RE: Calling all "Lead Writer" or "Information Architects" -- what do you do?

["Bill Swallow" <wswallow -at- nycap -dot- rr -dot- com>]

::: You know rule 1 of corporate life, right? "The manager is 
::: always right, even if they're wrong." 

As a manager, the thought of that rule makes me sick to my stomach. But I
know where you're coming from, as I've been on the employee side of that
equation before, and it wasn't fun at all.

::: If you have a different agenda, you have to persuade 
::: the manager to accept your vision of the position. 

Right. And since you say your team is behind you on this, get them directly
involved!

::: Deal-killer 
::: 1: You do the bulk of the writing. The manager quite properly fears 
::: that all these added responsibilities will prevent you from 
::: keeping up 
::: with your writing work, and the deadlines will get missed 
::: or quality 
::: will suffer. 

That's a very shallow perception, but I'll agree it does exist in some more
primitive organizations. ;)

::: Deal-killer 2: Sounds to me like you're trying to take 
::: over duties that _your_ manager is already doing, and they 
::: may resent that.

Which says to me two things:
1) your manager isn't a leader
2) because of 1, he/she doesn't know how to define a lead role in the group

Personally, as a manager, I expect a lead writer to take over a good deal of
these duties, because they aren't something a manager should necessarily be
in charge of in the first place. Plus, it makes for a heck of a lot less
documentation-oriented work for the manager, so the manager can focus on the
MANAGEMENT portion of his/her job description.

::: Solution? At least initially, avoid the roles your manager enjoys 
::: (e.g., interacting with other teams) if that's a stress factor for 
::: them. Then, you can aim for a compromise that eliminate's the other 
::: objection. For example, state clearly that before taking on 
::: new duties, 
::: you will teach the other writers well enough to bring their 
::: productivity and quality up to your level, thereby freeing 
::: up time for 
::: you to work on other roles. When the boss has been convinced that 
::: everyone's working better and that his needs (deadlines) 
::: are being met, 
::: you can ask for more responsibilities.

Nice approach, but I wouldn't suggest the person avoid roles the manager
enjoys... I say go out and do them in order to support your team, and keep
your manager well informed of it. You may find that your manager enjoys you
taking on the local-team-focused activities so he/she can focus more on the
global-team-focused activities.

::: This won't happen overnight; change is scary for everyone, and 
::: particularly for managers (because things are going well 
::: now, and they 
::: don't want to fix what isn't broken). Plan to take some 
::: time to "grow" 
::: into the position you're seeking. It's been said that 
::: "managers can't 
::: be promoted until someone can step into their role". This 
::: is true, but 
::: misleading. If there's no room for your own manager to be promoted, 
::: your ability to step into their role by taking on the various 
::: responsibilities you described will be seen as a threat.

Well, we're heading down the dark and dreary path of curing the symptoms
here... 

My honest opinion? Don't worry about your manager's feelings, as they are
not important in the corporate sense. That doesn't mean crap on their ego,
but don't tippy toe around if you and your teammates see a problem that your
boss doesn't. Address the elephant in the corner and deal with it up front,
now.

::: <<My team DESPERATELY want me performing in the former way 
::: -- as the 
::: facilitator, mentor, project manager, and leader.>>
::: 
::: See above. Explain to them that you'd love to help them in 
::: this way, 
::: but can't do so until they improve their productivity 
::: enough that you 
::: have free time to take on the new duties. Don't in any way 
::: blame them; 
::: phrase this as "I'd be adding 5 hours of work to my week, 
::: and can't add 
::: those hours unless we can figure out a way for you folks to 
::: take over 5 
::: hours of my work". Build from there.

You cannot and should not do this. There is a very clear reason why you have
been promoted, whether or not your boss wants to admit it. Productivity is
the end result of your abilities. You KNOW that you are most productive
because you are good at a wide variety of things (hard AND soft skills). If
you want to be seen as the lead, by action and not only by title, you need
to take ownership of the issue. Period. By telling the team "you gotta get
better before we can change the manager's mind" in any way, shape, or form,
you are ruining your chances of becoming a leader in the group. 

::: Though interesting, this is also irrelevant. The key to 
::: this situation 
::: is not knowing what others are doing, but lies instead in an 
::: understanding of the human aspects of your own specific situation. 
::: Focus on those first.

I'll agree with that. But I'll add that you cannot ignore the concept of
"leader" here. Your manager is not a leader if these assumptions of
insecurity are true. And, if your manager is a horrible leader, your manager
will never give you the opportunity to become one (mainly out of ignorance
of how to help you). Defining a role is easy. Changing a mindset is not, and
that is what you need to do.

Try this:

Find out why your manager doesn't agree with you. Sit right down and ask.
While you're chatting, make note of the things your manager does on a daily
basis and what your manager admits wanting to do but doesn't have time for.
Then politely suggest small solutions... "I know you'd like to have more
time to get our group more integrated into Development, but you also want
that content management research done... Why don't I do the research and
give you a weekly update on how it's going, that way you can free up your
calendar to talk to the Development leads."

You don't have to fight for what you want. In fact, by giving others what
they want, you can very easily get what you want in the process.

Bill Swallow
wswallow "at" nycap "dot" rr "dot" com 



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

SEE THE ALL NEW ROBOHELP X5 IN ACTION: RoboHelp X5 is a giant leap forward
in Help authoring technology, featuring Word 2003 support, Content
Management, Multi-Author support, PDF and XML support and much more! http://www.macromedia.com/go/techwrldemo

>From a single set of Word documents, create online Help and printed
documentation with ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 7 Professional, a new yearly
subscription service offering free updates and upgrades, support, and more.
http://www.doctohelp.com

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.