http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Workplace A listing of the most recently indexed works about Workplace in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Workplace http://tc.eserver.org/35752.html http://tc.eserver.org/35752.html The wiki crops up in many companies' internal discussions about process improvements and efficient collaboration, but it is often shot down because so few people have exposure to good models of what a really successful business wiki can do. Ars is here to help with a practical introduction based on real-world examples. http://tc.eserver.org/35662.html http://tc.eserver.org/35662.html The generic term “mergers & acquisitions (M&A)” appeared for the first time at the end of the 19th century in the United States. In times of increased global competition, M&A activities have reached all regions of the world and are not solely concerning large enterprises. However, with many M&A projects never reaching the synergy effects that were expected of them, the successful integration of one company into another remains a challenge. http://tc.eserver.org/35663.html http://tc.eserver.org/35663.html Being active in 190 countries around the world, mergers and acquistions are part of the business routine for the engineering conglemerate Siemens AG. A smooth integration process is vital for business success. Supporting this integration process is one of the tasks of Robert Gibson, senior consultant for training and projects at the Siemens headquarters in Munich, Germany. tcworld spoke to him about the challenge of integrating new corporate and national cultures. http://tc.eserver.org/35622.html http://tc.eserver.org/35622.html It struck me while reading this that cultural blind spots are not limited to people who speak a different language, come from a different country, or have a different religious background—we have huge cultural blind spots between the various job functions in a single company! http://tc.eserver.org/35516.html http://tc.eserver.org/35516.html Following up on his article in the September/October issue, Hart explores how to avoid “rats” in office politics and offers advice on combating coworkers who might not have your best interests in mind. http://tc.eserver.org/35400.html http://tc.eserver.org/35400.html How prepared are you, as a policies and procedures (P&P) professional, to draw the line if you are asked to change hats from your analyst role to the role of performing the tasks of the organizational practices you are documenting? http://tc.eserver.org/35401.html http://tc.eserver.org/35401.html As a policies and procedures (P&P) practitioner, do you delve into P&P content development projects without a clear understanding of the organizational context? Astute P&P practitioners add more than documentation skills to assignments--they apply an understanding of the organizational context from three perspectives. http://tc.eserver.org/35380.html http://tc.eserver.org/35380.html Despite what some people say, rules still apply when it comes to social media. Policies provide structure—for you and for your colleagues/employees. http://tc.eserver.org/35325.html http://tc.eserver.org/35325.html In May 2007, the Department of English at Utah State University (USU) redesigned its computer lab to increase mobility and collaboration during writing projects. Our study shows that despite the Professional and Technical Communication (PTC) field's efforts to promote writing as a socially active, collaborative practice, many students view computer labs as spaces for conducting isolated, single-authored work. In this article, we discuss how a combination of movable furniture and mobile technology, including wireless access and laptops, can enhance student collaboration in group-based writing assignments. The lab included both desktop and laptop seating areas, so the authors created a modified worksite analysis designed to evaluate team collaboration in this new layout. These material changes in the lab allow students to configure the space according to their needs, offering them some measure of control over three crucial elements of successful collaboration: formality, presence, and confidentiality. http://tc.eserver.org/35290.html http://tc.eserver.org/35290.html Those within technical communications have long argued that product documentation provides significant value in terms of a customer satisfaction and downstream savings in customer support and service. In the broader, enterprise perspective, however, documentation is generally viewed as simply one of many requirements for product launch. This perspective is often the result of the lack of visibility that is generally available into the business value contributed by product documentation. Aberdeen investigated and isolated the quantifiable business impact of technical communications makes for 165 participating companies. An analysis of this data indicates that when leveraged effectively, technical communications stands to contribute as much as a 42% increase in customer satisfaction and an associated 45% increase in product revenue. This report provides a quantified framework for understanding the potential impact on technical communications makes for business profitability as well as the best practices to adopt to drive greater value from this organization. http://tc.eserver.org/35231.html http://tc.eserver.org/35231.html It’s happened to all of us. We walk into what we think is a Web redesign project, only to find we have unwittingly ignited the fires of WW III in our client’s organization. What begins as a simple design project descends – quickly – into an intra-organizational battle, with the unprepared interaction designer caught in the crossfire. What is it about design projects that seem to attract such power struggles? Contrary to what you might think, being stuck in the middle of an internecine battle is actually an opportunity to effect meaningful change on your client’s organization. But it requires a set of practical tools to negotiate these battles and a more sophisticated language and knowledge to exploit these events to create meaningful change. http://tc.eserver.org/35209.html http://tc.eserver.org/35209.html This article examines the need for continuous learning and the challenges that working professionals must overcome to invest in learning. It also explores how experience makes us better learners, and analyzes the relative effectiveness of various learning techniques. http://tc.eserver.org/35205.html http://tc.eserver.org/35205.html "Leverage," "interface," and "circle back" are among the most annoying and overused terms in work settings today, according to a new survey of executives. http://tc.eserver.org/35128.html http://tc.eserver.org/35128.html Although previous researchers have proposed organizational demography as an important determinant of communication, no one has tested this relationship directly. http://tc.eserver.org/35133.html http://tc.eserver.org/35133.html In today's marketplace, a premium is placed on corporate image and business attire. The rationale is that appearance reflects on the employer. We tell students that first impressions, made within the first 60 seconds of meeting, are critical to their future success. As professors of management and marketing, we are routinely engaged in preparing students for professional occupations inclusive of an awareness that business attire is often reflective of a willingness to conform to workplace norms. We have known for quite some time that appearance can be indicative of conformity. Countless stories and lawsuits reveal lost career opportunities because employees failed to “look the part.” This reality is exemplified in the sitcom Ugly Betty, which provides weekly challenges encouraging us to consider the value of conformity as reflected by our appearance. Betty is an aspiring editor of a major fashion magazine. Raised in a blue-collar, working-class family, Betty does not conform to contemporary notions of style. Clothes in her world have a practical application that should not overshadow the individual's inner beauty. Betty functions with the utmost integrity in a world of competition and greed as her counterparts claw their way up the corporate ladder. Interestingly, they, unlike Betty, remain under the radar as their fashionable sense of style provides a veneer of honesty, fair play, and an unquestionable willingness to conform to the company dress code. http://tc.eserver.org/35134.html http://tc.eserver.org/35134.html Now that