Project Management is the discipline of planning, organizing, and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives.
#14700
Introduction to Single Source, Part 2 
In the second installment of a two-part article, Butland discusses obstacles to single sourcing and how to overcome them. Part 1, which explored the advantages of single sourcing and discussed the differences between manuals and help, was published in the February 2001 issue of Intercom.
Butland, Philip. Intercom (2001). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing
#14084
#27610
Introduction to the Diagrams of UML 2.0
Understanding the thirteen diagrams of UML 2.x is an important part of understanding OO development. Although there is far more to modeling than just the UML the reality is the UML defines the standard modeling artifacts when it comes to object technology.
#29554
Is a Documentation Wiki in your Future?
If we can solicit user participation in a Web 2.0 knowledge community (a volunter wiki documentation, for example), we might have a powerful means for creating high quality content. But how should this process work?
Hackos, JoAnn T. Center for Information-Development Management (2007). Articles>Documentation>Content Management>Wikis
#19156
Is it Document Management or Content Management?
There is considerable confusion in the market between document management systems (DMS) and content management systems (CMS). This has not been helped by the vendors, who are keen to market their products as widely as possible. These two types of systems are very different, and serve complementary needs. While there is an ongoing move to merge the two together (a positive step), it is important to understand when each system is appropriate.
Robertson, James. Step Two (2003). Articles>Content Management
#23854
How many times has a vendor’s help desk operator told you that the solution to a problem is either an upgrade or a patch? Those of us in the IT industry are familiar with this reply because that’s the advice our own helpdesk operators tell our customers. If corporate profits depend on improving product design, and selling upgrades, there is no profit in supporting old software and creating patches. The profit is in selling new and improved products. Some questions you need to consider before buying a software upgrade.
Dick, David J. Usability Interface (2004). Articles>Management>Software
#32047
Is Messiness Conducive to Productivity?
I've heard several times that the most productive people work on messy environments. I’ve seen at least two cases where this is true. My college dean probably still stacks of paper piled up all over his desk, but manages to keep an entire department running smoothly despite having additional responsibilities as a Jesuit priest.
#31564
Is the New CEO Allowed to Care?
The brand experts and advertising gurus tell us that "caring is commercial," but this has not changed the behavior or profile of many chief executives. One new chief immediately canceled the daily VIP lunch delivered to his office and instead went down to the staff canteen, sitting among his workforce. In another case, a tough CEO confronts an aggressive media at an annual meeting and declares, "Our task it to manage the business to provide maximum return for our shareholders -- end of story." In these cases, communicators provide support and advice, yet in many instances, the decision about profile is made before they are called in.
Manallack, Stephen. Communication World Bulletin (2003). Articles>Business Communication>Management>Marketing
#28125
Your staff may already be using one of the most productive collaboration tools ever built.
Dickerson, Chad. InfoWorld (2004). Articles>Collaboration>Content Management>Wikis
#25153
Is Your Designer Costing You Money?
The pitfalls of using a graphic designer that is not experienced can have financial and emotional consequences. Designers must understand what software program to use for the task at hand. A designer that is not experienced can cost the customer time, money and unnecessary stress.
Reichel, Gary. Design, Typography and Graphics (2004). Design>Project Management>Graphic Design
#14524
The ISO 9000 series of standards require that organizations have documented and followed quality systems and processes. Organizations get certified to an ISO 9000 standard by a registrar. Organizations follow the standards in order to meet customer demand and to improve their own quality performance. The ISO 9001 standard for organizations that design, produce, and service products contains twenty sections pertaining to all aspects of a quality system. Documentation organizations can pursue certification as an organization and they can help write process documentation for their entire company.
Shnay, Mara. STC Proceedings (1994). Presentations>Management>Policies and Procedures>ISO 9001
#24957
ISO Procedure Development: Using Kickoff Meetings as a Project Management Tool
ISO procedure manuals are sophisticated, dynamic documents that are developed as the result of a complex process. This panel focuses on an often overlooked but critical aspect of project management—the kickoff meeting. Kickoff meetings bring together all the key people and issues from the beginning, thus mitigating rework and problems later in the project. Kickoff meetings can be used to introduce and manage the ISO procedure development process: empowering the ISO procedure-development team, gathering information to capture best practice, and reviewing and validating information.
McCulley, Stephanie and Janice J. Rowan. STC Proceedings (1994). Careers>Project Management>Standards
#28645
Sizing UCD projects presents special challenges to usability practitioners and consultants. Each project and UCD methodology comes with its own set of variables that makes it difficult to accurately estimate resource requirements and completion times.
Usability Body of Knowledge (2007). Articles>Usability>User Centered Design>Project Management
#26496
It's about the Community Plumbing: The Social Aspects of Content Management Systems 
In the summer of 2003, we worked on creating a general description of Drupal--an open source content management system (CMS)--for the "About Drupal" page on drupal.org. While Drupal is clearly within the class of applications known as content management systems, we felt that to describe it with that term alone would not present a clear picture of the breadth and range of Drupal's capabilities. Thus, the final description ended up describing Drupal with a total of four characteristics, although notably not distinct content management; weblog; discussion-based community software; and collaboration. Why is it then that the term CMS alone would not suffice? The word "content" places much emphasis on the product over process; it fails to emphasize the social use of CMSes, a mislabeling which places too much emphasis on the content itself at the expense of the communication and collaboration the better of these systems implement. In order to better understand how CMSes are being influenced by the precepts of social software and their role in creating social networks online, this presentation will: explore Drupal's social software features, narrate its genesis as software serving a community; and explain the influence of the community itself on Drupal development and the software's influence on the community that creates and uses it. In composing this text, we draw on the coauthors' unique perspectives. One of us is the founder and lead developer of Drupal, and the other a researcher in Computers and Writing and a participant in the Drupal community.
