Making the Leap  

Increasingly, designers and publishers are finding themselves thrust into the world of 'new media.' Here's an overview of what to expect.

Larkin, James. Adobe Magazine (1995). Careers>Multimedia>TC

Making the Move to Marketing  

Making the move to marketing communication writing allows you to leverage your existing skills and requires that you gain some new ones.

Ausman, Deborah, Michele E. Davis, Kelli Gant and Laura Mulcahy. STC Proceedings (2000). Careers>TC>Marketing

Making the Transition from Student to Employee  

Advice to students preparing to become technical communicators.

Alroy, Faye. Intercom (2003). Careers>Advice>TC

Manage the Kaizen Way!  

Kaizen is a Japanese phrase that means 'continuous improvement' and has long been used by Japanese managers. Find out how to apply this style to your work as a technical communicator and how kaizen can also be used effectively when working in a team.

Gopalakrishnan, Janani. Intercom (2006). Careers>Management>Project Management

Management Activities for Achieving Organizational Change and Improvement  

Viewing your documentation or training group as a business entity is an important first step toward enabling organizational change and improvement. The actual business status of your organization - a company unto itself a profit center in a larger company, or a cost center in a larger company - matters not. It’s your view of things that will put you on the road to operating your group as a business.

Currie, Cynthia C. and Thomas J. Vallone. STC Proceedings (1996). Careers>Documentation>Management

Management Guidelines for Alternative Work Schedules  

Offers guidance to managers on how to balance the needs of their businesses with the convenience of alternative work schedules, such as telecommuting, flextime, job sharing, compressed work weeks, and reduced hours.

Deshaies, Stephen A. Intercom (2002). Careers>Management

Management Stem Overview  

Management in the nineties is a challenging task. From managing technologies that didn't exist five years ago to constantly being asked to do more with less, managers are freed with a formidable set of obstacles and challenges.

See, Edward J.P. STC Proceedings (1994). Careers>Management>Technology

The Management Track Requires Special Skills and Experience  

Moving into management is tempting to many IT pros. But before jumping into a position you're not ready for, there are a few issues you need to examine. Review these five steps and decide if you're prepared to move successfully into management nirvana.

Sisco, Michael. TechRepublic (2003). Careers>Management

Management vs. Leadership  

Management and leadership have been partners in the successes and failures of countries and companies before the start of recorded history. The basic concepts of both are well understood but despite a large amount of information available, there is still confusion and disagreement on the implementation of management skills vs. leadership principles. Successful creation of a professional development program is dependant on the recognition that technical/management skills are learned abilities, they are the backbone of the companies core capabilities. These capabilities must be augmented with leadership attributes that allow the team to move forward in implementation of the core business.

Fay, Dan. STC Proceedings (1997). Careers>Management

A Manager's Toolkit for Hiring the Right Writer-Or How to Avoid Throwing a Wrench into the Works  

Economic concerns require hiring writers (contract, freelance, and permanent) quickly and surely. Employers can make better use of the resume and interview processes to hire the right writer. In this workshop, managers will analyze resume and participate in a mock-interview process. Further, they will learn how to assess job candidates using four screening tools developed by the presenters in a three-step process designed to provide a means of consistently making the most appropriate selections for job openings.

Sopensky, Emily A. and Laurie Modrey. STC Proceedings (1993). Careers>Management>Interviewing

Manager's Toolkit: How to Report the Status of a Project

As you develop the communication product, your client and the team of people working with you will be interested in the progress of your work. To inform them, regularly publish a progress report. The progress report offers many benfits. It anticipates your client’s need for information about an in-progress project, makes the team aware of changes to the original plans and situations that could cause problems before those situations become problems, and maintains the common vision for the project that you painstakingly created when you developed plans of the information design. Most likely, you will publish the the report weekly or bi-weekly. Let your client determine the exact frequency; when your client approves your information designs, ask how frequently the client would prefer a progress report.

Carliner, Saul. STC (1999). Careers>Management>Reports

Managers: Move from Silos to Channels  

Advocates restructuring technical communication departments to eliminate 'silos'—isolated groups within the department—and develop 'channels'—a cooperative grouping of workers and teams through which information about a product can flow.

Hughes, Michael A. Intercom (2003). Careers>Management>Collaboration

Managers Should Adopt a Technical Mentor  

You may not have the time to read or the money to burn on analysts' reports, but adopting a technical mentor can help you keep your skills fresh. Here are the pros and cons of making the move.

