➢ About Your Presenters

➢ Getting to Know You

➢ Tailoring Your Workshop

➢ Three Contexts for Enabling Excellence (EE)

➢ Manager’s Toolkit: You’ve Got to Have CHARM

➢ Management: A Sacred Trust (The Soft Skills)- CARVE!

THRIVE!

➢ Keys to Success: Training

➢ Keys to Success: Motivation, Feedback, Performance

Reviews - SLAP!

AGENDA 01

#LavaCon #SaiffSolutions #techcomm

➢ Effective Meetings: Who, When, How?

➢ Awareness, Bias, Culture: You, Your Organization,

The World

➢ Team Building

➢ Improving Processes and Tools

➢ Estimating Documentation Projects

➢ Staffing: Changes, Additions - Three Contexts

➢ Bonus content!

➢ Snacks and networking session

02AGENDA

#LavaCon #SaiffSolutions #techcomm

• Technical communications leader• 32 years of technical documentation

experience• Led writing teams at 6 US companies • Founded Saiff Solutions, Inc. in 2011• Provides content development to

Fortune 500 companies in Japan & US• Loves acronyms

About the Speaker: Barry Saiff 03

• 18 years of experience as a technical writer and manager at Qualcomm, San Diego & other companies

• 20 years of experience in the electronics and aerospace industries

• Enjoys books, music, and languages• LinkedIn: mikemcgrawqualcomm• Email: m.mcgraw@att.net

About the Speaker: Mike McGraw 04

Let’s Get to Know Each Other

Please tell us your country, city, role, and why you are here?

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#LavaCon #SaiffSolutions #techcomm

What are Your Interests/Experiences in Managing Technical Writers?

Have you experienced:• Managing a team of writers?

• Leading a team, without management authority?

• Managing outsourced or offshore writers?

• Hiring? Firing?

• Working for a good manager?

• Working for a not-so-good manager?

• What else?

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What Should We Focus on Today?

Some of you received these questions via email:1. What do you most want to get out of this workshop?3. Where do technical communicators fit in your corporate structure?4. What is your current/past management experience?5. Which staff changes are you least experienced in: hiring, firing, transfers, outsourcing, other?

6. What types of training does your team participate in?8. Is your team geographically, culturally, or linguistically diverse?9. What is your biggest challenge with respect to processes?

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10. Rank the top 5 areas you want us to cover, from 1 to 5 (1 is highest):● Being a manager (the soft skills)● Training● Motivation, feedback, and performance reviews● Effective meetings: who, when, how● Awareness, bias, and culture: you, your organization, the world● Team building● Improving processes, and tools● Estimating documentation projects● Staffing: layoffs, transfers, firing, hiring, outsourcing

What Should We Focus on Today? 08

Enable excellence for:• Your staff (local, in-sourced)• Your expanded team (remote, outsourced)• Your organization

How do we enable excellence consistently across all these dimensions?

Three Contexts for EE 09

When facing any difficult situation, start with

Curiosity and Humility, proceed with Awareness, Respect, and Mastery

Manager’s Toolkit: CHARM 10

• destroy careers

• destroy jobs

• destroy morale

• destroy the enterprise

Management is a sacred trust. As a manager, at any level, you have the power to: 11

• build careers

• achieve miracles

• treat people fairly

• develop lifelong relationships of trust

Management is a sacred trust. As a manager, at any level, you have the power to: 12

• turn lives around

• empower people to be more effective and productive

• enable people to learn things that make them more successful

• turn the enterprise around

Management is a sacred trust. As a manager, at any level, you have the power to: 13

The fundamental way of being of a manager is caring.•A manager cares about the results.

•A manager cares about the process.

•A manager cares about the people.

•A manager cares about the enterprise.

Caring 15

•A manager is trusted with power, and faces opportunities to abuse that power.

•A manager must, at times, be selfless, and act against their own (narrowly conceived) self-interest.

Caring: Responsibility 16

• A good manager is a creator of healthy administration, and an enemy of bureaucratic corruption and inertia.

• The mission, the customers, the enterprise, the people, and the results are more important than the rules.

• A good manager strives for continuous improvement, rational administration, fairness, and productivity gains.

Caring: Bureaucracy 17

Have you ever thought about management in terms of caring?

