Fight the Unbeatable Foe: Challenges in Implementing Single Sourcing  

Single sourcing documentation is a hot topic among technical writers these days, but very few organizations have implemented single sourcing strategies or solutions. This session presents the problems faced by organizations that want to move towards single sourcing and steps to successfully implement a single sourcing strategy and solution in your organization.

Sukach, Rebecca, Robert Kennedy and Marie Devine. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing

Filling Knowledge Gaps    

Knowledge gaps arise when a small team in an organization creates or compiles a body of knowledge that needs to be deployed to a larger group of people. A gap then exists between the small team that has the knowledge and the larger group of people who need it. In the normal course of doing business, healthy organizations naturally create knowledge gaps, and the healthiest organizations create the most knowledge gaps.

Reid, Clifford A. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Collaboration>Communication>Knowledge Management

Finding the Right Technical Writer

A no-nonsense approach to finding a great tech writer, even when you don't know what to look for.

Springsteen, JoAnna. CIO Magazine (2008). Careers>Management>Interviewing>Technical Writing

The Five Biggest Mistakes in CMS Selection

Describes the big 'gotchas' in choosing a web content management system.

Welchman, Lisa. CMSwatch (2003). Articles>Content Management>Assessment

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

Five Insights for Improving Product Development Cycle Success

When creating software and digital products, innovation typically spans many months, and it can become disrupted by unobservable or frequently changing business conditions that make it extremely difficult to form and evaluate viable options. When people can't see where they're going, they typically just stop. This is tragic with respect to innovation, since it is innovation that propels business and society forward.

Fleck, Pat. Cooper Interaction Design (2002). Design>Project Management

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

Five Levels of Planning  

The purpose of this presentation is to learn how to plan Agile projects from product vision all the way to daily stand-up and to feel the effect when 100 people prioritize, estimate and commit the plans for a major delivery.

Tabaka, Jean and Hubert Smits. Rally Software Development (2006). Presentations>Project Management>Agile

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

Five Questions to Ask Yourself While Creating a New Documentation Department

Being asked to take the reins of a brand new documentation department is a challenge that many professional technical writers relish, even though the training and development activities they participated in may never have prepared them for such a rewarding challenge. This article looks at forming a new documentation department and determining what's needed, when it's needed and what resources are available to help the new department carry out its mission.

Butow, Eric. Writing Assistance (2006). Careers>Management>Documentation>Technical Writing

Five Secrets to Successful Interviewing and Hiring

Frequently, technical communicators who have been promoted into management find themselves facing the need to interview candidates for open positions. While successful interviewing is key to finding the right match for open positions in the department, all too often interviewing skills are not a part of any management training programs that the interviewer may have completed - if management training was ever part of the technical communicator's career development program at all. This article unveils the secrets to successful interviewing and hiring.

O'Keefe, Karen. Writing Assistance (2006). Careers>Interviewing>Management

Five Things to Do While Offline

You still (should) have all your receipts, invoices, and other financial documentation at hand. Why not go through everything, to see if you have to make changes to your budget or financial setup?

Contract Worker (2008). Careers>Management>Financial

Five Ways to Get the Most from In-House Designers

Over the last two years, we've heard from increasing numbers of executives who want to bring interaction design in-house because they've realized how critical it is to product success. There are plenty of challenges involved in doing this, including hiring and training the right people. One of the challenges companies may not expect, though, is in deciding how to use those resources once they've been found.

Goodwin, Kim. Cooper Interaction Design (2003). Design>Project Management>Collaboration

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

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

Focus Research on Your Most Valuable "Capital"

The entire concept of human "capital" seems to have arisen during the last several years of booming economy and scarce availability of skilled employees. When any resource is scarce, it's valuable. Now with the highest rates of layoffs being announced in the U.S. since 1991, let's hope the mindset of management is not on the order of getting the most out of the human "liabilities" they're forced to retain.

Sinickas, Angela D. Sinickas Communications (2001). Careers>Management>Assessment

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

Forum and CMS Integration

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

The Four C's Leadership Model  

Hesitation stems from fear that no one will follow.

Milkovich, Anne. STC Region 7 Proceedings (2002). Presentations>Management

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

The Four-Point Writing Project Success Guide

Have you ever worked on a truly awful writing project? Maybe you're working on one right now. Too often, what could be a simple project becomes a morass of shifting requirements, last-minute changes, and expanding scope. In almost one-hundred percent of such cases, however, a well-run writing project can negotiate the most challenging terrain.

Knowles, Michael. Write Thinking (2001). Design>Project Management>Writing

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

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