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When I was asked to develop the needs of new tech writers at one position, I explained to my manager what I did and what was required to complete my job. When the two new tech writers came in, I was the de-facto lead. The writers arrived about a month or two apart, so I learned about leading the "team" with one "junior" writer before there were two.
I also had some pseudo-authority in that I was the project manager for the documentation projects and I was the only of the three of us with project management experience. I did delegate tasks and later projects, up until I left, so I maintained a leadership position because of my delegation ability.
The new tech writers worked at different speeds and abilities and I reviewed documentation for a short while until they got up to speed so we could review and edit each other's work. I think that there may have been a sort of power play with one tech writer who arrived with 25 years experience (which was a little excessive for her position) and seemed to vie for the lead position.
It didn't matter to me what the new writer did because I was leaving, but she did want to change how we completed our projects. I would have probably felt threatened if I thought that I was staying in this position. She also fought to change the software that was used, although I was told that the company would not purchase new software.
Understanding group dynamics is important for team development and it is especially important among "equal" peers because peers in groups never remain equal, although they may diverge and have separate but equal "special" skills. In my case, I was a good project manager for our group and the first new tech writer was a good reviewer, although a slow writer. The second new tech writer was a fast writer, although she ignored our style guide and she wanted to change that too.
A likely career path could be one of project management, management, team leadership, or any position that delegates. Whomever among your team of two rises to the occasion to begin delegating will likely become the "leader" and the group dynamic will be set. If you are interested in moving forward on a leadership career path, then you might consider project management or business management. Both forms of management share many of the same skill sets and require getting work done, but one form of management is management of deliverables (things) and the other is management of resources (people), essentially.
If you want a position where neither of you on the team is a leader, then you should try to find somebody with a strength in a area that you do not have or want who is also weak in an area where you are strong and where you want to maintain authority, so that you can balance each other without undue competition.
Lauren
________________________________
From: techwr-l-bounces+lt34=csus -dot- edu -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com on behalf of Jill Mohan
Sent: Tue 10/9/2007 12:42 PM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: tech writer group dynamics
Hello,
I have just been told that my employer may be looking to add another tech
writer to the staff (doubling it, as I am the only one). A manager told me
to be prepared to interview candidates, and that they are hoping to clone
me. The company is a small defense contractor in northern Virginia.
I have never worked with another tech writer before, so i am a little
apprehensive about a few things: what will the career path be, how will it
be decided as to who gets to work on what, how long should it take to
write/review documents, etc.
Any caveats or recommendations for a person in this quasi-enviable position.
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Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more. http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com
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