully in large-scale agile software development projects and relies on five levels: product vision, product roadmap, release plan, sprint plan and daily commitment. Each of the five levels of planning addresses the fundamental planning principles: priorities, estimates and commitments. In this paper, the main agile principles are introduced, as well as the Lean principles upon which the agile methods are built. One of those Lean principles, Muri, or overburdening of people, is addressed through the extension of the agile planning process. The extension of the most used agile planning technique (iteration planning) is described in detail, both the motivation for the extension as well as the collaboration practices behind each planning level. In the final chapter, the impact of product complexities on the planning process is evaluated, and a solution to create a smooth flow in the planning/delivery cycle is presented.
Smits, Hubert. Rally Software Development (2007). Articles>Project Management>Agile
#27637
Five Questions to Ask Your Web Development Team
As a client or manager responsible for a web development project you don't need to know anything about how a standards based web site is created. However you do need to know that your project is addressing these five important issues.
Allsopp, John. Western Civilization (2005). Articles>Web Design>Project Management>Standards
#30353
Fixed Quotes and Broken Promises
How to tie down the details of a project and protect yourself from unexpected changes that can drag a 'peach project' into the 'pits of despair and financial ruin.'
Juillet, Christopher. Boston Broadside (1990). Articles>Project Management>Planning
#20066
Flowcharting Performance-Based Processes and Procedures 
This session distinguishes between analytical- and performance-based flowcharting of process and procedures. The session will present why, how, and when flowcharting is considered superior to text alone, along with defining flowcharts and symbols. The session distinguishes between processes and procedures and the various styles, formats, and trends that have developed historically primarily due to different origins, purposes, and technologies. The session also presents recommended standards for creating flowcharts, and addresses issues on tools, training, and trends.
Urgo, Raymond E. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Project Management>Planning>Workflow
#30213
Focused Leadership in a Dispersed Environment 
Society chapters often involve members who live and work in a very wide geographic area. Even members of chapters with smaller physical areas face long commute times from work sites to meeting sites. Often, the time spent commuting is enough to discourage even the most stalwart Society member from participation. Chapter leaders and committee managers are left with the problem of how to offer their members the means to participate in meetings more effectively.
White, Don. Tieline (2007). Articles>Management>Community Building>STC
#31557
Forget ROI, Let's Show How We're Making Money
Throw a stone in a room full of communication professionals and there's a good chance you'll hit one that will back up this statement: senior management loves to see ROI measurements, but seeing how communication initiatives create sales trumps all other measurements. From a marketing communication perspective, simply receiving feedback from a sales team can help your team answer most senior-level frustrations. From the perspective of a sales force, understanding marketing efforts (and how those efforts actually work) aids in everyone's ultimate objective: securing sales.
Cohen, Ephraim. Communication World Bulletin (2003). Articles>Management>Communication>Assessment
#27129
The nucleus of building an online community is a popular an well run forum. When building a community using php CMS software the forum is the first thing that should be configured. Unfortunately most opensource php CMS software is lacking in the area that it should be strongest, the forum. For users a lot of time and effort goes into choosing the right software to accomplish the task of building an online community. Missing is the effort by the CMS developers to ensure that the software is up to the job.
Hiveminds (2006). Articles>Content Management>Community Building
#30684
The Four Disciplines of Content Management
A lot of stuff gets lumped under the heading 'content management.' In my experience, however, all the technical activities under the banner of content management can general be broken out into four disciplines.
Gadgetopia (2007). Articles>Content Management
#31688
The Fox and the Hedgehog Go to Work: A Natural History of Workplace Collusion 
The author argues that an ironic approach to collusion can help shift the focus of resistance away from the relatively rare events surrounding implacable opposition or total unanimity to the quotidian aspects of workplace politics. Collusion is characterized as an outcome of organizational politics conducted between the traditionally opposed parties of radical industrial sociology (i.e., managers and workers) under the guidance of an ironic mode of cognition. Irony is depicted as a foxlike way of gaining 'a perspective on perspectives,' which provides a means of understanding stalemate, accommodation, and collusion by showing how opposing ideological positions are indebted. It also illuminates the moments when collusion breaks down and resisting parties become implacably opposed hedgehogs (one position prevails over the other), leading to overt conflict and resistance.
Sewell, Graham. Management Communication Quarterly (2008). Articles>Management>Workplace>Collaboration
#31017
From a Business and Science Search Firm
Discusses some principles of managing an information search firm and their similarities to managing corporate libraries. Compares information search firms to other professional service firms. Describes the evolution of one small business and science information search firm. Gives insights into managing customer service and client relationships, quality control and processes, risk taking and professional growth. Touches on David Maister's theory of the quality experience and Michael Gerber's idea of the role of the entrepreneur vs the technician in small start-up businesses.
Lesky, Cynthia. Business Information Review (2008). Articles>Content Management>Knowledge Management>Search
#27453
From Enterprise Content Management to Effective Content Management
The vision of enterprise content management (ECM) as a single system to manage all content became popular in 2000 and 2001. In theory, having a single, centralized system to organize and manage all of an organization’s content into an accessible and navigable electronic library is very attractive. Companies must manage a wide array of assets, including internal how-to documents to support business processes, internal and external correspondence, marketing literature, and product documentation. Organizations are buried in digital content, leaving people scrambling to find the right information when they need it.
Gottlieb, Seth. Optaros (2005). Articles>Content Management
#20331
From Technical Writing to Knowledge Engineering
This paper describes one writer's journey from capturing disparate bits of information as a technical writer in a large corporation to creating knowledge bases of related and evolving data, information, and knowledge. It illustrates how information development professionals can leverage their communication skills into highly-valued, interactive positions, working on teams with domain experts, information technology and information retrieval professionals, and end-users.
