Conflict and Communication: The Good Will Hunting Technique

In the self-help section of bookstores, there is abundant advice for communication in everyday situations--with bosses, parents, children, lovers and even animals. Worthwhile advice is to be found, but there also exists a prominent strain of advice that offers solutions that actually worsen the problem.

Cesaratto, Todd. Communication Currents (2007). Articles>Communication>Collaboration

Conflict Styles and Technical Communicators  

More than most people, technical communicators are aware that if communication is not effective, conflicts can arise. Find out more about the Thomas-Kilmann conflict mode instrument (TKI) and how to identify your predominant conflict style.

Glick-Smith, Judith L. Intercom (2007). Articles>Collaboration>Methods

Connectfulness

In the same way that the word 'truthiness' is not a real word but is gaining usage in our culture, so the word 'connectfulness' offers us in the professional arena a way to express an important aspect of our work. Just as truthiness says more than accuracy and is friendlier than truthfulness, so connectfulness says more than networked and is friendlier and more inclusive than connectedness.

Albing, Bill. Carolina Communique (2006). Articles>Content Management>Collaboration

Connecting Cultures, Changing Organizations: The User Experience Practitioner As Change Agent

Every time we reach across discipline boundaries to keep a product team focused on users, drive changes to products or services based on user data we've collected, or design interactions with a clear focus on the target user, we are functioning as agents of change within our organizations.

Sherman, Paul J. UXmatters (2007). Articles>User Experience>Collaboration

Conquering the Cubicle Syndrome

Cubicles aren't really physical walls--they're a state of mind. In effect, it's the belief that you've been compartmentalized and isolated that defines the cubicle. The four-sided, felt-lined livestock pens loved by evil office managers everywhere hides the truth: cubicles are all about being isolated and treated as part of the building infrastructure, whatever the physical location of your chair.

Hart, Geoffrey J.S. TECHWR-L (1999). Careers>Workplace>Collaboration

Content Re-Use with the Tools at Hand  

Frequent updates for a swarm of modular plug-ins were interrupting work on larger, higher-value projects. Worse, development was happening in a time zone 12 hours away, making communication a major bottleneck. Faced with fixed resources and growing commitments, our writing group extended existing tools to automate information gathering and rough draft creation, thereby halving the writer time each module required. This paper describes the user interface, tool extensions, and reusable information approach we used to solve the problem.

Carpenter, Cory, Samantha Lizak and Jeffrey Young. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Content Management>Collaboration

Contracts 101

Contracts are the oil that keeps business running smoothly. If you are running your own web design business, you should think of a contract as a business tool that can help you communicate clearly with your clients.

Fine, Scott. Wise-Women (2004). Articles>Collaboration>Contracts

CoverWeb? Adding Multiple Authorship to Multi-Linearity  

This multi-vocality and multiple authorship allows an enactment of some of the collaboratory promise of hypertext while web publishing allows decentralized publication. Finally, the CoverWeb allows Kairos to deliver texts appropriate to many tiers of readers. This issue's CoverWeb on educational MOOs includes basic introductions to MOOing linked to discussions of the pedagogical possibilities of virtual spaces linked to problems of administering MOOspaces. We have tried to cover a spectrum of possible interests as well as familiarity to MOOs in education and this layering simply wouldn't be possible in print.

Salvo, Michael J. Kairos (1996). Articles>Collaboration>Online

CPTec Forum

Discussion of a variety of TC software platforms.

CPTec GmbH. (German) Resources>Collaboration>Information Design

Creating an Editing Policy  

As an editor, you realize how important it is to edit information consistently. What you might not realize how important it is to let the writer know how you are going to edit, what you are going to edit, and what you expect from the writer. An editing policy lets you communicate these things to the writer. When you and the writer know what to expect from each other, you are able to work together as a team to produce a quality document.

Reed, Wendy L. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Editing>Collaboration

Creating, Implementing, and Maintaining Corporate Style Guides in an Age of Technology    

This article details a step-by-step process for creating, implementing, and maintaining a corporate style guide to ensure consistency in organizational communication. Through literature research, analysis of sample style guides, and practitioner interviews, this article provides recommendations for gaining management support, building a process to develop a style guide, determining content, encouraging employee buy-in, and maintaining a corporate style guide.

Bright, Mark R. Technical Communication Online (2005). Articles>Editing>Style Guides>Collaboration

Creating the Out-of-the-Box Experience: A Case Study  

While producing a new deliverable to improve the out-of-the-box experience for a major software product, the team of writers, graphic designers, human factors engineers, and marketers responsible for the deliverable faced many challenges and overcame many obstacles. Anyone involved in the production of such a deliverable will learn from a discussion of the problems we faced and the approaches we took to solving them. This discussion will be particularly relevant for anyone creating such a deliverable for the first time.

Hogan, Tim. STC Proceedings (2001). Articles>TC>User Experience>Collaboration

Creating the Perfect Design Brief

Makes the case that well-crafted design briefs can help change the perception of design from a service to a core business resource.

Phillips, Peter L. Graphics.com (2005). Design>Collaboration

Crossing the Chasm: The Quest to Bring the Best of Academia and Industry to the Technical Communication Profession  

Crossing the two worlds of academia and industry is a precarious, yet exhilarating, “communication odyssey.” This paper charts the channels that teachers in academia and technical communicators in industry can use to access these two worlds, and describes the challenges and rewards in making the journey. It relies on both primary sources (my personal experiences, and those shared by others) and secondary research in the technical communication profession’s trends. Such crossings are similar to the “foreign exchange” programs we advocate for students: the resulting insights and “cross pollination” from academia and the workplace will help our profession to flourish. industry can benefit both worlds through “crosspollination” and will help our profession to flourish.

