Re[2]: PC Phobia info...

["<Pam Owen>" <powen -at- MAIL2 -dot- LMI -dot- ORG>]

Will writes:

<I have been following this thread on PC Phobia with great interest.
<I work with a technical writer who is *very* computer phobic.  Yes,
<that's right I said a computer-phobic technical writer.  Does anybody
<have any advice <n how to deal with this kind of writer?  She is a big
<resource hog in an organization with not a lot of resources to begin with.


Have you already tried giving her lots of training, so she's less afraid she
will "make a mistake" or "blow up the computer"? Also, you might assign her a
mentor - someone who knows the software you use inside and out and will help
here anytime she has a question? Most computer phobics I've met are either
afraid they'll ruin or lose their work or crash the computer. I've done both, so
this is not a totally unreasonable fear. While I actually enjoy learning new
software and playing around on the computer, a lot of people don't. Usually,
having a feeling that you are not the only nontechnoweenie in the world and that
you will have all the help you need in coping with the system seems to help. As
a last resort, you can intimate that being able to use the computer is essential
to this woman's job, and that she'll have to overcome her fear somehow, with
management's help. Then again, some people are just afraid of change and nothing
short of a personality transplant, or at least a few years in therapy, is going
to help. So, good luck!

(BTW - Being phobic about something does not mean you can't write about it - I
often work on DoD documents, and I find the military very scary.;-})


Pam Owen
Nighthawk Communications
Reston, VA
Nighthawk1 -at- aol -dot- com or powen -at- lmi -dot- org