Better Products Through Collaboration: Technical Communicators and Usability Professionals Working Together  

Currently, “user-centered design” is the touted methodoloay for software development for many companies. To many of us, it’s merely a more global articulation of what we have always believed to be the preferred methodology. Technical communicators and HF professionals have critical roles to play as part of a multi-disciplinary user-centered design team. (1) This paper presents some viewpoints on how technical communicators and HF professionals can increase each other's effectiveness.

Rauch, Thyra L. STC Proceedings (1997). Presentations>User Centered Design>Collaboration

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: Decentralizing a Doc Group  

Re-engineering — a word that strikes fear into the hearts of middle-management. Our company was hit by reengineering fever in 1995–6, and word came down that we were to break up our comfortable little documentation group and distribute the writers among product development teams. We did it, and we did it right. In this paper, we · Review the thinking and planning that went into the conversion of a 30-person, centralized, corporatewide documentation group into a decentralized, loosely affiliated community of technical writers. · Describe the implementation of our plans and some of the pitfalls we encountered and overcame. · Share an evaluation of the success of the reorganization, and some tips that we learned along the way.

Kove, Jennifer and David Drexler. STC Proceedings (1998). Presentations>Management>Collaboration

Bringing Practitioners into Programs

Four presentations about how to connect academic programs with workplace practitioners in technical communication.

Barker, Thomas, David Dayton, Elizabeth O. (Betsy) Smith and Tracy Bridgeford. CPTSC (2005). Presentations>Education>Collaboration>Workplace

Building Effective Relationships with Engineers  

As the cycle times for developing new software technologies continue to shrink, the relationship between those who develop technology and those who write about it becomes ever more a factor in maintaining up-to-date, complete, and accurate documentation. Strong, positive working writerengineer relationships can relieve interdepartmental tensions and reduce the anxiety experienced by both writers and engineers at the end of a release cycle. Too often, differences in personality, communication style, and job requirements become barriers to building strong relationships. By examining our differences, we can explore strategies to improve the writer-engineer relationship.

Dwyer, Ginger K. STC Proceedings (1999). Presentations>Collaboration

Collaborative Writing In Segmentalist Organizations: Commitments For Team Success  

Many large, hierarchical organizations are segmentalist in their approach to management. Nonetheless, such organizations are capable of supporting integrated, team approaches to particular types of communication problems. For such approaches to be successful, however, there must be strong managerial commitments to team support. This paper discusses how committed leadership, specific production guidelines, and empowerment enhanced the activities of an Air Force writing team assembled to help revise and edit Air Force Policy Directives containing corporate level guidance on a variety of topics.

Rice, Rodney P. and James Waller. STC Proceedings (1994). Presentations>Management>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

Developing a Content Management Team for Your Intranet    

What is the overall process? Who are the players? What are their best uses?

Boiko, Bob. SLA (2002). Presentations>Content Management>Collaboration

Discover Buried Treasure at Your Local STC Chapter Meetings  

You don’t have to be an officer to benefit professionally from your local STC chapter meetings. Start attending your local chapter meetings and discover the many forms of buried treasure. These treasures will result in a new perspective to your writing, an increased library of professional resources, professional writers being hired at your workplace, and the chance to view the “Best of Show” writing. You can reap rewards such as these with a small investment of personal time.

Lunemann, Rhonda S. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Collaboration>Community Building>STC

The Dynamics of Collaborative Design  

The University of Colorado at Denver’s Internet Task Force designed a home page on the World Wide Web (WWW) for the School of Education, while simultaneously studying the group dynamics of the collaborative learning/design process. We developed a 4-point model which is appropriate for technically sophisticated adult learners, instructional designers, software developers, and information technologists. Critical features are reflection-in-action, building a common knowledge base, taking ownership of an authentic task, and generating research questions.

Sherry, Lorraine C. and Karen Madsen Myers. STC Proceedings (1996). Presentations>Collaboration>TC

Effective Interpersonal Skills  

Become genuinely interested in other people. Call people by their names. Talk in terms of the other person's interest. Smile. Listen.

STC India (2003). Presentations>Collaboration>Workplace

Electrify Your Work: Empowerment  

We’ve all heard about empowerment. It means being innovative, taking risks, reaping rewards. But how do you apply it to your work? How can you empower yourself and others? This demonstration examines the true meaning of empowerment and offers time-tested scenarios to drive the points of empowerment home. See the empowered individual; feel the teamwork blossom; and learn how to “just say no”!

Walech-Roth, Laura L. STC Proceedings (1994). Presentations>Workplace>Collaboration

Establishing an Editorial Forum  

With the advent of the World Wide Web, many areas besides Publications produce documents for outside customers. This paper discusses how to establish and organize a forum to make, track, and publicize company-wide style guidelines.