job security with one organization is a relic of the past and companies are outsourcing training and other 'nonessential' functions, I suggest in my career communication classes that students develop the same inventive strategies to plan their employ- ment futures that management consultants use to market themselves in the 21st century. The most important of these skills is networking: the use of person-to-person, print, and electronic communication tools to alert potential employers that, as candidates, they are the confident, cooperative, uniquely qualified experts that companies seek. http://tc.eserver.org/35142.html http://tc.eserver.org/35142.html In this article, we describe ongoing research about the professional characteristics projected by formal versus casual workplace attire. We also describe our research about preferences for company norms and standards regarding typical workplace attire. http://tc.eserver.org/35117.html http://tc.eserver.org/35117.html Based on an information processing approach to organizations, this paper argues that product effectiveness is contingent on the match between the project's communication patterns and the nature of its work. http://tc.eserver.org/35097.html http://tc.eserver.org/35097.html In this column, which is the second of two parts, we’ll continue discussing how companies can ensure the effectiveness of User Experience within their organizations and current product development processes. http://tc.eserver.org/35100.html http://tc.eserver.org/35100.html To foster discussion about the issues companies face in trying to effectively integrate user experience into their current organizations and processes, we surveyed our panel of Ask UXmatters experts, asking them to give us their thoughts on these important issues. http://tc.eserver.org/35086.html http://tc.eserver.org/35086.html Most people consider writing to be a creative endeavor, and in some situations, it certainly is. But creativity is not just associated with writing, art, and the humanities. Penelope Trunk broadens creativity to include problem solving too. http://tc.eserver.org/34818.html http://tc.eserver.org/34818.html Employers have legitimate business interests in monitoring workplace Internet use: to minimize legal exposure, to increase productivity, and to avoid proprietary information loss. Since employees arguably have no expectation of privacy in their work on employers' computers, there are few grounds for complaint if they are disciplined for straying from corporate policy on such use. In this heavily scrutinized work environment, it is no small wonder that employees crave a place to unwind and play “electronically” after hours. In unprecedented numbers, America's workers are visiting online social networking sites (OSNs) and posting tidbits that might not be considered job-appropriate by their employer. Here, many postulate they do have an expectation of and indeed a right to privacy, especially in arenas used to express personal freedoms and exercise individualism that has no bearing on their workplace. http://tc.eserver.org/34847.html http://tc.eserver.org/34847.html Work—life research tends to privilege the organization—employee relationship, with the family's role largely relegated to providing emotional and material support to the employee and adapting to organizational requirements. Systems oriented research, however, points toward a larger role for the family, including mediating the employee's relationship with the organization as well as direct organizational interactions. This study uses Weick's model of organizational sensemaking to examine, through the analysis of employee and family interview accounts, how a global high-tech organization and its employees' families enact one another as environments. Three dynamics of mutual enactments— two cooperative and one competitive—were identified, along with implications for work—life integration research and practice, for more traditionally programmatic work—life accommodations, and for families' management of their relationships to employing organizations. http://tc.eserver.org/34859.html http://tc.eserver.org/34859.html Most previous social network studies have focused on the positive aspects of social relationships. In contrast, this research examined how the negative aspects of social networks in work groups can influence individual performance within the group. Accordingly, two studies were conducted to make this assessment. The first study examined the effect of negative relations and frequency of communication on performance among student groups. The second study investigated how the Five Factor Model of personality and position in adversarial networks interacted to influence individuals' performance. Although results of the first study indicated that frequent communication with others could make a person more likeable, consequently helping him or her perform better, the second study showed that those individuals disliked by others were less likely to achieve a good performance rating, despite their conscientiousness, emotional stability, or openness to experiences. http://tc.eserver.org/34515.html http://tc.eserver.org/34515.html Technical writers are an important and underutilized asset to most businesses; however, I also believe that technical writers have to fundamentally alter the way they approach the problem of educating users and helping them find the answers they need before they will be properly valued by the businesses that employ them. http://tc.eserver.org/34525.html http://tc.eserver.org/34525.html This article offers an example case of technical communicators integrating the social bookmarking site Delicious into existing work environments. Using activity theory to present conceptual foundations and concrete steps for integrating the functionalities of social media, the article builds on research within technical communication that argues for professional communicators to participate more fully in the design of communication systems and software. By examining the use of add-ons and tools created for Delicious, and the customized use of Rich Site Syndication (RSS) feeds that the site publishes, the author argues for addressing the context-sensitive needs of project teams by integrating the functionality of social media applications generally and repurposing their user-generated data. http://tc.eserver.org/34535.html http://tc.eserver.org/34535.html This study explores how employees accounted for their engagement in circumvention (i.e., dissenting by going around or above one's supervisor). Employees completed a survey instrument in which they provided a dissent account detailing a time when they chose to practice circumvention. Results indicated that employees accounted for circumvention through supervisor inaction, supervisor performance, and supervisor indiscretion. In addition, findings revealed how employees framed circumvention in ways that enhanced the severity and principled nature of the issues about which they chose to dissent. http://tc.eserver.org/34450.html http://tc.eserver.org/34450.html You’ve got a pretty good boss, yet he or she still heeds the traditional creed of command and control. But it doesn’t work for you. You’re engaged in knowledge work and you’d like to tell the boss to back off. What do you do? Explain it to the boss first chance you get. Here’s a good way to do it. http://tc.eserver.org/34348.html http://tc.eserver.org/34348.html Looking for a way to demonstrate your value to management? Pao’s advice is to become as involved in your organization as possible by volunteering for assignments and being proactive in project planning. http://tc.eserver.org/34217.html http://tc.eserver.org/34217.html Much of today's news is bad, so much of it can adversely affect your career, and so much of it is maddeningly beyond your control. But there are things you can control, starting with your own behavior. Now more than ever, it's essential to ensure that idiosyncrasies and personal peccadillos don't undermine your career. Here are five cautionary tales of real CIOs whose tragic flaws did them in. http://tc.eserver.org/34118.html http://tc.eserver.org/34118.html If you cater to the younger group, you risk alienating your most senior people (talented, expensive, hard-to-replace experts; people you don't want to lose to the competition; people with great political capital in the organization, who can perhaps defeat an IT initiative by pushing back hard). On the other hand, if you cater to the older group, you