#13718
MBA Writer is a humorous site for automatically generating business-speak. It automatically generate sentences ready for inclusion into your business memos, without all of the thinking!
Shor, Mike. Vanderbilt University (2002). Humor>Workplace>Management
#15168
Mentoring in a Business Environment 
Describes mentor-student relationship from both perspectives, describing the experiences of a corporate mentor and mentee and the changes in positions for writers that came with tools migration (from Ventura Publisher to FrameMaker) and new writing standards and guidelines.
Robart, Kay and K.C. Francis. Intercom (2001). Careers>Mentoring>Workplace
#30026
Moving UX into a Position of Corporate Influence: Whose Advice Really Works?
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.
Anderson, Richard I. uiGarden (2007). Articles>Management>User Experience>Workplace
#19722
You know the adage that says it takes 21 days to create a habit? Practice has definitely established a new habit for me: It now feels comfortable to pick up a piece of paper and decide-on the spot-whether to throw it or keep it. And I'm thrilled to report that I'm throwing a lot more away the first time, rather than picking it up, putting it down, picking it up, putting it down. Who needs that kind of up and down exercise!
Book, Ruth. STC Central Iowa (2001). Articles>Workplace>Time Management
#13889
The Need for Architect/Construction Worker Dichotomies in Information Architecture as a Profession 
I would suggest that before we adopt the 'information architect' model and concede the construction worker (role of 'other') to many members of our field in order to negotiate management positions for a few, that we look to other professions to see how they have resisted this dichotomy. It may be argued, perhaps, that professions such as medicine and the law have managed to avoid successfully such hierarchical dichotomies -- at least in part. At the least, we should debate the possible implications of such systems more rigorously than we have to date.
Sauer, Geoffrey. CPTSC Proceedings (2002). Presentations>Information Design>Workplace
#31721
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.
Harris, Kerri. Writing Assistance (2006). Articles>Business Communication>Collaboration>Workplace
#15170
Nielsen Media Research: Must-See TV
The author shares her experiences working as a technical writer at Nielsen Media Research in Dunedin, Florida.
Passmore, Denise Annette. Intercom (2000). Careers>Workplace>TC
#20649
Nip It in the NUB (Neo-Usability Bashing)
Lately in some quarters it's cool to bash usability. This is a bit different from the 'Never heard of it and don't need it' kind of opposition many of us have encountered in our careers. The Neo-Usability Bashing (NUB) argument goes something like this: Usability is so '90s, so software-application centered. In this brave new networked world, usability's outlived its worth. On the Web, people aren't 'users' as they were when they were using a spreadsheet or a word processing application, they're 'searchers,' 'game-players,' 'shoppers,' etc.
Donahue, George. Usability Professionals Association (2000). Articles>Usability>Workplace
#20104
Organizing Your Professional Life
There are specific things you can do to organize your professional life. Organization starts with planning. Maintain a “to do” list and a calendar, plan your day accordingly, and follow through on those plans. Allow time to deal with occurrences that are beyond your control. Do what you can to minimize interruptions. Limit physical clutter by either throwing things away or putting them away. Reduce mental clutter by forgetting about what you don’t need to deal with right away. Remember that you can control your time and your life.
Hansen, Lauren Y. STC Proceedings (1996). Careers>Workplace>Planning
#31689
Our Stake in Struggle (Or Is Resistance Something Only Others Do?) 
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).
Lee Ashcraft, Karen. Management Communication Quarterly (2008). Articles>Management>Organizational Communication>Workplace
#20492
Because technical communication involves the knowledge of technology, expertise is associated with anything practical. I've come to think about this battle in terms of what my colleague Allan Heaps used to call the PageMaker Guy. In practical terms, the PageMaker Guy is the person in an organization or a group who 'knows' how to use technology, who can fix other people's technological messes, or who sacrifices valuable research time helping other people use technology. The PageMaker Guy is a phenomenon for which a person is anointed. Those of us in 'PageMaker Guy' situations often resent this role because it subsumes our identity to the extent that we fear our colleagues might ignore the depth of knowledge necessary for this role as well as our equally deserved scholarly accomplishments.
Bridgeford, Tracy. CPTSC Proceedings (2003). Careers>Academic>Workplace
#20799
Painless Ways to Improve Colleagues' Grammar
Instead of confronting individuals, raise all staff members' awareness. Use humor to help people recognize errors and remember correct usage.
#28636
Paper at Its Peak: The Myth of the Myth of the Paperless Office
Anyone who writes for a living can, like me, describe a long love-hate relationship with paper as the conveyer of the written word. There's something physically appealing about putting pen to paper, as there is about picking up and reading a well-produced bound document.
Garrison, Ronald W. Carolina Communique (2007). Articles>Workplace>Business Communication>Paper
#28133
A technical writer is not respected; information providers and reviewers do not understand the importance of documentation; my deadlines are not given priority. Do these statements sound familiar? Are there any solutions to these woes that will help us deliver the best output to the end-user?
Lawrence, Prema. International Journal for Technical Communication (2006). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Workplace
#28372
Plasma Screens: The Dynamic New Wave in Internal Communications
Informing an organization's employees about key messages is essential to creating and maintaining an efficient and effective work force. To help your employees stay informed, consider broadcasting your organization’s news on plasma screens that are accessible to all employees.
Sacharen, Chani H. and Ettie Gilead. Intercom (2006). Articles>TC>Workplace>Workflow
#29439
Policies, Procedures, and Paralysis
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.
Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Geoff-Hart.com (2001). Careers>Workplace>Policies and Procedures
#31518
Practical Tips for Merger Communication
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?
Fagan-Smith, Barbara and Ruta Skelton. Communication World Bulletin (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Financial>Workplace
#29875
Practitioners as Students: What We Can Learn About Teaching Usability
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.
Levine, Barbara J. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Education>Usability>Workplace
#20087
What should organizational communication courses contribute to an STC curriculum synthesizing technological and critical literacies? We argue for a strong theoretical component as a way of setting technical competencies and organizational roles in critical perspective. We illustrate the importance of a theoretically-informed synthesis in extended examples from a recent co-op experience at a major government lab. The changing role of technical communicator can be viewed in terms of changing models of organization and communication with implications for STC curriculum design and real-world practice.
Sotirin, Patricia. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Communication>Workplace
#14137
A sample project kickoff form, useful to clarify specific issues to particular jobs that might not otherwise become apparent until late in the job itself.
#20353
Humorous aphorisms about project management.
#15177
Describes ten arguments technical writers can use to demonstrate their importance to their employers.
Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Intercom (2001). Careers>Workplace>Assessment
#14439
While parts of a document should be concise, provide detail whenever it may help the reader. Computer documents often have less total space constraints than paper documents, so the cost of providing extra details may be small. In fact, sometimes providing details can cut the cost of writing the document by saving time from writing summaries.
Bricklin, Dan. Good Documents (1998). Articles>Writing>Workplace
#31039
Putting Limits on Subject Matter Expertise
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.
Vincent, Cameron. BA Collective (2007). Articles>Business Communication>Workplace>SMEs
#31724
Raising Your Documentation Team's Visibility
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.
Potsus, Whitney Beth. Writing Assistance (2006). Careers>Management>Documentation>Workplace
