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RE: Hi-Tech Company Hasn't Used Tech Writers in Years - Help!
Subject:RE: Hi-Tech Company Hasn't Used Tech Writers in Years - Help! From:"Lathrop, Sarah" <Sarah-Lathrop -at- forum-financial -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 24 Oct 2003 11:36:50 -0400
Anne,
When I read your post, I got the impression that you and your manager do not have the same list of goals and expectations for your job. He has made it clear that you are not in charge of choosing the tools, writing job descriptions, interviewing, and building the tech writing department. But you don't say what it is that he expects you to do. Are the two of you in agreement on that? Do you meet regularly and talk about your projects, where you are and what is yet to be done? You say that you are roaming the halls "begging for scraps of work" but you don't say whether you worked with your manager to see what he wants you to do in these down times. You state that "there are still no processes in place whereby I can be made aware of what needs to be done." Wouldn't your manager be the source for finding out what needs to be done?
Lots of us work for managers that are not technical writers but, in my case at least, my manager knows what the projects are that are coming along and assigns me to the ones she wants me to work on. We make adjustments to priorities as needed when schedules change or other things take priority. If I do see something that needs to be done, I go to her and run the idea past her and we discuss whether it fits into the schedule or not. I know she would be frustrated with me if I just went off on my own and did things without consulting her, and it would be in the negative column on my performance review. She and I have discussed areas where processes could be improved and sometime, but not always, the changes are implemented. There have been many times where I have just had to back off from demanding the ideal and go with what is.
You say you love the industry and the technology. You also have very clear ideas as to how you think a tech pubs department should run and what you think the role of a tech writer is. However, your vision and the reality of your company are far apart. So you have to decide whether it is more important to you to work in this industry at this company and accept that there are a lot of things you can't change, or move to another company where the tech writing department conforms more to your ideal. It is not worth staying at a job where your frustration level is such that is ruining your health.
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