Yes? No?

Caring: A New Idea? 18

Your people need regular access to you, and you need access to your management.Have you ever had difficulties or stress at work because your manager had no time for you?

Yes? No?

Access 19

Don’t accuse. Remember CHARM.

Even if you don't think you are accusing or blaming, if the other person thinks you are, you are responsible for their perception.

This is particularly important in Asian cultures.

Being Respectful 20

A manager knows how to manage their emotions, without dumping them on people in the workplace.

Understand the difference between passion and emotion. Be responsible for the impact of your actions.

A manager does not react. A manager creates.

Being Respectful 21

Expand the realm of what you consider yourself responsible for.

Do not accept being treated with less than full respect.

Give yourself a break.

You will make mistakes, in fact, you must make some mistakes in order to learn how to improve.

BALANCE Infographics: 7 Elements of Respect

Being Respectful of yourself 22

Without vision, management is damaging. Be inspired, and you will inspire others.

Keep the mission, vision, and values of the organization alive, in everyone.

Make sure people understand how their work forwards the whole.

Are you clear about the mission OR the vision of your organization?

Yes?No?

Vision 23

Dr. Wayne Dyer was well known for the idea, based on extensive research, that we create what we expect.

Be aware of your expectations.

Choose them wisely.

Expect Excellence! 24

Caring – Trust = MicromanagementTrust is the currency of business success.

Without trust, nothing is possible.

You must calibrate trust for each person/situation.

What do you trust me for? Do you trust me to do my job well? Would you trust me to protect your daughter from harm? These are very different questions.

TRUST 25

Team (We are all on the same one.)Relationships based uponUnderstanding, Sensitivity, andTolerance

TRUST

Calibrate your level of trust in each person wisely. Believe in people.

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Question for managers: Who am I being?

Get clear on who you are, as a manager and a leader. For example, here is my statement:

I am an authentic, caring, challenging, dedicated mentor.

What is yours? (Feel free to steal from mine.)

To get clear on your statement:• Notice, ask for feedback• Envision (Whom do you aspire to be like?)

Being 27

An inauthentic manager is an ineffective manager.

To increase authenticity, clarify your inauthenticities.

Everyone has inuathenticities.

Ask for help:

• What don’t you believe? How would you not trust me?

Ask yourself: What do I really care about? What don’t I?

Separate the facts from your story.

Get training: Never stop learning about yourself.

Highly recommended: http://www.landmarkworldwide.com

Being Authentic 28

● Examine: How might I be the source of the problem?● Learn from failures and successes.● Do not cut corners (deceive, break the law, share

information prematurely or inappropriately).● Work at least as hard, and smart, as your staff.● Hold yourself accountable for the results of your

team, and for your impact on their self-image & performance.

● Model behaviors and attitudes you want to develop.

Empower Excellence: INTEGRITY 30

Why are promises important?● Descriptive language vs Creative language● Flowers● Personal power: What is it? What is its source?● Beyond keeping promises - Honoring your word:

○ When you cannot, pro-actively take responsibility for mitigating the impacts on others.

○ Calibrate your promises: Not too much, not too little either – expect great things!

INTEGRITY: The Power of Your Word 31

Begin with:

Curiosity and

Humility, proceed with

Awareness, Respect, and

Mastery

CHARM Review 32

Practice using open-ended questions.

Pick a partner:

Partner A is the Manager.

Partner B is the Writer.

CHARM Exercise 33

What did you learn from the CHARM exercise? 34

What, in your experience, are the most difficult management issues? 35

Enable Excellence: Training TypesWhat types of training does your team need?

Consider:

● Technical communications methods

● Technical skills, aptitude, knowledge

● Writing skills: grammar, organization,

proofreading, editing, topic types, etc.

● Cultural skills: Organizational policies,

processes, methods, culture, working with

diverse others

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● Work skills: time/work management, project management, leading meetings, leading teams, collaboration

● Transformational training - How to: ○ Be coachable○ Release/replace life-long habits○ Exceed your limits○ Increase awareness: How am I being? ○ Culture: strengths, weaknesses of?○ Increase empathy - for self and others

Enable Excellence: Training Types 37

The available training methods are legion:● Working with more experienced/differently-skilled people● Teaching: Designing, delivering courses● Graduated tasks, with detailed feedback● Shadowing; being shadowed● Self-directed learning● Free (or paid) online courses, webinars, blogs, etc.● Remote live training, local live training● What others?

