Non-TW supervisor

[Walter Campbell]

Of the seven supervisors I've reported to as a tech writer, three had a TC
background and four lacked one. For me, the differences among supervisors
had less to do with whether they had a TC (or managerial) background and
more to do with their character, attitude, and perceptions of me.

With non TC supervisors, I usually try to map my world to theirs, to explain
what I do (and how I do it) by comparing it to activities familiar to them
(as a dev manager, QA manager, etc.). I've likened tech comm to development,
quality assurance, and customer support.

I've also found that before I can "explain my world" I need to understand
theirs. My relationship with a non TC supervisor often begins with my
interviewing them about their job, background, experiences, etc.

Those familiar with The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (which I
just finished) will recognize this as the "Seek first to understand, then to
be understood" precept.

Walt

On 5/9/06, arroxaneullman at aol.com <arroxaneullman at aol.com> wrote:
>
> Fellow Whirlers,
>
> 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?
>
> Thanks for participating! Feel free to reply off-list.
>
> Arroxane, coping with life's ironies
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--
Walt Campbell
atypicaluser (at) gmail (dot) com