December meeting recap: Management SIG panel

by Ted Edwins, Public Relations Manager

On Tuesday, December 4th, a small crowd gathered to hear a panel of local high tech managers discuss the joys and tribulations of being a manager. The panel consisted of:

• Heidi Marr who manages a global support and integration team responsible for supporting Xbox 360 manufacturing and repair sites.
• Holly Curtis who has been managing writing teams in the software industry for the past 18 years. In her current position as Corporate Communications Manager, she manages a team of web specialists, marketing writers and consultants and technical writers.
• Lori Jamieson who is the manager of a technical communications department at an insurance company, where she deals with the world of forms, translation and strict legislation and regulations.
• Sherry McMenemy who manages global workgroups and projects involving knowledge management, training and documentation.

What do you like about your job?

Heidi: I like to aim for the maximum efficiency in work by staff for clients. I feel a sense of accomplishment when I can help others do their jobs better, faster, and cheaper.

Holly: I like to watch people grow in their job. I also like the enthusiasm of new people.

Lori: I like to see the big picture of what is coming down the road in technology.

Sherry: Mentoring. I like to show people a path or clear the path for them. I also like to push the boundaries of technical communication.

What don’t you like about your job?

Heidi: It can be exasperating being the point-of-contact when a problem with a manufacturing site arises at 3 am! You have to be aware that people look to you for guidance about how to handle a problem, so you have to maintain a sense of calm.

Holly: Meetings and interruptions are annoying. I have to accept that they are part of the role. Sometimes it is difficult dealing with people who are uncomfortable with change but I just remind myself that I’m dealing with people.

Lori: Deadlines! Also I don’t like to make compromises that make me feel like I haven’t done the best job of communicating.

Sherry: It seems like my main function is to go to meetings. From 7 to 11 am I am in meetings with people in Europe. In the afternoon, I am in meetings with people from North America. I have to book time to talk to the groups I work with.

What is your experience making the transition from writer to manager?

Heidi: I started as a writer, then became a team lead, a training specialist, and I am now a manager. The key is to make yourself indispensible to the company by mastering at least one task. Over the years, I became the company expert in presentations. Several groups come to me for help with customer presentations and training materials.

Holly: By default, I took over for an absent manager. I made mistakes but I learned from them. Once I had mastered the technical skills, like project management, I developed my intuition for people management. I try to be careful when making decisions because I don’t like the feeling that I’m playing with people’s lives.

Lori: I started as a lone writer. As time went by, I added more experience and training. Gradually new people joined the company and I found myself mentoring them. I asked myself if this was one of my core abilities. In a large company, as you move up in experience, you must take on more management tasks.

Sherry: I always wanted to be a team lead. I’m self-trained as a manager, for the most part. To help me in my job, I ask for feedback from my team and my mentors.

How do you inspire people to be leaders?

Heidi: I watch for the “aha” moments and try to harness the energy they create. I find out what talents each person likes to use and then look for opportunities to let them do it.

Holly: I use my intuition to spot leaders and mentors. I lay out the situation and let them do it. If needed, I will guide people to use their talents in the best way. To spot potential leaders, I watch who junior writers approach for help.

Lori: I set concrete expectations around objectives, tasks, behaviours, and goals. I ask others on the team for evaluations at three-month and six-month intervals. I start people with small tasks then move them on to larger ones. It is easier to work with people who express interest. I can often identify potential leaders based on behaviour and attitude.

Sherry: I work in a less formal company. I listen for when people are excited. I also try to exhibit leadership behaviour and encourage other people to lead also. To do that, sometimes I get the person to make a plan; sometimes I just throw people into a situation and see how they do – and many do very well that way. My job then is to help them refocus or to move obstacles that might get in their way. It is important to find people with the right frame of mind and give them free reign to research and come up with solutions.

How do you manage different personality types?

Heidi: I just recognize that different people work in different ways. As long as everyone is committed to the project and the company, I don’t think it matters how they get from A to B.

Holly: I try to take direction from people. I ask questions like, “What do you want to do” or “What do you think?” I get to know my team and what fulfills them. I praise when warranted but am careful not to do it in public so that it doesn’t lead to jealousy.

Lori: I feel business is a meritocracy not a democracy. I see people falling into one of three camps: prisoners, who must be moved into other roles; tourists, who I try to find the best tasks for their abilities; and keeners, who exhibit courage, attitude, and adaptability and who I most want to work with.

Sherry: Tensions can arise when people’s work habits don’t mesh--either with each other, or with changing business needs. It’s true that sometimes people change when the job changes--it could be that they feel more engaged or less engaged. If they feel less engaged, then I try to analyze why that is. I often give people something to own that matches their personality, too, and it’s useful to pay attention to people who work well. You can learn a lot from what they do and how they do it. In terms of communications, I try to be direct but not confrontational. It’s really important that people have all of the information they need or that impacts their job.

What is the future of technical communication?

Heidi: The internet is making it easier for teams to be spread out around the globe. Internationalization leads to better communicators as cultural differences must be overcome.

Holly: Writers with special skills are expanding beyond technical communication. More and more, technical communicators are managing all forms of communication in a company, both internally and externally.

Lori: Technical communicators are increasing their ability to influence business decisions.

Sherry: There is massive opportunity for technical communicators. Companies recognize that the growth of information is out of control. Arts majors – anyone in the field of Technical Communications--can be at the forefront of the effort to organize and present this information. Communicators will change the course of technology as they are increasingly being asked for more direct input at higher levels in the company. I see a shift in the corporate perception of Communicators. No longer kept to the end of the development cycle, they are integral project and program leaders who influence development cycles, help companies to save money, and improve serviceability. I think also that we should expect tremendous growth in the social media as it relates to technical communications. Opportunity exists in wikis, blogging, quality, international regulations, and the Internet when you put these things together with our bread and butter: instructional content, troubleshooting, education, and so on. If we have a broader spectrum of informal and formal channels to work with , we have the ability to really harness the collective (and massive) knowledge stores we have. I’m looking forward to seeing how it all works out.

About Ted Edwins

Ted Edwins is an independent consultant specializing in software documentation. He is a Past-President of the chapter. In his spare time he continues his futile quest to lower his golf handicap.