Knodel, Elinor L. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Writing>Knowledge Management>Technical Writing
#22054
Any document has three distinct parts: front matter; text; and back matter and reference material.
#31231
Frontline Managers and Human Resources: Partnering for Effective Communication
In my human resources consulting practice, when I ask employees about their major concerns, their primary complaint is how poorly their managers communicate with them about human resources issues, especially compensation and job performance objectives. Ensuring that effective employee communication is embedded in the company’s culture is everyone’s responsibility—from senior executives on down. However, the primary players in effective employee communication are human resources professionals and frontline managers.
Rubino, John A. Communication World Bulletin (2007). Articles>Management>Business Communication
#22415
Fulfilling the Promise of Content Management
The Web explosion brought with it the proliferation of published content and the heightened need for content management (CM). Before that CM lived primarily in the publishing industry, where it never truly fulfilled its promise. Now that the 'dot-com' hysteria has settled CM has become a focal point again as mature, more traditional enterprises from all industries tune their sites – Internet, intranet and extranet.
Kartchner, Chris. ASIST (2001). Articles>Content Management
#31125
The Full Definition of Content Management
The next time you start a conversation about Content Management with someone, start by trying to gain an understanding what they think content management is. You might be surprised.
#21768
Content reuse is fundamental to a successful unified content strategy.This chapter defines content reuse and the benefits ofits use.It explores how other industries have employed reuse for decades to improve their processes and the quality oftheir products. Content can be reused in many ways. The choice ofthe different methods and options for reuse are dependent upon your organization’s needs and technology.This chapter details the pros and cons ofusing each method and the associated options,and it provides the concepts that underlie the remainder ofthe book.
Rockley, Ann. AIfIA (2003). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing>Content Strategy
#26041
The Future of Technical Communication: The Perspective of a Management Consultant
This commentary summarizes the seven articles in this special issue and also argues that technical communication as a profession is in the midst of a disruption caused by low-cost innovators. Technical communicators can counter this trend by drastically reducing costs and increasing productivity in current operations. But the most valuable strategy is the difficult task of pursuing customer knowledge, which is difficult to replicate by those with little access to customers. Working for the customer and providing them with the information they need to be successful in using products and systems is critical to the future of technical communication.
Hackos, JoAnn T. Technical Communication Online (2005). Articles>Management>TC
#14593
Fuzzy Matching as a Retrieval-Enabling Technique for Digital Libraries
This paper advocates an often-neglected search-support technique, approximate or 'fuzzy' matching of user search terms. When properly deployed, fuzzy matching can significantly enhance the benefits of other, more common approaches to end-user answer retrieval from online reference collections. We compare crude with more sophisticated approximation techniques to explain how astute fuzzy-match software can convert many different near-miss situations (such as those involving faulty prefixes or suffixes, character misplacement, nonstandard word stems, or unanticipated redescription of concepts) into more adequate results. We also suggest practical ways to overcome fuzzy matching's own major drawbacks (namely, problems with search speed, search imprecision, and misinterpretation of search results). The resulting analysis clarifies how to deploy fuzzy matching for maximum effectiveness. We conclude that appropriate fuzzy matching enables more frequent, more flexible search success than do ordinary retrieval-improvement techniques used without it.
Girill, T.R. and Clement H. Luk. CSU Chico (1996). Articles>Content Management>Web Design>Search
#31745
Gantt to Glory: Evolving from Project Management to Successful Web Operations
Is the sheer possession of a PMP intended to be the Holy Grail of successful web projects, known to fail at a startling rate, or simply a way to divorce oneself from whatever outcome may result from the web project?
Podnar, Kristina. Content Wrangler, The (2008). Articles>Web Design>Project Management>Planning
#29083
General Burnside and His Orders For The Battle Of Fredericksburg: Lessons in How Not To Communicate
Communicating plans to subordinates is not an easy task. It requires that the writer be adept in accurately using the language of his/her discipline and takes care in considering the unique characteristics of the document's audience and how they are likely to interpret the message. When writers fail in these areas, the consequences can be very serious as demonstrated by General Ambrose Burnside's orders for the Battle of Fredericksburg during the Civil War.
Loges, Max L. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2002). Articles>Management>History>Case Studies
#21503
A Gentle Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming
Object-oriented (OO) programming helps writers and programmers use real-world paradigms. By understanding some basic terminology of OO (classes, instances, and messages), the writer can feel more at ease with OO concepts. A glossary and suggestions for further reading are included.
Chacko, Rajah Y. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Project Management>Programming
#24249
Getting a Count: Recording Metrics in Documentation Plans
Most large documentation departments are already using some kind of a formal documentation project planning strategy. Many are modeled after the work of Dr. JoAnn Hackos, with information plans, content specifications, and/or documentation plans (Hackos, 1994) 1 . By carefully adjusting the look and feel of the planning documents, adding room for recording actual numbers at the completion of the project, managers can implement a metrics strategy that takes advantage of existing templates and piggy-backs on existing archiving and checkout procedures.
Romaine, Garret H. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Documentation>Project Management
#23849
Getting Creative With Specs: Usable Software Specifications
Building architects don’t have to think much about what the actual deliverables are to contractors and their clients, because their industry has traditions and standards for blueprints, balsa wood models, and computer-generated renderings. As user interface consultants, we have to think about this anew for every project.
Krause, Brian R. Boxes and Arrows (2003). Articles>Project Management>Standards