Kryder, LeeAnne G. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Collaboration>Education

CSCW Related Pages

A 'webliography' of links to resources in computer supported collaborative work.

CSCW. Resources>Directories>Collaboration

Review: Culture, Technology, Communication: Towards an Intercultural Global Village  

The Internet is continually changing how we think about "the office." Online media now allow us to exchange information with overseas colleagues almost as quickly and as easily as we can with coworkers located across the hallway from our workstations. This new degree of access, however, means that cultural differences could affect workplace interactions.

St. Amant, Kirk R. Technical Communication Online (2004). Articles>Reviews>Collaboration>International

Customer Partnering: Data Gathering for Complex Online Documentation  

Technical communicators today must document complex applications used in complex environments. Information about users and use models is important under these conditions, especially if documentation will be presented online. Customer partnering, a method of information gathering that supplements surveys, contextual inquiries, usability testing, and interviews, provides a way of involving the users of complex applications in the design of information delivery systems. We used this method to help a client gather important information about user and use models and design a new information library for complex server computer systems.

Hackos, JoAnn T., Molly Hammar and Arthur Elser. ComTech Services (1997). Articles>Documentation>User Centered Design>Collaboration

The Daily Stand-Up

The first and most basic rhythm of the Agile feedback cycle is the daily standup. It's just what it sounds like - a daily meeting where everyone stands up for the duration of the meeting. When I give Agile workshops, one of the questions I'm often asked is how to do daily standups when the teams are geographically dispersed. While this can be a challenge to coordinate and maintain, you'll soon find that the benefits of the daily communication make it well worth the effort. Here are several options to consider with your team:

Sliger, Michele. Rally Software Development (2005). Careers>Project Management>Agile>Collaboration

Dealing with Difficult Employees in the Technical Communication Workplace

Some of the more intractable problems we face on the job are the human ones. But cranky though Microsoft Word often seems, most of its blowups are at least predictable; humans are anything but. The worst problems can arise when you find yourself in a situation where power relationships come into play, which is often the case when you're managing another employee and responsible for their work and their on-the-job behavior. For a variety of reasons, technical communicators are often seen as 'difficult' or 'problem' employees--this means that co-workers tend to complain about us and insist that our managers correct our behavior. Unfortunately, we often work in high-stress environments that make it difficult for us to work calmly and difficult for colleagues to work with us peacefully. Many communicators complain that developers and other subject matter experts (SMEs) don't bother to understand what we do and thus, don't respect our work. As a result, they often consider meeting their own deadlines far more important than helping us do our work, and when we must ask them to provide the information we need to complete our documentation or to review draft documents, we don't get what we need. The result? We're forced to nag, and that can get us labeled as problems, not colleagues.

Hart, Geoffrey J.S. TECHWR-L (2002). Careers>Management>Collaboration>SMEs

Dealing With Problem Group Members

You will usually find your university teammates as interested in learning as you are. Occasionally, however, you may encounter a person who creates difficulties. This handout is meant to give you practical advice for this type of situation.

Oakley, Barbara. University of New Mexico (2002). Articles>Collaboration

Delivering Bad News Effectively (and Other Useful Communication Skills for Managers)  

Learning how to communicate effectively when people problems arise is a key to your success as a manager. To make the process easier for yourself, you should learn to set clear expectations of your employees, make specific observations of their work and behavior, conduct timely communication with them when problems arise, listen closely when they respond, and schedule a follow-up meeting after the crisis has passed.

Giammona, Barbara A. STC Proceedings (1999). Careers>Management>Communication>Collaboration

The Demise of the Lone Ranger  

Mavericks need not apply. In Web design, you have to collaborate.

Giordan, Daniel. Adobe Magazine (2000). Careers>Web Design>Collaboration

Democracy, Deliberation and Design: The Case of Online Discussion Forums    

Within democratic theory, the deliberative variant has assumed pre-eminence. It represents for many the ideal of democracy, and in pursuit of this ideal, online discussion forums have been proposed as solutions to the practical limits to mass deliberation. Critics have pointed to evidence which suggests that online discussion has tended to undermine deliberation. This article argues that this claim, which generates a stand-off between the two camps, misses a key issue: the role played by design in facilitating or thwarting deliberation. It argues that political choices are made both about the format and operation of the online discussion, and that this affects the possibility of deliberation. Evidence for the impact of design (and the choices behind it) is drawn from analysis of European Union and UK discussion forums. This evidence suggests that we should view deliberation as dependent on design and choice, rather than a predetermined product of the technology.

Wright, Scott and John Street. New Media and Society (2007). Articles>Collaboration>Online

Design Case: Building Community in a Design Effort in a Decentralized, Individualistic Setting  

WebFeat is a web development effort by about 40 students, faculty and staff in the College of Engineering at the University of Washington. In this design environment, the challenges of building community among the members of the design team are substantial. We devised a suite of tools and processes designed to foster a sense of community and participation in the development process, as well as to lay the groundwork for participatory maintenance of the site in the future.

Ramey, Judith A. and David K. Farkas. Symposium on Designing Interactive Systems (1997). Design>Web Design>Collaboration

The Design Constitution

What is your understanding of the dynamics of the Client/Creative relationship? I've heard lots of opinions and countless complaints, but in all my wanderings, I have yet to find a good, non-legalese consensus of what we should expect of each other.

Chuck Green. Ideabook.com (2005). Design>Collaboration