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> As an informal poll, I'm curious how many employees (as
> opposed to contractors and self-employed) have/had
> supervisors with no tech comm background? How do you feel
> about this? What advantages and disadvantages does this
> have? How do you inform and 'train' supervisors
> without confusing or overwhelming them? What if that
> supervisor also lacks a management background?
Where I am now, my manager, and up the chain about 2-3 levels have
been/are technical writers. However, MOST of my previous gigs have
been for non-writers. In fact, of the 6 that come to mind over the
last 8-10 years, only one, prior to here, was...and he was my least
favorite one. Nobody else ever got into an argument with me about the
virtues of adding an extra point of space below a heading or whether
I implemented Definition Lists by table or by style.
For the others, I've never had to train them. One or two were curious
about ceertain aspects, because they were the curious kind and I was
happy to discuss things. However, for the most part, I develop a
credability by delivering what I say I will, they then leave it to
me...most have not WANTED to know how I do what I do...they just want
me to do it.
As far as overwhelming...what we do isn't rocket science. If a
manager is overwhelmed by this, they're not much of a manager to
begin with.
John Posada
Senior Technical Writer
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
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