Enable Excellence: Training Methods 38

Is training necessary?

● Is breathing necessary?

● Technical communication is 90% learning. Training is motivating.

(If it isn’t, staff changes are needed.)

● What if there is no budget for training?

Enable Excellence: Training - Why? 39

Imagine: Your boss tells you (for the first time) that you are failing at x, y, and z, and you are being demoted, or fired.

Would you rather have had a chance to improve first?

Would you rather have had some effective training?

Enable Excellence: Training - Why? 40

Three Key Factors for Motivation:1. Autonomy2. Mastery3. Purpose

Great 11-minute video on motivation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuF

Two Orientations of Motivation:• Toward (things you want)

• Away from (things you don’t want)

Motivation: A, M, P, T, AF 42

Frequent! Accurate! Clear! Specific!Do not fail to tell someone that they made a mistake.

Do not fail to praise someone, often.

Do not fail to provide formal

performance reviews at least annually.

Remember CHARM!

Feedback 43

One-on-one meetings: regularly with all staffOne-on-one meetings: regularly with your managerTeam meetingsProject meetings

Effective Meetings: Who? When? 44

Preparation is key.

• Set clear goals• Provide an agenda with time limits• Include everyone in the discussion• Don’t forget your remote or offsite

members

Effective Meetings: How? 45

Provide an agenda to keep the meeting on track and on time. Add a time limit to each item.• News and announcements “from above”• Action items from previous meetings• Ongoing projects or situations• New challenges to be discussed?

Have an agenda 46

• Teams work best when everyone contributes their experience and their best ideas.

• Find ways to include everyone.• Don’t just rely on “volunteers.” Draw

out ideas to discover hidden talents.• Make sure the quieter voices are

heard.

Include everyone 47

• Set a place at the table for each offsite member.• Set up a virtual presence via Skype, etc.• Include offsite members in introductions, reports,

and discussions.• Don’t let offsite folks disappear into other tasks.• Sometimes including off-site folks in a meeting

doesn’t work. Figure out another way to include them.

Offsite but not forgotten 48

• A changing world = Diverse styles/contexts• Cross-cultural teams: Aware leadership• Each culture has strengths, and challenges

Awareness, bias, & culture 49

Companies market their products internationally.

Users are diverse.

Localization of products andsupporting documentationrequires cultural awareness.

The world is changing 50

• between company strategy and their employees.

• between team members who may be in many locations.

• between past practices and future possibilities

Managers are at the interface 51

Three Key Success Factors:

1. Mix cultures and locations. Having a mix of cultures in one location makes a huge difference.

2. Ensure editing, quality control, and inclusion.Make all writers have the advantages they need to succeed.

A key success factor for Saiff Solutions: Our writers in the Philippines work with American, Canadian, Indian, and Filipino editors and managers (local and remote). Our editors each have at least 10 years of technical writing/editing experience.

Managing cross-cultural teams 52

3. Embrace differences by increasing your awareness!Understanding cultural differences – between countries, professions, departments, companies – is crucial to your success. Consider:

• How do these people learn best?• How do they typically handle conflict?• What does “Yes” mean to them?

Learn to listen newly: hear what you are missingLearn to speak newly: add what you assume and others do not

Continually expand your awareness to new levels.

You cannot succeed in this without getting to know people well.

Managing cross-cultural teams 53

• Management entails awesome responsibility and awesome opportunity. Both are magnified by a mixture of cultures.

• Many Asians are socialized to defer to authority figures, and foreigners, even those not in positions of authority. They may be unwilling to say “no” or disagree with you, to ask questions or ask for help, especially if you (even unknowingly) raise your voice or exhibit frustration or anger.

• They may hide from you the impact of how you are being.

• Many Americans, Japanese, and others regularly raise their voices, or interpret silence as a sign of agreement and support.

Managing cross-cultural teams 54

To be successful with people in other cultures, you need to be sensitive. You need to be willing to change. You need to give up the idea that your culture is better. All cultures have strengths and weaknesses. Learn the strengths and weaknesses of your culture and other cultures.

