#18536
Some Strategies for Managing the Contract Workforce 
Williams suggests ways that managers can use independent contractors as part of a comprehensive staffing plan.
Williams, Sean D. Intercom (2003). Careers>Management>Collaboration
#20980
Enhance your competitive edge by highlighting the talents and skills that make you unique. Understand what sets you apart, learn to articulate this, and find ways to market yourself.
Hamer, Emma C. Hamer Associates. Careers>Collaboration>Community Building
#19869
Sticky Chocolate Company Goes Total Team
Explore the total team approach to providing customer solutions in a large-team environment. Enjoy skits that dramatize team-building issues. Join in the discussion on approaches, alternatives, solutions, and results.
Allen, Pam, Morris Dean, Sharon L. Hayes and Gina Poole. STC Proceedings (1995). Careers>Management>Collaboration>Workplace
#19460
In an age of constantly changing technology, ServiceWare faced numerous challenges in attracting talented people and retaining valuable employees. Obstacles included the loss of information when an employee leaves, the cost of training a new employee, and a drop in production during the learning curve. By creating virtual teams, ServiceWare was able to increase its retention rate, boost morale, and increase production. The virtual team reality has produced stronger managers and more self-sufficient employees. The success of virtual teams emerged through creative problem solving and working together toward a goal.
DeCastro, Iris. STC Proceedings (2001). Careers>Workplace>Collaboration
#27845
Talk to Me: Getting Feedback from Clients
Constructive feedback can help you feel more confident about your skills at a number of stages of your career. Whereas you might feel that you need client feedback more as a new freelancer than when you’re established, assessments of your work can also be valuable when you have moved to a new area, are working with a new client, are trying to break into a specialized field or type of publication, or want to negotiate for a better rate.
Wright, Cornelia Bland. Editorial Freelancers Association (1991). Careers>Freelance>Collaboration
#24298
The Team Interview Hiring Process
In a team interview, several members of the publications team, as well as the hiring manager, interview each candidate. Each team member interviews the candidate individually, looking for a specific type of information. The interviewing team meets afterward to share information about the candidate. Although it takes more time, having each interviewer concentrate on one or two aspects of the candidate allows interview team, as a whole, to learn more about a candidate. This process, in turn, helps the manager to make better hiring decisions.
Billard, Trish. STC Proceedings (1998). Careers>Interviewing>Collaboration
#30126
Teaming In A Publications Group
The technical publications group of The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory was restructured to eliminate the traditional hierarchical organization in favor of multiple concurrent work teams. Every job is assigned to a work team, and people usually are on several teams at once, as leaders of some teams and members of others. We present two case studies describing teams that operated very differently. The teaming system allows us to tailor the approach to the needs of different clients.
Morris, Margaret K., Patrice H. Zurvalec and Murrie W. Burgan. STC Proceedings (1999). Careers>TC>Collaboration>Case Studies
#19553
Teamwork Creates a Positive Working Environment
In our present economic system, competition is viewed as a positive force. As children, our parents undoubtedly rewarded us for being the best, the fastest, the cleanest, or the smartest. As adults, we learn very quickly that only the best can be successful in a highly competitive world. While this competitive spirit can often help us to perform to our limits, when applied in its purest form within a work environment (i.e., when the competition is not of the friendly variety) it frequently results in hostilities that are counterproductive to producing good results.
Zvalo, Peter. Writer's Block (1995). Careers>Collaboration>Workplace
#13932
The TECHWR-L Mentoring Program 
The TECHWR-L mentoring program is designed to match students or people starting out in the profession with those interested in being a mentor.
#19702
There is nothing more frustrating than being demeaned in the workplace, and nothing that can create an unproductive work environment any faster. People usually become resentful when they feel as though their efforts (or they themselves) are not respected. We have all been on the receiving end of brusque—or brash—criticism at work, and none of us wants to commit the same offense. Following are ten ways to avoid this behavior with your superiors, your team members, and your coworkers and promote a truly supportive network.
Horn, Sheryl A. Intercom (2003). Careers>Workplace>Collaboration
#19870
A Total Team Approach to Success
We have had a very positive experience with a total team approach to accomplishing our business objectives. In our case, at the IBM Software Solutions Programming Laboratory (in Cary, NC, until March 1995, and now in Research Triangle Park), the business objectives are to produce successful software products. But the total team approach is not limited to a particular product or service. Total teams can help you improve the way multiple groups in your organization work together—to increase customer satisfaction through improved quality and speed of delivery, increase productivity, decreasc costs, and even improve morale.
Allen, Pam, Morris Dean, Sharon L. Hayes and Gina Poole. STC Proceedings (1995). Careers>Management>Collaboration
#29902
Transforming Your Career: Contributing Strategically to Your Company or Client
If the technology 'bubble' and the subsequent economic slowdown have demonstrated nothing else, we are more aware than ever of the need to change with the times, redefine ourselves, and ensure that we're demonstrating maximum value to our company and clients. In the context of the current economy, the more value you can demonstrate, the more likely you will be employed. This paper briefly describes a model for contribution within a technical communication career and provides specific and practical advice for moving toward the most valued, strategic contributions.
Ames, Andrea L. and Susan M. Jensen. STC Proceedings (2004). Careers>Collaboration>Management
#19200
An hypothetical example of interpersonal communication issues which may arise in the workplace.