risk alienating the younger workers; and you risk keeping obsolete systems in place far longer than you should, making future replacement that much more difficult while also impeding business objectives, etc. http://tc.eserver.org/34129.html http://tc.eserver.org/34129.html Focusing mainly on cultural factors, linguistic factors, technical factors, and legal factors, Thakur discusses best practices for becoming globally savvy in an increasingly globalized work environment. http://tc.eserver.org/34111.html http://tc.eserver.org/34111.html Coworking is a movement to create cafe-like community/collaboration spaces for developers, writers and independents. http://tc.eserver.org/34082.html http://tc.eserver.org/34082.html I’ve been fascinated by businesses popping up around major metropolitan areas that create a shared workspace for independent workers. Imran Ali wrote about the trend of co-working spaces back in April, and I’ll be exploring the trend further as I look to set up a co-working space in my town. http://tc.eserver.org/34083.html http://tc.eserver.org/34083.html It’s interesting to see coworking snowballing as a phenomenon, but like many trends originating in dotcom culture, what’ll be most interesting is how these shifts begin to affect larger companies and more traditional employers. http://tc.eserver.org/34084.html http://tc.eserver.org/34084.html Recently a member of the global coworking mailing list, Joseph Holsten) recently created what’s essentially a recipe book of ‘how to’ guides for those seeking to setup a coworking community, coworking space or simply better operate the communities and spaces they’re already running. http://tc.eserver.org/34085.html http://tc.eserver.org/34085.html An exploration of the downsides to telecommuting and coworking, focusing on the experiences of a coworking community founder. http://tc.eserver.org/34086.html http://tc.eserver.org/34086.html An interesting discussion on the potential of providing childcare facilities to coworkers – with the coworkers themselves dedicating a portion of their time to caring for the children of other community members. http://tc.eserver.org/34087.html http://tc.eserver.org/34087.html This post speculates on the potential to revitalize decaying and vacant urban centers with new creative areas, by replacing discount stores, vacant properties and unused public libraries with coworking facilities. http://tc.eserver.org/34088.html http://tc.eserver.org/34088.html A look at the underlying value structure of coworking communities, how they’re evolving in different countries, and the issues existing coworking communities face as they outgrow the space available. http://tc.eserver.org/33949.html http://tc.eserver.org/33949.html At some point in your career, you’ll be called upon to sell UX to someone in your organization. You’ve probably already done it. Perhaps you’ll need to justify what you do in an organization or industry that’s just beginning to adopt UX methods or sell UX to secure your position within an organization or get future projects. So, what do you need to know to help you sell UX? What challenges might you face? This article examines what works and what does not work well when selling UX within an organization, identifies barriers you might encounter to the adoption of UX methods in your organization, and discusses how to package and present UX to stakeholders. http://tc.eserver.org/33951.html http://tc.eserver.org/33951.html Executive buy-in is important, but communicating and selling the UX message across the organization, at all levels, is just as important. I would be most interested in learning more about the corporate cultures that embrace UX or customer-centered thinking and understanding more about why they have and what makes them ripe. What worked in the organizations you’ve worked for? What caused frustrations? It seems when everyone is trying to improve the user experience, it can help empower a usability / UX / design team to work on more strategic initiatives instead of facing roadblocks along the way. http://tc.eserver.org/33773.html http://tc.eserver.org/33773.html In 2000, as one of the first speakers at XML One, Rod discussed the merging of the web, XML, and messaging into the loosely coupled applications that today we call web services. Rod's Emerging Internet Technology team has continued to explore new uses for XML beyond SOA for enterprises. His talk will cover how XML is a cornerstone for new types of web applications - Do It yourself applications - which include applications through dynamic scripting languages and the intersection with other emerging areas such as Rich Interactive Applications. http://tc.eserver.org/33477.html http://tc.eserver.org/33477.html User assistance writers are often the Rodney Dangerfields of the UX world, bemoaning the fact that we don’t get any respect. I think the real problem is that user assistance folks are not particularly good at communicating the ways in which we add value to an enterprise. This column explores two models that show how user assistance adds value and how we can communicate that value to those who pay our salaries—something I would like to encourage other user assistance writers to do. http://tc.eserver.org/33478.html http://tc.eserver.org/33478.html Over the past twenty years, the field of user experience has been fortunate. Software and hardware product organizations increasingly have adopted user-centered design methods such as contextual user research, usability testing, and iterative interaction design. In large part, this has occurred because the market has demanded it. More than ever, good interaction design and high usability are part of the price of entry to markets. http://tc.eserver.org/33439.html http://tc.eserver.org/33439.html Computer technology opens new doors for researching, creating, and distributing WIN (interactivity and narrative) experiences. Increased insight in this area could create a potential to change people’s attitudes and behaviors in ways never before possible. For example, in researching WIN experiences, our online system can now test stories to identify which stories have an impact on specific types of people. Alternately in creating WIN experiences, a computer could glean information from an interaction in order to select a specific story from a large database of proven stories. From a distribution standpoint, WIN experiences could be delivered through mobile handsets, increasing reach beyond the desktop. The potential for impact is significant. Computer-supported WIN experiences could lead to large-scale interventions to improve health, enhance learning and training, boost workplace performance, and motivate participation in civic life. http://tc.eserver.org/33365.html http://tc.eserver.org/33365.html Building an effective website is often seen exclusively as the job of the web team, and viewed as a design or technical issue. However, having worked with many different organisations, we would argue that often what stops them improving their website is the organisation itself. Developing an effective website often requires organisational change: it requires a culture where people at all levels in the organisation adopt behaviours that make a ‘good user experience’ an important goal. If the organisation is not focused on providing a good user experience, then the web team will be unable to build an effective website. http://tc.eserver.org/33221.html http://tc.eserver.org/33221.html Most organisations spend most of their design time focusing on the homepage, often in tense negotiations with different departments, each jockeying for prominent positions in the global navigation. There’s more politics here than the appointment of a Fianna Fail junior minister. http://tc.eserver.org/33063.html http://tc.eserver.org/33063.html Effective communications requires two-way, synchronous communications – not just messages pushed on a one-way street from the top floor executive offices. Successful intranets have a well-defined plan that accounts for employee needs and preferences and engages the target audience. http://tc.eserver.org/33078.html http://tc.eserver.org/33078.html It is widely recognised that an intranet must be trusted, if it is to be regularly used by staff across an organisation. While it is easy to make this statement, it is harder to qualify what is meant by trust, how users assess it, and how we can build (or rebuild) trust in the intranet. This briefing looks at the issue of trust, and presents some simple