From Dilbert:
Here’s a boss that makes you feel stupid, as if you don’t know how to do your job. I hope none of you have bosses or managers like Dilbert’s!
Managing Technical Writers
In the technical writing profession world, what kind of questions can (and should) your boss ask without making you feel stupid or incompetent? It is their job after all to make sure that you do your job.
In an ideal world, every technical writer sees him/herself as a professional and takes great responsibility in ensuring and delivering the highest quality of documentation. And his/her manager has full confidence that he/she will do the job well. Right?
I would hope so, but unfortunately we live in a fallen world. You might have situations where technical writers perform below job expectation, not able to meet deadlines, and/or don’t follow standard procedures. Or, you might have managers/bosses that monitor and scrutinize every task you do. Or even worse, managers like the one in the Dilbert strip where they literally breath on your neck about everything. They ask questions about your work all day long, making you feel incompetent. They question your method or style of completing tasks. They tell you what you already know. They tell you how to do your job. What a sucky situation for both parties!
But then again, you might have managers who also want to ensure the highest quality of documentation, just the same way you do. Now, the question is, how can managers do their job and ask questions without you feeling like they are micromanaging?
Questions to Ask
I do want to start by listing a few typical questions that technical writers already ask themselves as they are working on a documentation project.
- What’s the product?
- Who are the users?
- What kind of documentation should I include?
- What topics should I write?
- How will the documentation be delivered?
- Who are the subject matter experts (SME) or content experts?
- Who are my contact people?
- Who will review my documentation?
- How much time do I have?
- What are my project deadline(s)?
- Do I have all the resources I need to complete my job?
And then managers ask you the same questions plus more questions that start with something like the following:
- Can you …?
- Will you…?
- Did you …?
- Have you…?
- When will you… ?
- Are you going to… ?
- How are you …?
Fill in the blanks and you could probably think of a hundred and one ways to ask the same questions that could be perceived positively or negatively.
Questions that hint incompetence or question your ability (intentional or unintentional) are not perceived well, but questions that ask if there’s anything they (managers) can do to provide assistance are received much better.
What has been your experience with the way your manager(s) asks you questions about your work?
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