Gelb, Janice. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Collaboration>Style Guides

Facilitating Research on Global Partnerships in Technical Communication Programs

Discussion about fostering international relationships for academic programs in technical communication.

Farkas, David K., Kenneth T. Rainey and Bruce Maylath. CPTSC (2005). Presentations>Education>Globalization>Collaboration

Forming a Policies and Procedures Professional Interest Committe  

This session offers participants an opportunity to learn and contribute ideas about forming a policies and procedures professional interest committee (PIC) within STC. The presenter defines 'policies and procedures' and its growing importance in industry. Represents STC’s requirements for forming a PIC. He proposes a mission statement, goals, objectives, and activities for having this PIC. Participants comment on and volunteer for making this PIC a success.

Urgo, Raymond E. STC Proceedings (1994). Presentations>Collaboration>TC

How to Select, Nourish, and Conclude a Mentoring Relationship  

A mentor helps you master the unspoken rules of corporate America. If you are energetic and demonstrate initiative, a mentor welcomes the opportunity to assist your growth. To accomplish your mentoring goals, define what you want to achieve and then select a mentor. A successful mentoring relationship requires nourishing to maintain—you must value your mentor's time and demonstrate appreciation. When you no longer require your mentor's guidance, you can end the mentoring phase of the relationship with honesty and appreciation.

Justice, Kendrea L. STC Proceedings (1993). Presentations>Collaboration>Mentoring

How to Take Over a Document 'In Medias Res'  

In this paper I describe my experience in taking over the management of an ongoing, complex, constantly changing, multiauthored document. I offer the following rules: 1. Learn all you can about the document before you make any changes. 2. Clean up the old document. 3. Work within the already existing system. 4. Keep records. 5. Change as little as possible.

Burgan, Murrie W. STC Proceedings (1993). Presentations>Collaboration>Writing

Implementing Excellence  

Have you been exposed to one or more quality initiatives? Did this exposure leave you with strong but mixed emotional reactions? In a complex environment of organizational risk and change, how do we as communicators do the right thing the right way? Changes are so rapid that before one new vision of what’s right is fully implemented, it seems that another, even better vision comes in to take its place. By using a Japanese model for customer satisfaction, the product information quality initiatives at my company were implemented in three broad areas: quality assurance and control, quality performance and improvement, and quality excitement and planning.

Goodier, Katherine S. STC Proceedings (1993). Presentations>Collaboration>Assessment>Emotions

Improving The Documentation Process Through Structured Walkthroughs  

Documentation walkthroughs simplify the technical review process for both writer and reviewer. Walkthroughs are focused, interdisciplinary meetings at which technical reviewers evaluate the technical accuracy of documentation specifications. Documentation producers can use documentation specifications and walkthroughs to keep technical reviewers focused on technical accuracy rather than editorial issues. This, in turn, leads to fewer technical errors in the first draft and earlier reviewer involvement.

Chatfield, Carl S. STC Proceedings (1994). Presentations>Editing>Collaboration

Interact to Produce Better Technical Communicators: Academia and Industry  

Focus groups exploring the possibilities of collaborations between industry and academia took place at annual STC conferences in 1993 and 1994. As a result, the STC Academe-Industry Advisory Committee has developed bibliographies and research tools concerning this subject and in 1996, spearheaded the successful effort to appropriate STC funds for academic internships. This session builds upon those earlier programs and has a specific goal: the findings of the focus groups will direct the next round of the Society’s Academe/Industry Relations Advisory Committee’s efforts to find new ways of increasing industry and academic collaboration.

Teich, Thea, Janice C. 'Ginny' Redish and Kenneth T. Rainey. STC Proceedings (1995). Presentations>Collaboration>Industry and Academy

Interdisciplinary/Inter-Program Research

Two presentations about collaboration in research between diverse departments and units.

Brady, Ann, Robert R. Johnson, Michael J. Salvo and Tammy S. Conard-Salvo. CPTSC (2005). Presentations>Collaboration>Research

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

An Iterative Approach to Better Working Relationships

Discover creative solutions to inter-personal problems in the workplace using an iterative approach: observation of moment-to-moment interactions to assess the effectiveness of our responses. We will present six options for resolving conflicts, clarifying when and how to use each through case studies, work in small groups, and simulations.

Ziff, Joel D. Usability Professionals Association (2004). Presentations>Collaboration

Learning to Listen  

We have been given two ears and but a single mouth in order that we may hear more and talk less - Zeno of Citium, ancient philosopher. Listening is our most used communication skill, yet it is the skill that is taught the least. This paper discusses why people don’t listen and how we view those who don’t listen. The paper also covers how to actively listen and the benefits of effective listening.

Scroggs, Debbie L. STC Proceedings (1995). Presentations>Collaboration>Communication