Newsletter of the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco Chapter
October/November 2007
| Newsletter of the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco Chapter October/November 2007 |
STC meeting as group therapy. Barbara Giammona might have started a new trend in her August presentation of "What Technical Communicators Need to Know to Succeed in the Real World." She organized the meeting around a series of group sessions focused on these questions:
The biggest divide between our own self-perception as technical communicators and the exigencies of the market is that we think too small. Too pedantically. Too technically. We're caught up in software tools and whether that word needs a hyphen or not. The market increasingly needs (and rewards!) technical communicators who are business savvy and can prove their value to their company.
The answers the audience gave to question #1 were not surprising. Our successful acquaintances are just that because they're hardworking, knowledgeable, confident, flexible, creative, and ethical.
About our successes and failures as technical communicators? Perhaps the most telling and appreciated success indicator was "being employed." Others included continued learning, the ability to empower others to meet a common goal, knowing how to prioritize tasks, and staying on top of the current technologies. Failures included (not) keeping up with the technologies, (not) remaining confident enough in our abilities as tech writers, and allowing ourselves to get bored.
What skills do we want to have a year from now and where do we want to be? The answers seemed to reflect the employment status of the respondents: one person just entering the contract world wants to improve her schmoozing skills. Another, a contractor for several years, wants to "clarify [his] product offering," another contractor wants to have more customers, and still another wants to keep abreast of technologies and tools. Barbara suggested we all get ourselves a mentor or a buddy to hold us accountable to these goals.
Barbara countered our self-analysis with the results of research she did for her MBA a few years ago, and she passed on to us the wisdom that she gleaned from successful technical communicators whom she interviewed at that time. These interviews enabled her to construct an image of what qualities will help make us successful, who we are (as technical communicators), and what we need to do.
Successful people in the 21st century must be able to "set a business direction," "align and motivate others," and "deliver results." (Evidently 20th-century workers had it EASY.) In general, success will depend not on the laundry list of technical skills you can proudly display, but on your qualities as a worker.
Who are we? It's a flattering list. We're primarily writers. We're big-picture people, quick studies, critical thinkers, designers, and interviewers. We are also, alas, whiney. We have trouble figuring out what's most important to document. We're often seen as not adding value to the organization. And it wouldn't hurt us to be more business and office-politics savvy.
So, what do we need to do to put all those excellent characteristics to work and start abolishing the bad ones? Barbara suggested work-a-day efforts like becoming part of the development cycle and exalted ones like "launching a PR campaign" for the profession of technical communications. We need to not only make ourselves more useful and integral to the business, we need to make sure everyone knows we are.
Based on the wisdom from industry bigwigs and success stories, Barbara posed several questions to help us focus on the big picture of technical communications:
So, after all that, what is it exactly that we need to know to succeed in the real world (of technical communications)?
Barbara had some more prosaic recommendations (understand how off-shoring helps and hurts us, get yourself an "elevator speech," develop a five-year plan, go back to school, learn the basics of project management), but the most powerful answer lay in this question:
What's holding you back?
Barbara must be related to the Good Witch, because the answer to that night's question was, as were the ruby slippers, in front of our eyes the whole time. What's holding you back? Whatever it is, get rid of it. Get over it. Doing that will be your most effective step towards success in the real world.
Meg Bartelt (megbartelt@gmail.com) is just leaving the world of full-time employment as a technical writer after 8 years and trying her hand at the Unknown of the freelance life. While she has most of her experience in the software world (focusing on network security), she hopes to explore other fields, especially finance. She figures that knowing the right questions to ask of the right people is the important thing. Right?