Breaking News!  

This panel explores what corporate leaders in the Technical Communications field consider the hottest topics in the industry today.

Conklin, John James, Judith L. 'Judy' Glick-Smith, George Hayhoe, Thomas B. Hoyt and Deborah Rosenquist. STC Proceedings (1998). Careers>TC>Knowledge Management>Localization

Business Roundtable:  Are You Ready to Grow Your Business?  

In 2001 and beyond, do you plan to be the boss?  If you have the entrepreneurial itch, running your own business may be central to your career plan.  What practical, professional and emotional pitfalls are in store?  Four successful business owners share their experiences and discuss how to turn potential pitfalls into challenging, lucrative adventures.  

Fredrickson, Lola, Sheila Jones, Stephanie L. Rosenbaum and Donna Sakson. STC Proceedings (2000). Careers>Management>TC

Happiness is A Good Fit: Personality Typing Tools for Career Management  

Members of our profession have tended to manage their careers by choosing either technical or management paths, then following them. Increasingly, technical communicators are factoring their personality types into the equation. This paper examines how standardized personality typing tools used by career planners are applied to help team members to find a good job fit, build a highfunctioning team, salvage interpersonal conflicts in the workplace, and make a suitable career change.

Bailie, Rahel Anne, Liz Babcock, Conni E. Evans and Emma C. Hamer. STC Proceedings (2002). Careers>Management>TC

I Need to Know What?  

Every technical communicator must develop a set of management skills appropriate to the task in order to excel as the leader of the communication team. This calls for multiple skills including being part diplomat, part technical expert, part salesman, and part turtle.

Bailey, Elizabeth. STC Proceedings (2005). Careers>TC>Project Management

Information Product Development Process Quality: Vision, Process, and Implementation  

Two members of the management team from LSI Logic Storage Systems' Technical Publications Department review how their team developed a vision statement and an information product development process based on that vision statement. The workshop provides participants opportunities to learn about the value of vision statements and production processes as well as to begin developing these materials for their own organizations. Participants will also share ideas on how to maintain process integrity through customer focus, team feedback on product and process quality, and strategic continuous improvement. Participants will receive materials that enable them to draft their own vision statements, information product development processes, and continuous improvement team operating practices.

Burroughs, Dia H. and Randy Clark. STC Proceedings (2004). Careers>Management>TC

Juggling Projects: Managing Multiple Technical Communication Projects  

Managing multiple projects can seem like juggling eggs in front of a crowd of people—sometimes you wonder if you’re going to catch everything! Many managers have difficulty maintaining the progress of multiple projects without focusing on one project while the others fall by the wayside. In this workshop, we’ll discuss the most common mistakes managers make and suggest techniques for staying on top of multiple technical communication projects. Before you know it, you’ll be juggling like a professional… juggler, that is.

Wise, Mary and Molly Hammar. STC Proceedings (1998). Careers>Management>TC

Making the Transition from Technical Writer to Manager

This article is a collage of ideas and experiences from some people who've made the leap from writer to manager. Although it's not a step-by-step guideline, it provides some compelling insight as to what individuals might expect as they transition into the management ranks. Even if you are an experienced manager, you might find these ideas helpful.

Capri, Steve. Writing Assistance (2007). Careers>Management>TC>Technical Writing

Managing the Monster, Managing the Zoo  

Every technical communicator, whether controlling a single large project or a dozen small ones, must develop a set of management skills appropriate to the task in order to remain a qualified member of the communication team. This calls for being part diplomat, part technical expert, part salesman, and part rhinoceros.

Wise, Daniel E. and Elizabeth Bailey. STC Proceedings (2004). Careers>TC>Project Management

Managing the Monster; Managing the Zoo  

Every technical communicator, whether controlling a single large project or a dozen small ones, must develop a set of management skills appropriate to the task in order to remain a qualified member of the communication team. This calls for being part diplomat, part technical expert, part salesman, and part rhinoceros.

Wise, Daniel E. and Elizabeth Bailey. STC Proceedings (2003). Careers>Management>TC

Moving on Up: Process Management in the Ever-Changing Real World  

This paper presents a case study of a technical publications department that tested the practicality of JoAnn Hackos’ process maturity model for a small team that experienced both resource cuts and increased workload pressures. The process of initial evaluation in terms of the model helped to identify management goals and actions that increased process maturity. The positive outcomes included both high quality, innovative work and also better structures for worker creativity, productivity, and satisfaction. This success story demonstrates the potential of the model and recommends it for consideration, even by publications groups facing critical challenges.