steps that can be taken to further build staff trust in the intranet. http://tc.eserver.org/33083.html http://tc.eserver.org/33083.html Many intranets are only now beginning to show their true potential. However, many staff, having had unsatisfactory previous experiences of the intranet, may need quite some convincing that the intranet is now genuinely useful. http://tc.eserver.org/32681.html http://tc.eserver.org/32681.html To get a handle on the challenge in front of me, I created a complete item inventory of everything currently in my office. I used Microsoft Excel and created a spreadsheet. http://tc.eserver.org/32663.html http://tc.eserver.org/32663.html In many of today’s corporate work environments, the days of managing a group of people who all share a common physical location and the same work hours are waning. More often, work teams may be composed of people who work in either a company office or from home, in different cities, states, time zones, and countries. They may also work different hours or even different days. Knowledge work, such as technical writing, is ideally suited to these types of work arrangements since, in many cases, the work can be done anytime, anywhere -- unlike certain professions such as nursing or construction. Modern computer and telecommunications technology has made the world, or at least those parts of it with high-speed Internet access, one big potential office. This article article analyzes various types of work arrangements, the tools that make them possible, the benefits and potential pitfalls of these arrangements, and how to make them work. http://tc.eserver.org/32609.html http://tc.eserver.org/32609.html A quick look at ten Open Source Content Management Systems which are beginning to find their way inside Enterprise IT Departments. http://tc.eserver.org/32547.html http://tc.eserver.org/32547.html Establish a company-wide team of writers and editors to process comments on the style guide. If applicable, aim for a geographically diverse group that represents all of your company's documentation groups. http://tc.eserver.org/32308.html http://tc.eserver.org/32308.html Considers the role of copyright in the dissemination of information within the corporate sector. Examines the various forms of authorization available for companies using copyright-protected content to ensure compliance with copyright law. Discusses the distinction the law makes between copying for a commercial purpose as opposed to copying for a non-commercial purpose. Looks at the limited scope for businesses to rely on the copyright exceptions to justify their copying, particularly fair dealing. Considers licensing as a way of being able to do more than the copying exceptions would allow, and the interrelationship between contract law and copyright law. Outlines some copyright legal cases and the lessons we can learn from them. Sets out examples of copying activities that should be avoided if one wants to reduce the risk of being accused of copyright infringement. http://tc.eserver.org/32208.html http://tc.eserver.org/32208.html Lone writers are found across all industries, as junior- and senior-level employees, contract workers and direct employees. Sometimes, they’re not even the only writers in their company, but rather are the only writers in their division with either little to no contact — or little to nothing in common — with the other writers in other company divisions. http://tc.eserver.org/32212.html http://tc.eserver.org/32212.html Whether the documentation department has a staff of one or a team of 12, visibility within the company is a frequent concern. The reasons for this concern range from personal to professional. You want to be remembered when promotions and bonuses are handed out. You want new challenges to add diversity to your workload, and new projects to add skills to your resume. You want to defend your turf against budget cuts and layoffs during lean economic times. And you want to be more than an afterthought that lives in the back 40 of the cubicle farm. http://tc.eserver.org/31866.html http://tc.eserver.org/31866.html This is a piece on pesky colleagues who are curious about others' activities at work place and try to be the good samaritan but land up in need of one. http://tc.eserver.org/31718.html http://tc.eserver.org/31718.html Conflict is characteristic in any situation that brings diverse groups together to manage tasks and obstacles. Nowhere is that more apparent than in business environments based on hierarchical structures where teams are inherited and divergent objectives create barriers to effective teamwork. Conflict resolution is among the many tasks delegated to managers, yet it is often the most difficult to master. http://tc.eserver.org/31721.html http://tc.eserver.org/31721.html Most of us are involved in negotiating in some form or other on a daily basis. Here is a look at the process of negotiation and tips you can use to improve your technique as you progress through the process. http://tc.eserver.org/31724.html http://tc.eserver.org/31724.html Whether the documentation department has a staff of one or a team of 12, visibility within the company is a frequent concern. The reasons for this concern range from personal to professional. You want to be remembered when promotions and bonuses are handed out. http://tc.eserver.org/31686.html http://tc.eserver.org/31686.html The author reconnects resistance in production to its radical roots. Current literature suggests that resistance in the liberal workplaces of late capitalism has gone underground, becoming mostly evident in unofficial, offstage practices such as cynicism, parody, and humor. The author argues this resistance is too often a decaf resistance. This is a resistance without the cost of radically changing the economy of enjoyment, which ties us to our master. The author argues that resistance, as a real act, which suspends and changes the constellation of power relations, has a cost that cannot be accounted for in advance. To understand this cost, we need an ethics, which the author calls, following Lacan, the Ethics of the Real. http://tc.eserver.org/31688.html http://tc.eserver.org/31688.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/31689.html http://tc.eserver.org/31689.html Encourages critical organization scholars to develop our stake in struggle in at least three ways: (a) by examining how the structure and practice of our own work enacts relations of power and resistance (i.e., reflexive, empirical study of organizational dynamics in higher education), (b) by considering how our experience of knowledge labor implicitly shapes our representations of organization (i.e., reflexive analyses of the relation between the process and products of scholarly production), and (c) by more explicitly accounting for our role as cultural agents in representing organizational life and inducting students into it (i.e., reflexive analyses of the relations among the labors of teaching, researching, and theorizing power and resistance). http://tc.eserver.org/31687.html http://tc.eserver.org/31687.html Management in professionalized workplaces is often characterized as Mtrying to herd cats. Having grown up on a dairy farm, the characterization never made much sense to me. Cows and sheep earn our disparaging remarks because they are easy to push around. Their occasional resistance seems counter to their character. But cats are also easy to herd; just have milk. Cats may walk by themselves, but they quickly all choose to walk in the same direction following the pail. Cats may quickly resist getting pushed in common directions, but they are easily pulled there. Got milk, got cats. Are cats more autonomous than the herds? Has resisting cats led us to overlook how easy they are to herd? Resistance comes to us as a term growing out of workplaces that tried to push and direct. Resistance was at least a pushing back; sometimes it was an organized pushing for another direction. http://tc.eserver.org/31685.html http://tc.eserver.org/31685.html The author explores organizational controls in an era dominated by spectacles, images, and pictures and seeks to identify forms of resistance that subvert and undermine these controls. The author analyzes new forms of resistance, such as whistle-blowing, that are particularly aimed at besmirching an organization's image and reputation and argues that although many employees have lost their collective voice, they occasionally raise their individual voices in opposition, cynical rejection, or questioning of managerial practices and discourses or, more often, resort to exit. The author concludes that many current forms of workplace resistance mirror similar forms of resistance used by individuals as consumers in questioning, disrupting, and, at times, challenging the claims of consumerism. http://tc.eserver.org/31555.html http://tc.eserver.org/31555.html In conducting its landmark 2003 Communication ROI Study, which focuses on the relationship between an organization's internal communication strategy and practices and its shareholder returns, Watson Wyatt made some surprising findings regarding the relationship between effective external and internal communication. http://tc.eserver.org/31532.html http://tc.eserver.org/31532.html On 19 March a war with global implications began between a U.S.