An Interview with Dr. JoAnn Hackos

Implementing a content-management system may seem a little outside the purview of the technical documentation manager. But, according to JoAnn Hackos, managers and their staff can play a pivotal role in the success of a content-management project. In this interview, guest editor Scott Abel, publisher of TheContentWrangler.com, chats with Hackos about how to prepare for a move to content management and explores who needs to be involved in the process and why.

Abel, Scott. TechCom Manager (2006). Articles>Interviews>Content Management

Effective Leadership Through Change

Changes come fast for today’s manager. Whether it revolves around local issues such as staffing, attrition patterns, or larger structural concerns like corporate-wide modifications, change of any kind represents the single greatest challenge for leadership. On an individual level, change can be difficult to accept and harder to implement. Uncertainty can lead to irrational behavior and have a negative, cascading effect throughout an organization. For managers, adapting and facilitating change is a critical skill that requires agility, acceptance, and strategic planning in order to guide employees through a difficult transition, while still maintaining personal integrity and developing strong leadership qualities.

Harris, Kerri. TechCom Manager (2006). Careers>Management

Eight Steps to Successful Software Documentation

Whether software documentation is designed for a company’s internal users or for a variety of end customers, one thing is for certain: Documentation that is well written, well structured, easily accessible, and thoroughly compliments the software it supports can play a significant role in a product’s overall success. And it doesn’t matter if the documentation stands alone or it is integrated with the product. As long as it is properly planned, developed, and configured, success is eminent.

Capri, Steve. TechCom Manager (2006). Articles>Documentation>Software

Why You Should Hire Professional Writers to do the Writing

Who is writing all the documents that organizations produce? The typical answer: Anyone who has a keyboard. But not everyone with a keyboard has the skills required to create the quality documents that ultimately fall into the hands of customers and regulators. Nor does everyone who is asked to write these important documents have the desire—or time—to perform such tasks.

Wieland, Diane. TechCom Manager (2006). Articles>Management>Business Communication>Organizational Communication

Think Globally, Write Locally

Using a process called localization, language professionals translate the source document’s words and adapt its content to the needs and norms of the target country or market. Because language professionals can work only with what they are given, the document’s creator is partly responsible for ensuring the localization process is effective. After all, poorly written English cannot be turned into good Japanese.

Giovanis, Kristen. TechCom Manager (2006). Articles>Language>Localization>Translation

Communicating for Diversity

Effective communication is a manager’s greatest tool in rallying groups toward a common cause. From the annual department address to daily email, careful audience consideration is vital in determining how accurately audiences receive messages. Even the most engaging statements loose meaning when barriers to effective communication foster misconception and confusion.

Harris, Kerri. TechCom Manager (2006). Articles>Communication

The Life of a Lone Writer

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.

Potsus, Whitney Beth. TechCom Manager (2006). Articles>Writing>Business Communication>Workplace

Starting a Technical Writing Business from Scratch

What does it take to start your own technical-writing business? Chutzpa! Insanity! I began mine by getting a loan from my local bank for my first computer to set up a home office. It was a Micron desktop 386, the fastest computer in town! That was nine years ago. I now have a nice office, a sizeable staff, and all the work I can handle, most of the time.

Nickolich, Ruth. TechCom Manager (2006). Careers>Management>Writing>Technical Writing

Hidden Information for All to See

Just what kind of information about yourself and your company are you releasing for all the world to see? Shouldn't you know? Although it takes special forensic tools to access most hidden information in computers, some of it is in plain view without using tools to see it. This article is about one of the “plain view” instances: Information that Microsoft Word saves about you, your company, and the topic you are writing about – all of which anyone can see after accessing and opening your document.

Molisani, Jack. TechCom Manager (2006). Articles>Management>Security>Microsoft Word

Managing Conflict

Conflict resolution is among the many tasks delegated to managers, yet it is often the most difficult to master. From individual performance appraisals to an all-out assault within a project team, managers are expected to not only have the wisdom of Solomon, but also the patience of a saint. Yet often, this skill is not cultivated, leaving many managers unable to adapt to instances that can bring even the best performing machine to a screeching halt. To help avoid this from happening, there are various tools and tactics that an organization can adopt to not only diffuse immediate threats to productivity, but also alleviate potential issues in the long run.

Harris, Kerri. TechCom Manager (2005). Careers>Management>Collaboration

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. 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.

Potsus, Whitney Beth. TechCom Manager (2005). Articles>Management>Documentation>Workplace

Hiring Contract Technical Writers

So you've got approval to hire a contract technical writer. Maybe it's for overflow work or a special project. Nevertheless, it is your responsibility and you want to do it right.

