TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:CHAT: RE: Motivation - Update From:Price Lisa - IL <PRICEL -at- tusc -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 5 Jun 2002 09:04:00 -0500
I've been on plenty of projects that either seemed to have lost focus, or
put me in a position of great responsibility and no power (and no voice).
In these situations, I simply did whatever was asked of me, and whatever was
in front of me, even if I did the exact same thing the day before. It was
never about money, for me, it was about keeping my head down so whoever had
cluster power (the power to cluster or uncluster a situation) didn't see me
when wielding his or her mighty gaze.
Scope creep is rampant in the consulting world, and one of the unfortunate
fallouts is a great deal of "detail" work, sometimes completely unrelated to
technical writing, editing, or the project itself. While it is frustrating
to feel you have no control or power, it is comforting to me to know that
the sooner I get whatever scut work I'm assigned done, the sooner I can
return to what fuels my writing and/or editing passion.
And at the end of the day, I go home and run with my dog until we're both,
well, dog tired.
Lisa
-----Original Message-----
And perhaps my question, quoted above, was misunderstood.
I'm motivated by pay, too. It keeps me going to the office
every day. But once I'm there, if my mind goes dim because
I don't have a sense of direction in my work, I'm not much
good to anyone. Sometimes, just asking the manager for help
isn't much use: not all project managers know how to deal
with technical writing projects.
I suspect we've all been part of projects that have dragged
whether because of feature creep, "just one more review,"
or what-have-you. As a contractor, we don't typically have
a lot of influence on project management and schedules. How
does one stay focused with a blurry project?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Free copy of ARTS PDF Tools when you register for the PDF
Conference by May 15. Leading-Edge Practices for Enterprise
& Government, June 3-5, Bethesda,MD. www.PDFConference.com
Check out RoboDemo for tutorials! It makes creating full-motion software
demonstrations and other onscreen support materials easy and intuitive.
Need RoboHelp? Save $100 on RoboHelp Office in May with our mail-in rebate.
Go to http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -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.