-led coalition and Iraq. Although some organizations will be affected by this war more than others, the articles below will help any communicator address certain immediate internal and external organizational war-related communication issues. http://tc.eserver.org/31518.html http://tc.eserver.org/31518.html When two companies merge, the complexities, emotions and often sweeping changes behind the deal can hinder effective communication to key stakeholders. Yet a well planned and implemented communication strategy contributes to the very success of the merger itself. How can you overcome the obstacles to developing and delivering on a merger communication strategy? http://tc.eserver.org/31483.html http://tc.eserver.org/31483.html Employees are inundated with mass information and messages. It is their responsibility to digest all this information in appropriate ways so that they can be effective in their roles, partner with others and help their company be profitable and competitive. Technology—e-newsletters, web mail, instant messaging—has greatly accelerated this environment of mass-transit communications, and while this saves time, it creates a bigger challenge: connecting and managing internal information clearly to align employees and maximize productivity. http://tc.eserver.org/31479.html http://tc.eserver.org/31479.html Corporate culture involves certain values and rules of behaviour within and outside the company, which are shared by the company employees. The cause and effect relationship between the company crisis and corporate culture is reciprocal. If the corporate culture is not strong enough when a crisis occurs, its value system can break down or the crisis can unveil inconsistencies between its stated values and relations and its actual ones. On the other hand, the corporate culture can directly launch a crisis causal chain, which means that the original cause of the crisis initiates other imbalances, or deepens the imbalances occurring in another department, speeding up the development of the crisis and making it more difficult or even impossible to pull the company out. http://tc.eserver.org/31486.html http://tc.eserver.org/31486.html Jean-Paul Sartre said, “We understand everything in human life through stories.” I believe that is true. We comprehend better when a message is related in story form, and we also feel a stronger rapport with the person telling the story. Why not use these memorable stories in your internal communications? When you cram too much information into a communication, training session or presentation, you’re doing a data dump on your listener. Nothing sticks. Yet, if you’ve ever had a supervisor tell a story to illustrate a point, you learned the lesson and probably enjoyed the learning process, too. http://tc.eserver.org/31437.html http://tc.eserver.org/31437.html Engagement. Is it the latest corporate buzzword? Not for serious business leaders who understand the correlation between engaged employees and improved financial performance. They see engagement as a source of competitive advantage. All things equal, they believe, an organization that has engaged employees will outperform one that doesn’t. http://tc.eserver.org/31436.html http://tc.eserver.org/31436.html When considering the issue of employee engagement, communicators need to know what they are dealing with. Engagement is something that plays out on an organization-wide level, so communicators should understand what an organization is. http://tc.eserver.org/31435.html http://tc.eserver.org/31435.html I remember the day I turned on the car radio and found out that my company was merging with a competitor. Over the coming weeks, every employee made mental and emotional decisions on whether to stay engaged with their work and the company, or to just to show up and collect a paycheck. http://tc.eserver.org/31402.html http://tc.eserver.org/31402.html You would think that if the humble print employee newsletter hasn't been killed off in the Internet explosion of the past decade, then it must have more than just its reputation going for it. It must actually meet a fundamental business need to inform and engage a workforce. http://tc.eserver.org/31428.html http://tc.eserver.org/31428.html Navigating through internal communication "whitewater" is a growing challenge in today's business environment. Every day, we face a flood of messages and requests from multiple sources, making it increasingly difficult to manage the overload. http://tc.eserver.org/31454.html http://tc.eserver.org/31454.html The role of an employee communication professional is, at its core, fundamentally simple: We're in the business of designing and executing messaging to achieve a desired effect with a specific audience. How successful we are is driven by a number of factors, including appropriate use of media, timing and messages. By understanding these factors, we can target communication much more effectively. The key to understanding these factors effectively is simple: Ask. http://tc.eserver.org/31395.html http://tc.eserver.org/31395.html Some say it's a revolution that will change radio broadcasting and people's listening habits forever. Others say it's a fad that's of limited appeal or use to anyone but geeks and enthusiasts. Whatever anyone says, something that has rocketed out of nowhere and gotten big companies and radio stations alike interested (and after only eight months) must be worth investigating. That "something" is called podcasting. http://tc.eserver.org/31400.html http://tc.eserver.org/31400.html Over the past decade, hundreds of employee magazines and newsletters have gone by the wayside as corporate communicators rushed to embrace digital communication. Today, many large organizations do not publish any regular print vehicles for employees. But did they eliminate their publications for the right reasons? And has the rush away from print strengthened or weakened organizations' connection with employees? http://tc.eserver.org/31323.html http://tc.eserver.org/31323.html There are ongoing debates about the reporting and working relationship between HR and internal communication, but one thing is certain: When it comes to systemic change, the kind required for effective corporate social responsibility (CSR) implementation, the two must work together in an inextricably-linked collaboration. http://tc.eserver.org/31321.html http://tc.eserver.org/31321.html Most of those who write about corporate social responsibility focus first and foremost on external stakeholders—responsibility-focused investors, workers in the supply chain, local communities, the press, governments or NGOs—and understandably so. These groups can undermine corporate reputations by publicizing perceived instances of social irresponsibility. Reputations may be intangible, but damage to them can cost real dollars. http://tc.eserver.org/31336.html http://tc.eserver.org/31336.html Internal branding is alive and well, and continues to evolve as more people realize how powerful it is as a business tool. You may hear it called by different names, such as employer branding, employee branding or employee value propositioning, but whatever the term, it is an important and useful concept. http://tc.eserver.org/31326.html http://tc.eserver.org/31326.html We are hearing and reading a lot these days about the new age of transparency, in which organizations must go beyond traditional, tightly controlled communication and engage in a "naked conversation" with their customers, communities, employees and other stakeholders. http://tc.eserver.org/31334.html http://tc.eserver.org/31334.html A recent Gallup poll showed that 69 percent of employees are disengaged at work. A