Who should lead?

[geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA]

 Karen Otto asked whether the graphic designers or technical
 writers at her company should lead the effort to move
 information online. Actually, I'd vote for two options you
 mentioned: neither, or both. Here's why:

 First, leading an online project requires someone who knows
 how to manage a project. You mentioned that there's some
 friction between the writers and graphistes, so someone
 with STRONG people skills is crucial. If a graphiste or
 writer fits the bill, it's worth seeing if this person can
 do the job; if not, neither group should lead.

 Second, the real issue is whether any of your writers or
 editors understand the new (online) medium and how users
 relate to it. You didn't specify, so let me ask you a few
 questions: Are your graphistes user-interface specialists,
 with some knowledge of human factors, or did they take
 Corel 101 at the local college? Are your writers technical
 communicators, or novelists who couldn't get published?
 (Pardon... I'm depicting extremes here to make a point, not
 to criticize either profession.) The leader of an online
 project must understand writing AND visual communication;
 in my experience, that's more likely to be a tech. writer
 than an artist, but YMMV. If you don't have someone with
 both skills, my answer is again "none of the above".

 Last point: if you don't have anyone who fits all the above
 criteria, then my second answer may be correct. Form a
 "self-directed work team", ideally reporting to some manager
 who can arbitrate the inevitable disputes. "Teamspeak" is a
 management fad, and works only if everyone wants it to work,
 but there's an important truth behind the fad: writers
 write, graphistes illustrate, and neither alone produces
 work as good as the combination working together. The key to
 a team is brainstorming solutions, then achieving consensus
 (NOT democracy): find a solution that everyone contributed
 to and that everyone can live with, even if some might
 prefer their own solution.

 --Geoff Hart     @8^{)}     geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
 Disclaimer: Speaking for myself, not FERIC.