Rehling, Louise. STC Proceedings (2005). Careers>Management>TC>Case Studies

Practical Considerations When Starting Your Own Business

One of the least glamorous aspects of running your own business is accounting and taxes, but if you want to be successful it is an area of importance. Whether you want to start your own business or have been running one for years, here are practical tips to consider for the independent contractor. When you were an employee, someone else did the accounting for you (the W-2 you used to prepare your taxes) and may have provided some non-taxable benefits (retirement plan, health insurance, disability coverage, etc.) that you will now need to provide for yourself. When deciding to become an independent contractor, one of the first things to do is to go through a budgeting process to confirm going out on your own is a good idea.

Rowntree, Raymond A. STC Williamette Valley (2002). Careers>Management>TC

Proving Worth: What Technical Communication Managers Must Do to Prove the Value of Their Deliverables

Technical communication managers are often required to prove the worth of their deliverables over and over again. To do this, managers must execute two tasks persistently. First, they must prove the value of documentation to those interested in the bottom line and, second, they must make that value true. The trick to increasing value with internal and external users is to identify areas where documentation can save time and money, to create agreement that the documentation can save time and money, and to ensure that the documentation does save time and money. Find out how.

Kirk, Hannah. Writing Assistance (2006). Careers>Management>TC

Recognizing Creative Ways Employers Use Technical Communicators: The Insight Award  

The Hoosier Chapter of STC created a brand new program for recognizing employers who use the skills of technical communicators in expansive ways. Entitled the 'Insight Award,' it is a new type of STC competition that recognizes companies rather than individual technical communicators or technical publications. The panelists of this presentation discuss how the award program was developed, the procedure and criteria used in the judging, problems and planned improvements in the process, publicity and results of the competition, and benefits of the award for STC members and organizations.

Armbruster, David L., Debbie Groulik, Nancy J. Hoffman, William D. Leavitt and Amy Perry. STC Proceedings (2002). Careers>TC>Management

Strategic Challenges for Technical Communication Managers  

Suggests ways that technical communication managers can confront the challenges facing their departments in 2002.

Carliner, Saul. Intercom (2002). Careers>Management>TC

What Does a Manager Do Anyway?  

Historically, the only career path communicators had was into management. Today, other options are available such as human factors specialists, usability specialists, instructional designers, and multi-media designers. Understanding the manager’s role is key before focusing on that path. Unfortunately, too many communicators take the management path and decide it’s not for them. When this happens, it may be too late to refocus on other career options in the ever-changing technological environment.

Coffee, Mary K., Jean M. Jahnke and Sarah C. Yeo. STC Proceedings (1995). Careers>Management>TC

What DOES a Manager Do Anyway?  

Historically, the only career path communicators had was into management. Today, other options are available such as human factors specialists, usability specialists, instructional designers, and multi-media designers. Understanding the manager S role is key before focusing on that path. Unfortunately, too many communicators take the management path and decide it's not for them. When this happens, it may be too late to refocus on other career options in the ever-changing technological environment.

Coffee, Mary K., Jean M. Jahnke and Sarah C. Yeo. STC Proceedings (1997). Careers>Management>TC

What DOES a Manager Do Anyway?  

Historically, the only career path communicators had was into management. Today, other options are available such, as human factors specialists, usability specialists, instructional designers, and multi-media designers. Understanding the manager’s role is key before focusing on that path. Unfortunately, too many communicators take the management path and decide it's not for them. When this happens, it may be too late to refocus on other career options in the ever-changing technological environment.

Coffee, Mary K., Jean M. Jahnke and Sarah C. Yeo. STC Proceedings (1996). Careers>Management>TC

What Does Reengineering Mean?  

In their book Reengineering the Corporation, Michael Hammer and James Champy describe reengineering as 'the radical redesign of a company’s processes, organization and culture.' This presentation describes the conceptual framework of reengineering, relates reengineering to the work of technical communicators and calls on technical communicators to take leading roles in reengineering their own organizations.

Janicko, Raymond P. STC Proceedings (1994). Careers>TC>Management

What's to Become of the Tech Pubs Department? Technical Communication and Content Management  

As technical publications groups are finding themselves thrust upon the main stage of the global economy, they face new demands such as reconstituting themselves internally and resituating themselves in their wider organizations. Read on for ideas about how to incorporate content management (CM) into the process.

Boiko, Bob. Intercom (2007). Careers>TC>Management>Content Management

Making the Transition from Technical Writer to Manager

This article is a collage of ideas and experiences from some people who’ve made the leap from writer to manager. Although it’s not a step-by-step guideline, it provides some compelling insight as to what individuals might expect as they transition into the management ranks. Even if you are an experienced manager, you might find these ideas helpful.

Capri, Steve. TechCom Manager (2004). Careers>Management>TC