survey of human resources managers by PricewaterhouseCoopers in the U.K. found that only 26 percent of employees demonstrated brand values in their day-to-day behavior. These figures suggest that internal branding efforts are perhaps not producing the desired effect. "Living the brand" initiatives cannot work when the majority of employees are not tuned in at work. Great brands are built by consistently delivering on the brand promise, which requires employee engagement with that brand. http://tc.eserver.org/31335.html http://tc.eserver.org/31335.html Employee engagement, getting employees to "live the brand," gaining employee buy-in—today's managers are trying to wrap their minds around these critical practices through internal marketing and internal branding. But not everyone understands these concepts. You even hear people use the terms interchangeably, even though there are a number of differences between these concepts. http://tc.eserver.org/31228.html http://tc.eserver.org/31228.html There is a great deal of research around these days that makes the connection between employee engagement and good line manager communication. After all, as the saying goes, people don’t leave bad companies, they leave bad managers. The reality is there are many elements that make a bad manager. As communication professionals, we are not there to solve all the problems of socially challenged managers, but we do need to help them fulfill their role in effectively communicating to their people. http://tc.eserver.org/31230.html http://tc.eserver.org/31230.html Companies such as GE, Procter & Gamble, General Mills, McKinsey, IBM, FedEx and others began building their leadership engines by doing what any great team does: putting the right people in the right leadership positions in the first place. They then strengthen the leaders’ skills and knowledge and rigorously hold them accountable for hitting their operating and financial targets. Let’s peek under the hood at these leadership engines to see how these great companies not only create but sustain leadership engines that continuously produce strong leaders. http://tc.eserver.org/31237.html http://tc.eserver.org/31237.html About 20 years ago, employee publication editors everywhere were under assault from consultants like me who were carping about our colleagues' reluctance to move beyond reporting on employee outings, hobbies and similar fluff. On, we urged, to the serious business of directly helping our organizations win! http://tc.eserver.org/31223.html http://tc.eserver.org/31223.html One of the traditional signs of corporate success has been the corner office. Yet today some of the most successful communication executives don't have an office at all. They work from home, the airport, a visitor’s cubicle at headquarters, the back of a cab, a corner Starbucks or a beachfront cottage. If you’re setting up a corporate communication department today, it’s time to think outside the box—or the cubicle—when it comes to locating yourself and your coworkers. http://tc.eserver.org/31229.html http://tc.eserver.org/31229.html When organizations are going through change, be it major or minor, the most trusted source of communication for employees is nearly always their line manager. Equipping line managers to communicate well is essential, but it also has inherent challenges. http://tc.eserver.org/31095.html http://tc.eserver.org/31095.html This article examines the potential application of stakeholder theory to the case of a disabled worker returning to work. A gated notion combining both the instrumental and ethical views of stakeholder theory is explored as a way to understand how to determine who may be classified as a stakeholder. This nuanced application of stakeholding to the process of returning to work lends itself to the consideration of mediation techniques as mechanisms of conflict avoidance rather than exclusively as dispute resolution techniques. Implications in terms of the study of the return to work process, disability, and the further potential for practical application are discussed. http://tc.eserver.org/31039.html http://tc.eserver.org/31039.html At nearly every conference I attend someone is talking about the need for Subject Matter Expertise for Business Analysts. The rationale is that someone versed in the language, ideas, and systems of a given organization or product will ask better questions and elicit better requirements from stakeholders. http://tc.eserver.org/30887.html http://tc.eserver.org/30887.html For contract web workers, consultants, and freelancers who work with far-flung collaborators, multiple clients, and constantly shifting teams, the rules of digital engagement--the way we interact with each other and resolve conflict in virtual space--are constantly changing. As we adapt to new ways of collaborating, we must also learn how to communicate effectively, set expectations, and build team confidence in an evolving work environment. http://tc.eserver.org/30846.html http://tc.eserver.org/30846.html Workplace incivility, including aggression and bullying, is a troubling phenomenon. Uncivil behaviors not only harm individuals but also diminish employee performance and sometimes result in legal action against companies. Thus, it behooves organizations and management to become vigilant and responsive to such behaviors. Yet the evidence shows that with the recent exception of attempted legislation in Hawaii (Chiem, 2007), few companies or jurisdictions in the United State have policies and procedures aimed at addressing uncivil behavior. This article outlines some points to consider when developing policies to counteract uncivil behavior in the workplace. In the process, we incorporate the views of two corporate representatives (a diversity manager at Georgia Power, a human resource manager at PepsiCo) and an attorney with the U.S. military. Developing a Policy About Uncivil Behavior Any organization wishing to develop a policy about uncivil behavior should establish a task force or committee representing various categories of employees. These members may serve as liaisons to their units. Here are some points for the group to consider in creating the policy: Define Uncivil Behavior There will likely be much discussion as committee members try to develop a definition, but this is necessary to create a policy. http://tc.eserver.org/30779.html http://tc.eserver.org/30779.html Learn specific steps technical communicators can take to respond to the commoditization of technical tasks. http://tc.eserver.org/30774.html http://tc.eserver.org/30774.html It turns out that you can get out of a slump or handle pressure situations comfortably by merely changing your facial expressions. I have been trying this over the past several days and have been completely stunned with what happens. http://tc.eserver.org/30738.html http://tc.eserver.org/30738.html Argues that the subdiscipline or community of organizational communication scholars is also imagined, as much organizational communication scholarship conducted within the global context is performed and interpreted from the dominant Euro-American intellectual tradition, privileging those concepts as well as particular voices and traditions and often ignoring inequality and exploitation within the scholarly community. This forgetting and the imagined scholarly community it creates continue to reify and legitimate a particular form of rationality and, in practice, lead to further colonization, subordination, and oppression of native/indigenous/other forms of understanding and organizing within our disciplinary field. http://tc.eserver.org/30741.html http://tc.eserver.org/30741.html According to communication privacy management (CPM) theory, people manage the boundaries around information that they seek to keep private. How does this theory apply when employees are monitored electronically? Using data from 154 face-to-face interviews with employees from a range of organizations, the authors identified various ways organizations, employees, and coworkers describe electronic surveillance and the privacy expectations, boundaries, and turbulence that arise. Privacy boundaries are established during new-employee orientation when surveillance is described as coercive control, as benefiting the company, and/or as benefiting employees. Correlations exist between the surveillance-related socialization messages interviewees remember receiving and their attitudes. Although little boundary turbulence appeared, employees articulated