#13941
If it's a good day, you arrive at work around seven o'clock, grateful for having missed the morning rush hour. Today's not a good day, so instead you crawl out from under the shakey shelf in your cubicle, glad that neither your cranky, obsolete computer nor the stale glass of Jolt cola fell on you during the night. Don't laugh; it's happened before, and putting yourself back together again cost you an hour of sleep you desperately needed. You smell the stench of cold pizza, and what's really appalling is that you're not sure whether it's coming from your shirt, your breath, or a hidden cache somewhere in the cubicle under piles of documentation someone left you to review. That's not your problem right now.
#31686
Decaf Resistance: On Misbehavior, Cynicism, and Desire in Liberal Workplaces 
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.
Contu, Alessia. Management Communication Quarterly (2008). Articles>Management>Workplace
#18250
Inadequate document control/documentation causes most ISO 9000 audit failures. For certification in ISO, QS 9000 and related standards, quality programs must be clearly documented through a series of controlled, sequential documents. This paper will overview how to do it successfully.
Paradis, Gerard. STC Proceedings (1996). Presentations>Workplace>Standards>ISO 9000
#29767
Developing High-Performing Teams 
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.
Conklin, John James. STC Proceedings (2004). Careers>Collaboration>Management>Workplace
#30846
Developing Policies About Uncivil Workplace Behavior
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.
Bandow, Diane and Debra Hunter. Business Communication Quarterly (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Policies and Procedures>Workplace
#10847
Dilbert, sometimes referred to as a 'patron saint of technical communicators,' represents a sort of workplace humor that often illuminates TC experiences. This website shows the past month's worth of episodes from the daily syndicated cartoon.
Adams, Scott. United Feature Syndicate. Humor>Workplace>Engineering
#24210
This unique and lively workshop is based on an ingenious board game developed by the Office of Ethics and Business Conduct for the Lockheed Martin Corporation, under a special copyright agreement with Scott Adams. It uses the famous characters in the cartoon strip, including celebrated ethicist Dogbert™, to inject a spirit of fun into the heavy debate that often swirls around the thorny ethical dilemmas we confront in the workplace. Here, teams of technical communicators will compete to see who can best balance ethical values with business realities and come out with practical, honest solutions. While the vehicle is rather lighthearted, the content is anything but. The case histories are carefully designed to cut to the moral chase. There are no right or wrong answers—only good, better, best, not so good, and Dogbert™. Yes, there's an answer key, but that, too, is controversial. What? No clear answers? Of course not. That's the whole point.
Voss, Daniel W. STC Proceedings (1999). Careers>Workplace>Ethics
#30738
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.
Broadfoot, Kirsten J. and Debeashish Munshi. Management Communication Quarterly (2007). Articles>Workplace>Organizational Communication>Ethnographies
#20915
Diversity in US Workplace Communication
This course will increase your understanding of the ways in which traditional communication pattern in the workplace enrich or diminish us and empower or marginalize women, older workers, workers with disabilities, racial and ethnic groups and other minorities, and labor.
Locker, Kitty O. Ohio State University, The. Academic>Courses>Discrimination>Workplace
#29435
Documentation is a Profit Center!
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.
Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Geoff-Hart.com (2000). Articles>Documentation>Workplace
#27501
There are four tiers of documentation recommended for satisfying ISO 9000 requirements. These documents are: the Quality Policy Manual, Procedures, Work Instructions, and Records.
Kurtus, Ron. School for Champions (2005). Articles>Documentation>Workplace>ISO 9000
#30779
Don't Let Your Work Become a Commodity
Learn specific steps technical communicators can take to respond to the commoditization of technical tasks.
Harvey, Michael. Intercom (2008). Careers>TC>Workplace
#29437
Dr. Strangemeeting (or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Enjoy the Donuts)
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.
Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Geoff-Hart.com (2001). Careers>Workplace>Collaboration
#24545
This article looks at how two offices changed their informal work relationships and patterns in response to a major technological innovation in their field. This inductive study involves a cross-case analysis with field studies covering a two-year period. The research applies the models suggested by social action theory to help explain outcomes. By the end of this study, one office had lost its funding and was eliminated, while the other has survived and grown. The article examines whether the differing organizational responses to new core technology were related to each office's ability to survive.
Kahn, Russell L. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2000). Articles>Workplace>Technology>Collaboration
#21704
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
#14511
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
#15127
Eleven Commandments for Business Meeting Etiquette
Offers some rules on business meeting etiquette.
Smith, Gary M. Intercom (2000). Careers>Workplace>Collaboration
#26684
Email in the Workplace: Employees Perceive Email Differently than Employers
Argues that employees' misunderstanding of email in the workplace has in part stemmed from employers not being direct about the need to monitor it. By being clear and direct, employers can possibly reduce misuse and ultimately the need for such intrusive email monitoring.
Knox, Jessica. Orange Journal, The (2005). Articles>Workplace>Email>Privacy
#26686
Email Overload in the Workplace: A Multi-Dimensional Exploration
This paper is a multidimensional exploration of email overload, incorporating a mixture of studies and opinions presented by various experts.
Pratt, Andrew. Orange Journal, The (2005). Articles>Workplace>Email
#29772
Encouraging Innovation in Your Organization
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.
Crawford, Vanadis, Angela Pitts, Rosalind Radcliffe and Leah Ann Seifert. STC Proceedings (2004). Careers>Workplace>Project Management>Assessment
#31436
Engagement: Linking Employees to Strategic Direction
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.
Potter, Lester. Communication World Bulletin (2005). Careers>Management>Public Relations>Workplace
#26627
Usability goes beyond the level of individual users interacting with screens. It's also a question of how easy or cumbersome it is for the entire organization to use a system.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2005). Articles>Usability>Workplace
#14686
Essentials of Successful Cooperation
Brys discusses ways that technical communicators can lay foundations for good working relationships with subject matter experts.
Brys, Catherine M. Intercom (2001). Careers>Workplace>Collaboration>SMEs
#14146
Establishing and Building Mutual Respect with Technical Team Members 
As a technical writer, are you finding yourself wishing for just a bit of respect from the engineers, SMEs (Subject Matter Experts), or other technical people you work with? Are you finding that these folks seem to stonewall you on every question you have or every goal you're trying to achieve? Are they obstreperous? Difficult? Or just plain unhelpful? When I hear technical writers complaining about--er, describing--such troubles when working in a team environment, my first reaction is to want to sit and observe how they actually interact with those seemingly impossible team members. In my experience, I've found that the problem isn't always with a surly SME or with an engineer who lacks communication skills. Certainly, there are cases where other team members just don't value any contribution other than their own; however, most often, I have found the problem is with the technical writer's approach to the team environment--and have found that the problem began from the very start of that writer's involvement with the team.
Ray, Eric J. TECHWR-L (2002). Careers>Collaboration>Workplace>SMEs
#14141
An example worksheet for generating TC job estimates.
