Re: Job Descriptions

[Steve Fouts <sfouts -at- ELLISON -dot- SC -dot- TI -dot- COM>]

John Brush writes:

[...]

|} Our present job
|} descriptions (or lack of) don't clearly define an individual's
|} responsibility toward his or her computer. Has the introduction
|} of computers made it necessary to add a fifth person, who is
|} responsible for computer training, maintenance, and program
|} selection? Or has it become the responsibility of the individual
|} to not only be a good writer or illustrator, but to also be a
|} computer whiz?

I've worked both ends of the spectrum. As an intern, while still in
college, I worked as the sole report of the Documentation Manager. We
were the two lone Mac weenies in a sea of mainframe terminals and
standalone PCs. The actual physical maintenance of the machines was
the responsibility of the local Apple vendor. Everything (and I do
mean EVERYTHING!) else was Larry and I. I had a little rider in my job
description that said, "and other tasks as assigned," which made me the
chief illustrator, sometime coffee maker, Appletalk network guru, double
sided copy maker, and Apple OS hack. If we needed some new software, we
perused MacWorld and MacUser and tried to figure out which program would
do the job for us (and fly past the bean counters).

I now work with a team of a dozen or so writers, two professional
illustrators, a two person copy center that prints and binds small
documents, and (oh joy of joys!) a full time system administrator, and
thats just the Houston portion of the group. (Oh yeah, and Marriot Food
Services now makes the coffee.) An equally outfitted group operates out
of Dallas. Software/Hardware aquisition and use is a matter of corporate
strategy and they ask us for our opinions, and they matter, but they are
sometimes outweighed by corporate wide considerations.

So if the size of your organization is such that it grants you the
luxury of extreme specialization, then by all means be specialized.
Find your niche. If the size of your organization doesn't grant you
that luxury then see if you can get the purchasing department to get
you a big hat rack...

    _______________________
   /  ___  __/__\  \ /  / _\    Steve Fouts
  /___ \|  |  ___\  |  /  __\   sfouts -at- ellison -dot- ti -dot- com
 /   /  \  |      \   /      \
/_______/__|_______\_/________\ <insert boiler plate disclaimer here>
"In brief, she assumed that, being a man, I was vain to the point of
imbecility, and this assumption was correct, as it always is." H.L.Mencken