boundaries that companies should not cross. The authors conclude that CPM theory suppositions need modification to fit the conditions of electronic surveillance. http://tc.eserver.org/30716.html http://tc.eserver.org/30716.html Bill Gates gave his last keynote at the 2008 CES show in Las Vegas and he started it out with a spoof of what his last day might be like and includes cameos from a number of Microsoft executives and some Hollywood stars, celebrities and politicians. This video is just an excerpt of the longer keynote. http://tc.eserver.org/30704.html http://tc.eserver.org/30704.html This study examines the processes by which workers in a particular Indian call center located in Kolkata expanded on, negotiated, and chose among an array of possible, especially new, identities and identifications and the ways that these choices affected changing social discourses. Our case study depicted a workplace that was simultaneously casual and urgent, temporal and spatially free and constrained, situated in both Indian and U.S. cultures, and oriented toward business and night-club ambiances. Within this particular workplace, call center employees (re)constructed and negotiated among an array of discourses that bracketed opportunities for particular identities and identifications. Through these negotiation processes, they (a) engaged in strategic identity(ies) invocations and (b) reframed work, career, and family discourses and practices. http://tc.eserver.org/30703.html http://tc.eserver.org/30703.html The current study examined the influence of supervisor communicator competence and leadership style on employee job and communication satisfaction. Participants were 220 individuals (116 men and 104 women) working full-time for a variety of companies in the Midwest. The findings indicated a strong relationship between supervisors' communicator competence and their task and relational leadership styles, with supervisor communicator competence being a stronger predictor of employee job and communication satisfaction. More specifically, the findings indicated that supervisor communicator competence accounted for 68% of the variance in subordinate communication satisfaction and nearly 18% of the variance in subordinate job satisfaction. More important, these findings provide an association between communication, leadership, and employee job and communication satisfaction. http://tc.eserver.org/30623.html http://tc.eserver.org/30623.html It's a classic chicken-and-egg struggle. Many information developers wait for management go-ahead before conducting usability studies. Management, on the otherhand, is sometimes reluctant to support usability work. http://tc.eserver.org/30554.html http://tc.eserver.org/30554.html When concentrating on your daily tasks, you may lose track of your creative side. Discover four suggestions for how to stretch your creative muscles. http://tc.eserver.org/30460.html http://tc.eserver.org/30460.html It's important to be able to distinguish between workaholics and people who are simply wrapped up in their work--either because they enjoy it so much or because, temporarily, they have decided to make it a priority to win a promotion or attain the kind of lifestyle that they want. For a workaholic, work is the end, not the means. While it may bring wealth or power, what matters most is simply working. Just as alcoholics drink because they must--not always because they enjoy it--so a workaholic is addicted to working even when there is no rational reason for doing so. http://tc.eserver.org/30421.html http://tc.eserver.org/30421.html You can create an orientation package to acclimate new personnel and ensure that they receive all the items and information they need in a timely manner. The orientation package can consist of six sections: introduction, maps, organization overview, skills list, other information sources, and checklists. Such an orientation package is currently being used at the IBM(R) Corporation in Cary, North Carolina. Businesses constantly grow and change. People join organizations, transfer between departments and sites, and return after extended absences. The sooner new personnel become skilled in their new positions, the sooner they will be productive and contributing members of the organization. http://tc.eserver.org/30379.html http://tc.eserver.org/30379.html Many articles discuss how to hire a great writer, but relatively few tell us what to do when we get one. The first weeks on a new job set the tone for a writer's experience at a company. If both manager and writer pay attention to getting a good start, the result will be that the writer settles in, feels welcome and at ease, and becomes productive quickly. http://tc.eserver.org/30319.html http://tc.eserver.org/30319.html When you get fed up and do decide to blaze your own trail, don't forget to take some friends along with you. You never know when you're going to run into a wild past participle that you need help taming. http://tc.eserver.org/30177.html http://tc.eserver.org/30177.html With the increasing use of technological resources such as the Internet and World-wide Web, the concept of the 'virtual campus' where there is little or no face-to-face contact between colleagues is becoming commonplace. Students will be more attractive to potential employers if they are ready for this environment prior to graduation. To prepare students for this challenge, educators must work to ensure technical communication programs remain current with the technology field. Knowledgeable educators and up-to-date programs will produce graduates that are adequately prepared to enter the professional workforce. http://tc.eserver.org/30138.html http://tc.eserver.org/30138.html Managing difficult changes in the workplace is possible by going through three clearly outlined phases. This approach to finessing professional transitions takes into account the differences between change and transition, defining transition as an interval with three phases. Communication style is a major contributor to moving effectively and smoothly through the three phases of a transition. Choosing one's words carefully, replacing commonly used and infrequently considered negative words with positive words, affects not only one's ability to finesse professional transitions successfully, but also others' perceptions of how well people manage their transitions. http://tc.eserver.org/30125.html http://tc.eserver.org/30125.html Being the lone writer in an organization can be very rewarding, but often poses unique challenges. Some of the issues of particular concern to lone writers include training, variety of tasks, managing multiple projects, career growth, and organization concerns. In addition, the challenges facing lone writers vary greatly between self-employed lone writers and lone writers in a corporate environment, and between experienced and new lone writers. http://tc.eserver.org/30026.html http://tc.eserver.org/30026.html Was documenting and evangelizing (i.e., explaining and advocating for) UX work considered to be a critical component of what it took to move UX into a position of corporate influence? It was in some companies, but not in others. http://tc.eserver.org/29914.html http://tc.eserver.org/29914.html It is possible to survive in a start-up. As new technologies emerge so do start-ups where, more often than not, process and procedures have yet to be implemented. This article takes a look at the three key elements needed for Tech Pubs to survive in a start-up. http://tc.eserver.org/29889.html http://tc.eserver.org/29889.html The expanding definition of technical communication requires an organization with a multidisciplinary set of skills (ranging from editing to visual design to user interface design to usability testing to programming) to meet the new demands. While the members of such a multidisciplinary organization have common goals, they also have unique and specialized needs for education, communication, and shared practices based on their specific skills. Nurturing, developing, and sustaining these distinct skills requires an infrastructure that supports divergent communities of practice, yet still encourages cross-pollination of ideas and integration of processes toward a common goal. http://tc.eserver.org/29890.html http://tc.eserver.org/29890.html The purpose of this paper is to help educators and trainers design realistic working environments for team writing assignments and, thus, to prepare students to function on high-performance teams in the