Re: On Office Politics and Being the New Kid

[Beth Agnew <beth -dot- agnew -at- senecac -dot- on -dot- ca>]

I think you're wise to tread carefully and try to figure out what's 
going on before approaching your manager. I'm assuming you have some 
training as a technical communicator, and this woman doesn't. You can 
bring up your background and experience as justification for the 
statements you make about improvements. For example, if she says she 
doesn't want step-by-step documentation, you can counter with "I know it 
seems like it's a crutch, but research by members of the STC has shown 
that users learn better when they are given task-oriented instructions. 
It increases their confidence in the system." Any time she has an 
objection, agree with her without taking her position, i.e., "I 
understand that you feel it's too informative. Giving this information 
helps the users develop an understanding of the bigger picture." If you 
need to cite an authority, make it a third party such as the STC, the 
body of literature of technical communication, or one of the journals; 
don't make it sound like you are the one who's making this statement. 
She can't argue with an entire profession, so you can deflect her 
disdain away from you.

It does indeed sound like a territorial reaction. Your friendliness and 
understanding toward her will go a long way. Even if you have to bring 
it out into the open with "I realize it must seem like I'm stepping into 
your area here. I don't want to do that. I just want to make sure I'm 
providing the stuff they hired me for." And smile! BTW, never use a 
"but" to join those two ideas. If you say "I don't want to encroach on 
your area, but I'm just trying to do what I'm hired for", it will have 
the effect of convincing her you _are_ encroaching. Eliminate "but" from 
every conversation you have with her, except when you want to counter 
her objections.

You mentioned that she seems like a pleasant, approachable person. It 
would not be amiss to go to lunch with her and try to develop a good 
working relationship. Let her know of your sensitivity to overlapping 
some of her responsibilities. Avoid words such as "encroach", "invade", 
"take over" -- they're too inflammatory. Try "bordering on", "edging 
into", "duplicating" or "mirroring". Express to her your desire to work 
together to improve the information provided to the users. A little 
sincere praise couldn't hurt either: "I know there's a lot I can learn 
from you about this product." Don't forget to sound a few notes on your 
own horn, too. "I have done quite a few of these projects, they were 
quite successful." "My training strongly emphasized giving users good 
step-by-step instructions because they build such a good foundation for 
using the system." Educate her, and support her, while establishing your 
own position of authority in the subject.

As long as you are sensitive to others' feelings and aware of having to 
ease into the new job, and it sounds like you are, you should be able to 
get control of this situation quickly and enjoy this phase of your 
career. Good luck with it!
--Beth

Lori Olcott wrote: