This is What Technical Writers Do

I spent the better part of the afternoon converting engineering specs into a concise guide. See the Before and After: 

Before, wordy and unclear:

After, clear and concise with art and whitespace:

Everything is a Project

If there's one lesson to learn early in your career, it's that everything is a project.

Don't believe me? Consider something you need to do:

• Bake a cake
• Buy a computer
• Build a website, marketing program, API, CMS, HRIS, UX, SOA, etc.

Everything is a project, because to accomplish any of these things, we follow these steps:

1. Break it down into manageable parts
2. Do each bit in a reasonable time
3. Ask for help if you get stuck

These easy steps are the foundation of Project Management. Couple that with the Project Triangle (time, resources and work), and you know that:

• Time marches on
• Resources are people [, tools or $$$]
• Work hard, play hard

It's important to remember is that while Work and Resources may grow or shrink, Time, once spent, is gone forever. So, make it work!

Book Review: Julie & Julia

Julie Powell takes on Julia Child, cooking every recipe in the now infamous 1961 cookbook: "Mastering the Art of French Cooking", and blogging it all at The Julie/Julia Project.

You should read Julie & Julia because it has all the best things:

- four basic food groups *

- is set in NYC

- Buffy

* sugar, fat, alcohol and chocolate

Just finished the book, the movie is coming out August 7, and I'm looking forward to seeing it (http://www.julieandjulia.com/).

Living vicariously through others' Twitter lives...

It started innocently enough, surfing the App Store for free tools that seemed interesting or worth my time; Stanza has free books (classic sci-fi I never had the chance to read in high school), and the Amazon Kindle for books I buy; Facebook on the iPhone is ok, good as a reader, and I like staying in touch with friends and relatives. Sad, I won't write a note or pick up the phone, but I'll check relatives' FB page every day. I'm a reader - I don't stand in line or wait for appointments without something to read, and the iPhone is significantly smaller, lighter than any paperback, and holds so much more.

And then I downloaded Twitter, and started following business and technology gurus, expanded to follow writers and musicians I like, TV/Movie folks (MythBusters, Whedonverse and BBCA shows) and other tech writers in the STC.

Twitterific has a "Nearby" feature, to see tweets from people in my neighborhood - mostly sad tweens or angry people venting - we have such small lives, some of us...

And then there are the exceptional tweets - wise, inspirational, joyful, insightful. So worth it to sift through the mundane for the gems.

Speak Truth to Power

I don't know who said it, but it's something everyone should do. Speak up, be heard, stand by your principles. Don't be content to stay in an environment (work, home, school, whatever) where you don't have a voice, aren't heard, can't make a difference - you'll get grumpy, resentful, and will take out your frustrations on the wrong people.

Most of the time, the person causing your distress isn't even aware how you feel. The powerful among us (typically folks in supervisory positions) are just doing their thing, trying to meet deadlines and coordinate the effort of a group of disparate staffers, each with different workstyles and motiviations. Your frustrations are probably not even on the radar.

So, have the conversation. A calm, thoughtful, fierce conversation. Be honest with yourself. Use this format:

"When you {grevious action here}, I feel {hurt, disrespected, betrayed}, and it affects {my morale, ability to work effectively, the quality of my work product}. 


Then take a breath, and wait. As long as it takes, just wait, calmly and unemotionally, wait for your feedback to sink in. What *should* happen is that the person hears you, your feedback, and is open to making adjustments going forward. You might be pleasantly surprised, and motivated to have these kinds of open discussions with other people in your life.


That said, be prepared for a verbal blow up...if it goes badly, you really need to move on - this is a toxic environment and cannot be saved...run away!

STC Kerfuffle!

I’m a member of a Special Interest Group (SIG) for the Society for Technical Communications. As professional societies go, it’s a good one for technical writers - it provides resources for learning, needed services and their job board attracts higher-end clients.

It’s an active group; daily posts might be from newbies wanting career advice, other posts ask for references about the best tools to use, sometimes we have those trivial “how do I say it?” conversations, dotting i’s and crossing t’s, which can be fun, too. And the members are great – they mentor very well and collaborate to answer any question, solve problems or recommend resources.

And yet…all hell broke loose this week, when the listserv admin suggested that, to improve communications and possibly save money for the funding-challenged STC, we move the listserv to a social networking site, like Ning. The flurry of opposing messages was astounding – the change-averse gnomes spoke out, saying that such a move could not be successful, because:

• It’s not email
• Access is restricted from work
• Social networking is not professional
• Takes too much time and effort
• It’s yet another account to manage, another thing to learn
• Too trendy, no privacy

I'm speechless.

Illusion and Control

As a geek and a fan of sci fi, I often amuse myself by drawing parallels between real life situations and my favorite TV shows...remember the pilot episode of Star Trek (the one with not-James Kirk)?

The situation:

Let's say that you spend a lot of time managing your staff, telling them how to get work done, making them do the work over because it isn't the way you wanted it and getting frustrated at how impossible the situation is...it never gets better, and you're overworked, having to handle the load. It's a shame that they can't benefit from your experience and wisdom - how ungrateful they are!

Sound familiar? The hard truth is that you are a micromanager. Really. The good news is, you can't help it - it's how you're wired, and nobody blames you...(well, I don't, anyway).

A solution:

Eventually, this behavior is brought to your attention (by a friend, Human Resources, whatever), and being such an evolved and emotionally mature person, you accept this feedback and decide to take action.

As a newly self-aware person, you understand that, while it's OK to believe that folks are doing it all wrong, it's not OK to share this insight. You learn that, while you cannot change what you believe, you can change your behavior.

With this new understanding, you back off, and let your folks figure out what works for them. Your new plan of operation:

• set achievable goals and deadlines for staffers
  
• ask for (and listen to) feedback
  
• remove roadblocks to support staff efficiency

Moral of the story:

Whether you are a manager or supervisor, if you have the ability to affect the work life of anyone in your organization, it is important to remember that, like the Talosians in Star Trek: The Cage, it is important to maintain the illusion of control.

Not a Star Trek fan? Here's the non-geek Moral of the story:

Give your staffers control (or the illusion of control) over things that affect how they work. Do they need...better status updates...fewer meetings...blue pens?

Ask them what they need to be effective - gather their requirements. They'll usually tell you things you never expect to hear. Things that cost you little, and reap big benefits.