Hartmann, Scott. TechCom Manager (2005). Careers>Management>Writing>Technical Writing

Fundamentals of Leadership: Communicating a Vision

Today's business climate of outsourcing, in-sourcing, virtual teams, and ROI-driven objectives can leave a manager at any level feeling powerless. Yet, we often see examples of those who can elicit unwavering support from their teams, driving highly effective projects, and getting the best performance from employees despite ever-increasing workloads. What is it about these individuals that makes them stand out as great leaders?

Harris, Kerri. TechCom Manager (2005). Academic>Management>Collaboration>Rhetoric

Launching into a Writing Project -- Tips for New Writers

One of the challenges of managing new writers is helping them discover and develop their writing process. Whether the new writers have just come out of school, or have recently 'fallen into' the field without the benefit of much training, they often experience the same problems in planning and composing -- which have their roots in how they learned to write.

Potsus, Whitney Beth. TechCom Manager (2005). Careers>Management>Writing

How to Justify Hiring Technical Writers During Hard Economic Times

With our economy still on the down slope, it is difficult for technical managers to justify keeping an excessive amount of technical writers on their staffs, let alone hiring new ones. In many cases, managers feel they don’t even need writers, arguing that everyone has writing ability. Of course, today’s technical writers not only write, they also perform many other tasks: programming, web development, training, and so on. Add to that the fact that many are also highly trained and certified in other areas besides writing.

Datta, Aparna. TechCom Manager (2005). Articles>Management>Writing>Technical Writing

Five Questions to Ask Yourself While Creating a New Documentation Department

You're the manager of your company’s emerging documentation department -- and your work has just begun. To create effective documentation for your customers, you not only have to build a sound team, but also build working relationships with all other departments in your company.

Butow, Eric. TechCom Manager (2005). Articles>Management>Documentation

Dealing With Professional Burnout

The emotional components of burnout are trickier to deal with. By the time they start becoming noticeable to those around us, the core issues are so deeply rooted that the feelings can be difficult to overcome:

Potsus, Whitney Beth. TechCom Manager (2005). Careers>TC

It's In the Numbers: Using Metrics to Plan Documentation Projects

It's in the numbers. Creating documentation is not an exact science, yet as communication leaders, we are expected to provide real estimates for how much time we need to document a project, or what we can produce given a predetermined timeline.

Yundt, Margie and Sherry McMenemy. TechCom Manager (2005). Articles>Documentation>Assessment

Translation and Localization Options

How do you identify the many options available for localizing your products or materials, and how do you select the right ones for your company?

Johnson, Dan. TechCom Manager (2005). Articles>Language>Localization>Translation

How to Market a Documentation Department

When you first ventured into the tech writing ranks, marketing the department was likely the furthest thing from your mind. You already had work to do, so marketing was somebody else’s job.

King, Robert. TechCom Manager (2004). Articles>Management>Documentation>Marketing

Behind the Scenes: Marketing Documentation Services through Leadership

When you think of marketing, do press releases, brochures, presentations, direct mail, and web sites come to mind? Those pieces are certainly parts of the puzzle.But a lot must go on behind the curtain to make those on-stage pieces worthwhile. These often hidden goings-on are the leadership techniques of a successful documentation manager. The result is a documentation department that warrants the effort expended on marketing. After all, marketing succeeds only if services are reliable, communication channels are open, and products meet expectations.

Edgerton, Rebecca J. TechCom Manager (2004). Articles>Management>Documentation>Marketing

Making the Transition From Tech Comm to Marcom

At first glance, technical communication (techcom) and technical marketing communication (marcom) appear to be very different genres. Where traditional techcom strives to help people use products, marcom seeks to make people realize they need products. Techcom instructs, while marcom persuades, and this distinction affects everything from the genre’s focus, to its content, and medium.

Simard, Christy. TechCom Manager (2004). Careers>TC>Business Communication>Marketing

Five Secrets to Successful Interviewing and Hiring

The technical communications profession involves a unique mix of technical and communication skills, which is not easy to find. Most managers have had the experience of interviewing and subsequently hiring a candidate who later turns out not to be the right person for the job. This situation begs the question of how to identify which candidate is a good fit for a given position. The answer is that there are five key activities that make the difference between a successful hiring decision and a not-so-successful one. We have all been on both sides of the interview, and this article will attempt to make you, the interviewer, more successful.

O'Keefe, Karen. TechCom Manager (2004). Careers>Management>Interviewing

Top 10 Interview Tips

Whether you're a manager or not, consider the following check list the next time an interview is about to commence. As an interviewee, these actions might give you a competitive edge. As an interviewer, they might help set your standards on how you rate potential candidates.

O'Keefe, Karen. TechCom Manager (2004). Careers>Management>Interviewing

Making the Transition from Technical Writer to Manager

This article is a collage of ideas and experiences from some people who’ve made the leap from writer to manager. Although it’s not a step-by-step guideline, it provides some compelling insight as to what individuals might expect as they transition into the management ranks. Even if you are an experienced manager, you might find these ideas helpful.

Capri, Steve. TechCom Manager (2004). Careers>Management>TC