Search Site
Topics
Ada Lovelace book reviews checklists Content Management Dennis Ritchie DITA DITA Open Toolkit DocBook DocTrain hiring HR ic09 influence Intelligent Content internationalization jobs management managing change Manual Pages Monden-san motivation objectives performance evaluation publishing resumes reuse Rosemary Killam RSS Feed social media STC STC2008 STC2009 technical writing technology tools twitter Unix Unix Pacific website Webworks wikis XML XML PressCategories
- Administrivia (6)
- Book (30)
- Book Review (2)
- Commentary (23)
- Conferences (13)
- DocBook (1)
- XML Press (1)
Archives
- October 2011
- September 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- November 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- February 2010
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- June 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- September 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- January 2008
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
-
Tag Archives: management
Does a manager need to be an SOB to survive?
In a recent article on BNET, The Real Reason for Bad Bosses, Jeffrey Pfeffer highlights a common, but little noted, paradox. To be a good manager, you need to be positive, supportive, and warm, but to be perceived as strong, … Continue reading
Great idea, but…
Users will change their habits when the pain of their current situation is greater than their perceived pain of adopting a possible solution. –Pip Coburn The Change Function Good ideas alter the power balance in relationships, that is why good … Continue reading
Thoughts on taking a new documentation management job
On LinkedIn, there has been an ongoing conversation about transitioning to a new job as a documentation manager. The conversation has yielded some excellent suggestions, but I’ve noticed that they were all focused inward, on the team. They include suggestions … Continue reading
A CMS is like a Chain Saw
A chain saw will not tell you which trees to cut or what protective gear to wear. To use one safely, you must plan your cuts, use protective gear, and take appropriate safety precautions. Anyone who has seen a chain … Continue reading
Give them the objective, not the means
In a recent blog entry, ‘The relentless search for “tell me what to do,”‘ Seth Godin identifies a crucial tension in the manager/employee relationship. The tension is simple to explain, but hard to manage. Employees want to be told what … Continue reading
Update on Reference Checking
After berating companies for being lax at checking references, I received my second call in under a week, after a long dry spell, which led to some further thoughts…. Continue reading
Checking References
I just got a call asking for a reference for someone who worked in my group a few years ago. I was glad to give a reference, and happy that I could give this person a good one. Surprisingly, this … Continue reading
Does DITA Make You Dumb?
I had a twitter exchange a while back that got me thinking about DITA, structured writing, and the impact of tools on the perception of technical communicators. The basic question was whether structured writing in general and DITA specifically are … Continue reading
Podcast Interview about Managing Writers
Tom Johnson just posted a podcast of an interview with me at his website, http://idratherbewriting.com. In the interview I talk about Managing Writers and answer Tom’s questions about the book. Most of the discussion was about managing people, including questions … Continue reading
Monden-san
An appreciation of one of my favorite managers, who left us too soon. Continue reading →