workplace. This paper describes differences and similarities between academic and industrial team working environments. It focuses on the kinds of tasks teams are asked to perform, the time and other constraints under which teams operate, the types of considerations that go into selecting people to participate in a team, the members' expectations about teamwork, the rewards used to recognize effective teamwork, and the role of the manager or course instructor. This paper offers suggestions to address some of the key challenges. http://tc.eserver.org/29900.html http://tc.eserver.org/29900.html This workshop explores the creative use of humor as a de-stressor in the often deadline-driven, pressure-filled world of technical communication, while also addressing the inherent risks involved with this strategy. Three specific techniques involving metaphor, psychology, and incongruity are exemplified in the opening presentation. Participants then form teams to apply these techniques and other strategies to relieve stress in volatile business/technical scenarios. http://tc.eserver.org/29827.html http://tc.eserver.org/29827.html One way to resolve some of the conflict in English studies and technical communication over their diminishing cultural capital is to recognize the place of instrumental discourse in communication studies. Instrumental discourse is individually verified social agreements to coordinate and control physical actions. One purpose of literary works is to voice new concerns about social inequities. A purpose of rhetoric is to persuade others of the validity of those concerns. Instrumental discourse registers agreements about those concerns and brings them to temporary closure in laws, instructions, contracts, and constitutions. Instrumental discourse is the culmination of a process that often begins with a literary monolog, is continued in many rhetorical dialogs, and ends, for a while, in a chorus of approval. Each phase of this communication process--monolog, dialog, and chorus--has a place in English studies. If more English studies faculty would recognize the need to study the communications that promote dissensus and consensus, then they might contribute more to global discussions about social justice, cooperation, and sustainability, and they might gain more cultural capital and social influence. http://tc.eserver.org/29824.html http://tc.eserver.org/29824.html This study examines the skills that recent technical communication graduates and managers believe technical communication students need before entering business and industry as new technical communicators. Through questionnaires and interviews with recent graduates and managers of technical communication departments as well as an analysis of the participating schools' curricula, this study suggests areas where technical communication may need more preparation, including business operations, project management, problem-solving skills, and scientific and technical knowledge. Further research is needed at local, state, and national levels to analyze technical communication undergraduate curricula along with responses from recent graduates of technical communication programs and managers of technical communication programs. Only through continued research can we ensure that future technical communicators receive an education that eases their transition into the world of business and industry. http://tc.eserver.org/29767.html http://tc.eserver.org/29767.html Social psychology and organization development suggest that virtually all people, and all teams, must deal with conflicting impulses toward effective and ineffective behaviour. Research shows that it is a basic human trait to want to succeed, to be in control, and to avoid embarrassment. Group dynamics research also suggests that teams operate on two dimensions: the task or work dimension, and the social or relationship dimension. High-performing teams pay attention to both the task and social environments. They create an environment that minimizes the occurrence of face-saving and defensive behaviour. This environment is usually characterized by honesty and authenticity, by the use of relevant and verifiable information, and by a willingness to own up to mistakes. http://tc.eserver.org/29772.html http://tc.eserver.org/29772.html In today's environment we often find ourselves drowning in our work. We don't take the time to stop and assess what we are doing. Are there better ways to do what we do? Are we making the biggest and best contribution we can make? Can you manage innovation? This paper will discuss the importance of innovation and one method we used to drive innovation. http://tc.eserver.org/29736.html http://tc.eserver.org/29736.html Talk with Gloria Reece, a senior member of STC’s AccessAbility SIG who can help you understand vision problems and the technologies that exist to make information accessible. Get practical advice for implementing new technologies in your workplace. http://tc.eserver.org/29753.html http://tc.eserver.org/29753.html Based on the action research model of inquiry, this article is an interpretive ethnographic case study, exploring the power of narratives as a sensemaking device for members of a women's resource network in a large corporation during a time of significant organizational change, and the influence of storytelling on the networking practices of its members. Data are based on participant observation, formal and informal interviews, focus groups, and document analysis, including presentations, meeting notes, and e-mail correspondence. Drawing on the concepts of sensemaking, identity construction, and habitus, analysis of the members' stories suggests three key conclusions: reliance on collectively constructing stories; use of stories to deal with ambiguity and anxiety; and use of stories to construct and regulate identity. When viewed through a narrative lens, these results illuminate the interconnection of storytelling and networking strategies in a women's resource network that provides a hybrid of both expressive and instrumental benefits. http://tc.eserver.org/29727.html http://tc.eserver.org/29727.html This paper presents suggestions to help interns and new hires adjust to the workplace in business or government. They include avoiding personal use of company equipment; controlling use of cell phones and computers; observing telephone and voicemail etiquette; opening only business-related email; learning about the organization's culture; dressing appropriately; participating actively in meetings; being punctual; remembering names; behaving appropriately in social interactions with other staff; being courteous; and having a positive, constructive attitude. The suggestions are designed to enable the intern or new hire to create a good impression and increase their chances of success in the organization. http://tc.eserver.org/29875.html http://tc.eserver.org/29875.html This paper presents the results of a study that contributes to our understanding of how to conduct and manage usability in the workplace. The study’s participants provided the dual perspective of practitioners working in industry and who are simultaneously enrolled in graduate studies. Recommendations for industry and academia are offered. The results have implications for helping technical communication professionals prepare for their expanding role in user-centered design. http://tc.eserver.org/29437.html http://tc.eserver.org/29437.html Experts claim you'll spend 1500 hours in meetings during a typical 30-year career--that is, if you can duck some meetings by looking busy and if you can retire early. If you duck slowly or plan a long career, you could easily spend more time in meetings than you spend working. Fortunately, a little planning and some quick thinking should let you turn meetings into a blessing--or at least a tolerable evil. http://tc.eserver.org/29439.html http://tc.eserver.org/29439.html We live in an uncertain world, and good intentions are no guarantee of success, so we develop policies and procedures to provide ourselves with a measure of security and provide the illusion of control. http://tc.eserver.org/29435.html http://tc.eserver.org/29435.html Everyone knows that documentation is a cost center, and that downsizing writers and moving documentation online save money. Unfortunately for 'everyone', it's trivial to demonstrate that documentation is actually a profit center--and we don't even have to wrassle with messy stuff like customer satisfaction to prove it.