Osborn, Matthew. TechRepublic (2003). Careers>Management>Technology>Collaboration

Managers Weigh In: Perspectives on Current Issues  

A report on discussions with several managers of technical communicators about current issues in the field, including changes in hiring practices, telecommuting, and tools and techniques for project management.

Lange, Penny L. Intercom (2003). Careers>Management

Managing a Virtual Team  

Managing a team of employees who are located around the world can be challenging. Discover how to efficiently and effectively work to create the highest level of output.

Damrau, Jackie. Intercom (2006). Careers>Management>Project Management>Offshoring

Managing by Remote Control  

Langhoff discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the growing practice of telecommuting, and issues that managers face when their staffs telecommute.

Langhoff, June. Intercom (2001). Careers>Telecommuting

Managing Career Enrichment for Technical Writers  

This paper explores how technical publications managers can create a department that provides career enriching opportunities and direction for technical communicators. The paper describes in detail four major ways: by providing training opportunities, by providing diverse assignments, by allowing participation in management issues, and by providing customer contact. The paper describes the benefits of each enriching opportunity to the technical communicator and to the manager.

Krasner, Arlene J. STC Proceedings (1997). Careers>Management>Writing>Technical Writing

Managing Client Relationships  

When meeting someone for the first time, you get about 10 seconds to make a good impression; make it a good one!

Steele, Karen A. STC Proceedings (1997). Careers>Consulting>Communication

Managing Conflicts within a Team of Writers  

As much as you may try to avoid it, conflict among your employees is bound to rear its ugly head from time to time. While you may not be able to resolve all conflicts, with the right approach, you can manage many of them.

Prabhakar, Rahul. Intercom (2006). Careers>Management>Writing>Technical Writing

Managing Conflicts within a Team of Writers

It is quite challenging for a manager to integrate a diverse group of intelligent and creative professionals into a single, cohesive unit. As much as you may try to avoid it, conflict among your employees is bound to rear its ugly head from time to time.

Prabhakar, Rahul. Blogspot (2006). Careers>Management>Writing>Technical Writing

Managing International Projects: Case Studies  

The Human Interface Group manages for a number of its multinational clients their international software. This discussion fits in the larger issue that more and more companies try to communicate with international clients.

Dehaes, Christel and Kris Vanstappen. STC Proceedings (1995). Careers>Management>International

Managing Legacy Employees, and Others You Didn't Hire  

When you join an established department as manager, or when company policy requires you to take contractors someone else hires, you can encounter anything from exasperation to great joy. Three cases demonstrate effective techniques for working with writers you didn’t hire. From the contracted incompetent, through the terrified junior, to the competent team, the cases explore what happened, why, and the techniques used. These techniques include creative use of the basics such as planning, record-keeping, scheduling and troubleshooting. Good skills in listening and observing, are matched with clear identification of purpose and an ability to simplify.

Buchanan, Rivka. STC Proceedings (1998). Careers>Management

Managing Means Growing with Your Team  

Technical communication managers are faced with common responsibilities from company to company. Typically, they are responsible for resources (people and equipment), customer relations (internal and external), product, and administration. To successfully complete these responsibilities, a manager must have people, communication, planning, technical, statistical, and financial accounting skills. While focusing on the skills necessary to meet these responsibilities, managers may loose sight of key writing skills. Well-rounded managers must stay current with their teams. They must grow for their teams to grow.

Jahnke, Jean M. STC Proceedings (1999). Careers>Management>Collaboration

Managing Quality Graphic Design in a Documentation Project  

Supervising the design of documentation is challenging for documentation managers who have little or no educated knowledge of design. However, quality design that maintains ease of reading, accessibility, comprehension, retention, and aesthetics is vital to the usability and success of the documentation and should be carefully monitored by the documentation manager. Decisions must be made up front on four design areas -- packaging, layout, typography, and highlighting -- before the project is underway. In addition, audience analysis and a design style guide are two techniques that managers should embrace in supervising design.

Listeman, Amy J. STC Proceedings (1995). Careers>Graphic Design>Document Design>Documentation

Managing Scientific and Technical Information In Environmental Cases: Principles and Practices for Mediators and Facilitators  

An attempt to distill and disseminate key principles and practices relevant to managing scientific and technical information in environmental conflicts.

Adler, Peter, Robert Barrett, Martha Bean, Juliana Birkhoff, Connie Ozawa and Emily Rudin. Mediate.com (2002). Careers>Collaboration