#24196
Many of us (myself included) get caught up in our day-to-day work and forget the value that comes with meeting people face to face. I was reminded of the importance of these meetings in January, when I attended the STC-James River Chapter 2004 Conference in Williamsburg, Virginia. The conference sessions covered everything from intercultural technical communication to XML migration strategies. For me, the conference was an opportunity to find out what was on the minds of technical communicators in the area. As it turned out, some of those concerns related to the theme for this issue.
Martin, Maurice. Intercom (2004). Careers>Freelance>Collaboration
#30615
Organizations can do many things to vitalize their people. The Information Development organization at the IBM Corporation in Cary, NC, uses a closed-loop process in which we evaluate employee satisfaction, identify problems, and attempt to correct the problems (then reevaluate and so on). Your organization too can use this process to improve your employees' participation, involvement in your quality program, and morale.
Dean, Morris, Marva L. Richey, and Karl D. von Gunten. STC Proceedings (1993). Careers>Management>Collaboration
#15223
Voicemail Messages That Get Returned
Offers seven tips for increasing the likelihood that messages you leave on voice-mail will elicit return calls.
Walinskas, Karl. Intercom (2001). Careers>Collaboration>Collaboration
#31734
Wearer of Many Hats: One Management Style Does Not Fit All
Trying to convince multiple individuals to head in the same direction requires figuring out the mindsets of those multiple people and what it takes to motivate them to follow your lead. The article discusses four "hats" managers may have to wear and which management “hat” works best for each situation.
Young, Jeffrey R. Writing Assistance (2007). Careers>Management>Collaboration
#14500
What Can We Learn from Other Functional Areas?
Imagine the perfect technical writing experience. Engineers gladly line up at your door to explain how the product works. You enjoy ample time to finish the tasks on your documentation plan. Your manager gives you free rein to work at your own pace. Your customers rejoice at the usefulness of your document. A fairy tale? Perhaps. As a fledgling writer, though, that idyllic picture is my goal. To achieve even part of that goal, I've discovered a need to develop new work habits, behaviors, and processes. In addition to seeking the help of mentors within the technical writing community, my strategy involves looking to other functional areas within my company and learning from the approaches they use on their own tasks. I believe people new to the technical communication industry, as well as those who have toiled in the field for decades, can benefit from the examples of other functional areas.
Stewart, David. TECHWR-L (2001). Careers>Collaboration
#31884
Whether you’re a full timer or a contractor, you’ll eventually part ways with an employer. When you step out the door for the last time, what will you leave in your wake? A mess, or a way for your co-workers or replacement to quickly pick up where you left off?
DMN Communications (2008). Careers>TC>Collaboration
#22437
Do you ever find yourself causally picking up the phone to call your subject matter expert over in India? No, neither do I, and at least half my subject experts are in India. Another group is in Egypt, a few are in Russia, one is in Japan, and some are on the eastern U.S. seaboard. (And yes, there are a few in Oregon too?but I walk down the hall to ask them questions.) So how do you get information when your developers are many time zones away?
Lizak, Samantha. STC Williamette Valley (2004). Careers>Collaboration>Outsourcing>Offshoring
#15231
Working with Graphic Designers
Offers suggestions to technical writers or project managers on how to successfully communicate design specifications to graphic designers. According to Petersen, an ideal design specification should include an introduction stating the purpose of the document and its audience, tender requirements, a list of elements that need designing, a list of document limitations, a list of necessary hardware and software, design suggestions, printing and distribution information, a list of people involved in the project, and design and project schedules.
Petersen, Judy H. Intercom (2000). Careers>Collaboration>Graphic Design
#18786
Working with Subject Matter Experts: Strategies to Gain Cooperation and Win Respect
Working well with SMEs is essential to our success as technical communicators. This article recommends strategies to employ to improve your relationships with SMEs – seeking buy-in, increasing transparency and cross-functional teams, expressing expectations clearly, setting common goals and objectives, and making success a shared accountability.
Mason, Catheryn L. STC Proceedings (2002). Careers>Workplace>Collaboration>SMEs
#26690
Examines the ways in which electronic communication has affected interaction of coworkers in the workplace and the responsibility of technical communicators to ensure positive interactions with coworkers.
Dutton, Kyley. Orange Journal, The (2005). Careers>Workplace>Collaboration
#32211
Conflict resolution is among the many tasks delegated to managers, yet it is often the most difficult to master. From individual performance appraisals to an all-out assault within a project team, managers are expected to not only have the wisdom of Solomon, but also the patience of a saint. Yet often, this skill is not cultivated, leaving many managers unable to adapt to instances that can bring even the best performing machine to a screeching halt. To help avoid this from happening, there are various tools and tactics that an organization can adopt to not only diffuse immediate threats to productivity, but also alleviate potential issues in the long run.
Harris, Kerri. TechCom Manager (2005). Careers>Management>Collaboration
#32513
Ten Ways to Kickstart the Performance of Your Underachievers
Poor performers can drag down your whole team. Business and leadership coach John McKee shares some strategies for determining the underlying issues and turning those underachievers around.
McKee, John. TechRepublic (2008). Careers>Management>Collaboration