Lowe, Charles and Dries Buytaert. Kairosnews (2005). Presentations>Content Management>Community Building>Collaboration
#31715
It's In the Numbers: Using Metrics to Plan Documentation Projects
It's in the numbers. Creating documentation is not an exact science, yet as communication leaders, we are expected to provide real estimates for how much time we need to document a project, or what we can produce given a predetermined timeline.
Yundt, Margie and Sherry McMenemy. Writing Assistance (2006). Articles>Project Management>Documentation>Assessment
#29830
It's Not What You Know: A Transactive Memory Analysis of Knowledge Networks at NASA 
Much of America was stunned into mourning on February 1, 2003 as the space shuttle Columbia was reported to have broken up over Texas. The ensuing investigation revealed that debris at liftoff was the cause of the crash, but the official report suggested that NASA's organizational communication was just as much to blame. This article uses transactive memory theory to argue that there were significant gaps in the knowledge network of NASA organizational members, and those gaps impeded information flow regarding potential disaster. E-mails to and from NASA employees were examined (the 'To' and 'From' fields) to map a network of communication related to Columbia's damage and risk. Although NASA personnel were connected with each other in this incident-based network, the right information did not get to the people who needed it. The article concludes with extensions of theory and practical implications for organizations, including NASA.
Garner, Johnny T. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2006). Articles>Knowledge Management>Scientific Communication>Government
#24411
Job Descriptions and Job Details
Job-descriptions.org is a free resource for job descriptions and job details. Our website currently contains over 13,000 job descriptions. These jobs are divided into categories, then divisions, then groups and finally the job descriptions themselves.
#14079
At MYOB® (Mind Your Own Business) Australia, we have just finished our first single-sourcing project using mif2go to convert FrameMaker source files to HTML Help *.chm files. These files are also the source of our printed user guide and the hyperlinked PDF of the user guide placed on the distribution CD. There was considerable once-off pain setting up conversion templates (including CSS files) and conversion options but our next project will be much faster. The converted files do not require any hand tweaking -- we just hand over to the release people to put the *.chm file on the installer CD. Our testing and support people are rapt, and consider the new help far better than the old help. It has a navigation pane with Contents, Index, Search, and Favorites tabs, a toolbar with Hide [navigation pane], Prev, Next, Back, Forward, Print, Options, and Welcome (custom Home) buttons. An outsider would have no inkling that the help was converted from FrameMaker source files as the appearance is completely different from the printed book and hyperlinked PDF. You, too, can single-source successfully provided you plan beforehand and your team understands the process.
Finger, Hedley. IRTC (2001). Design>Content Management>Single Sourcing
#19570
The Juggling Act: A Manager's Artform
Handling multiple priorities, coordinating the efforts of various teams, and ensuring that different projects remain under control are essential to survival in a climate of resource limitation and fast-paced change. I could talk about tips on staying organized, how to deal with uncooperative or under-producing staff, fixing problem situations, handling irate clients, re-working schedules while maintaining key deliverables in the middle of a project, ensuring a team functions as it should—but these are really textbook concepts. There are a hundred courses that teach the latest techniques for handling these situations. Anyone can learn to be a good manager to some degree; the key is wanting to be one and putting yourself in the right frame of mind.
Holland, Anton. Writer's Block (1996). Careers>Management>Writing
#24903
Juggling or Struggling: The Art of Managing Online and Hardcopy Documentation
While company budgets are increasing little or none, the responsibilities of technical writers continue to multiply as they are expected to produce online help as well as hard-copy documentation in short time periods. This demonstration explains how technical writers at Computer Power, Inc. produce usable online and hard-copy documentation from one source file. Participants will learn how to plan the file, create appropriate graphics, and use macros to convert text and other information for use in online help.
Bates, Michael P. and Catherine Cooper. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Documentation>Project Management
#19520
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
#25475
K-Logging: Supporting KM With Weblogs 
Web-logging software has received plenty of attention as a quick and easy way to post content to a web site. Web logs (blogs) tend to fall into two categories: personal web logs that function sort of like diaries, and informational blogs that target a readership with a shared interest. But web logging can also be used to support knowledge management (KM)¡ªthe effort within an organization to share knowledge and help the organization achieve its mission. This form of web logging, called knowledge logging, or k-logging, is emerging as an inexpensive alternative to large-scale KM solutions.
Angeles, Michael. Library Journal (2002). Articles>Knowledge Management>Communication>Blogging
#29373
Keep Pesky Business Types at Bay by Focusing on the Strategic Goal
If you have ever been forced to deal with business types who have no technical know-how, then you know how these types can work against IT's progress. Here's how to improve your business/IT communication by concentrating on the strategic goals.
Hardin, Ken. TechRepublic (2003). Careers>Business Communication>Project Management>Collaboration
#23158
Keeping your Business Plan to the Point
When you write a business letter, you must try not to waste your reader's time. The first step in any writing task is to set down your aim. Ask yourself, Why am I writing? and What do I want to achieve? The clearer you are in your own mind about what you want to achieve, the better your letter. These questions help you focus on the information that supports your central aim, and to cut information that's irrelevant. By doing this, you'll find you keep to the subject and perhaps write a document that is a third shorter than you would otherwise draft.
#27814
KM Cyberary: A Gateway to Knowledge Resources
A single platform which gives links to useful information resources for people in knowledge management.
Bhojaraju G. Freeservers.com (2002). Resources>Directories>Knowledge Management
