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Subject:RE: bad leadership and tech writing From:"Michael Collier" <mcollier -at- arlut -dot- utexas -dot- edu> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 1 Nov 2001 15:34:47 -0600
I'd say you need to approach this situation now almost as if you were an
outside consultant coming in to assess the project's documentation needs.
Sounds weird, maybe, but you are basically on your own now and it is up to
you to find out who needs what, who knows what, and bring it all together.
> There are lots of little things happening
> and work gets done...but no one is identifying the work that I need to get
> done (other than myself).
This an opportunity to become pro-active and assertive in how you define
your overall tasks. Instead of waiting for the pubs manager to dole out
tasks, you now need to be coming up with plans for the tasks you identify,
running them by management with the understanding that you will proceed
according to the results of your investigations unless they direct you
otherwise.
There may be more diplomatic ways of handling this, but I would think that
in your current environment managers may feel somewhat unburdened by you
taking charge more. You would be the best judge of how to approach this.
This really is a pretty big culture change, and it is difficult when things
are a lot different from what they were. Think about it and see if you can
discover new ways of working within this organization - it could be a great
learning experience.
................................................................
Michael Collier, Technical Writer Office: N636
Information Systems Laboratory http://isl.arlut.utexas.edu/
Applied Research Laboratories: The University of Texas at Austin
Voice: 512-835-3408 e-mail: mcollier -at- arlut -dot- utexas -dot- edu
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