Seek out the strengths 55

Your task: build and support your team

• Discover each member’s skills and work style.

• Learn who is calmest in a storm, most creative in a crisis, most reliable in meeting a deadline.

• Help each person stretch their skills and grow their experience.

Team building 56

Understand all the jobs expected of your team.• What products do you support? • What kinds of content do you create or

maintain?• What special skills are required?• What difficult situations or people must your

staff work with?

Understand the work 57

Members of a team:

• Know each other’s strengths...and weaknesses.• Combine their abilities to be more effective

than they can be as individuals.• Together, tackle new challenges.

Build your team 58

• Communication

• Creativity

• Accountability

• Efficiency

• Flexibility

• Leadership

Encourage these qualities 59

Use varied activities to build strong, diverse team relationships:• Off-site as well as on-site; indoor & outdoor.• Work-related as well as social.• Find out what team members want to do -- don’t focus

only on your ideas.• Encourage the use of varied senses and abilities.• Don’t forget training/education: those activities can also

build teams.• Have fun!

Team-building activities 60

Are you using the best processes and tools?

Ask yourself three questions:

1. What is your purpose?

2. Who is your customer?

3. Is your customer happy?

(http://www.squawkpoint.com/tutorials/process-improvement/)

Improve processes & tools 61

• What’s wrong with the existing method?

• Search for better solutions.• Rank your choices.• What’s the experience of other

companies that are using the new method or tool?

Find a better process/tool 62

• Clearly understand the workflow that uses the problem process/tool.

• Who owns the process/tool? Any stakeholders?• Who would a change impact?• How would the new process/tool help your

customers?

Do your homework 63

Changing a process or a tool can be expensive. Present your management with a business case that supports your proposed change:• Short and long term benefits to customers.• Impact to existing products or processes.• Cost (time, licenses, training, etc.)• Return on the investment (payback time, cost

savings.)

Speak management’s language 64

How do you create project estimates?• Focus on estimating goal-oriented tasks (writing a topic) vs.

minutiae (interviewing 3 SMEs)• Count what can be counted (UI elements)• Develop and use historical data• OR, use industry-standard numbers: 4 hours/page for user

documentation (JoAnn Hackos)• Consider process maturity• Adjust your estimates, using humility

Estimating Documentation Projects 65

• Do your homework: Follow processes, document• Has the person received specific, actionable feedback? Have

they been given a chance to improve? Have you considered various viewpoints?

• Is the person a negative influence? A bad cultural fit? Or someone different who contributes something valuable?

• Not being able to fire people can destroy an organization.• Firing the wrong people can destroy morale.• Once you decide, act with authority.

Staff Changes - Firing 66

Transfers into your team:

• Orientation, inclusion• Team cohesion, team building• Are they a good fit? What are their

career goals?

Transfers out of your team:

• Understand their goals• Support their ambitions• Make it work for your team

Staff Changes - Transfers 67

• Hire for attitude (89%) and skills (11%)• Know your culture, seek a good fit• Value and encourage diversity• More heads are better• When needed, test• After hiring: orientation, team-building, inclusion

• What if you cannot get hiring authority/budget?• Can you outsource/offshore while maintaining/improving

quality?

Staff Changes - Hiring 68

Enable excellence for:• Your staff (local, in-sourced)• Your expanded team (remote, outsourced)• Your organization

How do we enable excellence consistently across all these dimensions?

What have we learned?

Three Contexts for EE 69

I could benefit from a conversation about…?

What management challenge are you facing now? 70

• BALANCE Infographics: 7 Elements of Respect

• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Technical Writers

• Global Content Creation – Making it Work

• A Motivating SLAP

• 2016 New Years Free Gifts

• What do good technical writers do? Why do we need them?

• You can find all of the above at: http://saiffsolutions.com/home/category/blog

• Great 11-minute video on motivation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc

BONUS: Resources 71

Email: barrysaiff@saiffsolutions.comSkype: SaiffSolutionsContact: +1 415 350 2959 +63 917 872 0929Web: www.saiffsolutions.com

#LavaCon #SaiffSolutions #techcomm

ALL QUESTIONS ARE WELCOME 72

BONUS: Creativity in the Face of StressA good manager creates and protects a healthy culture.

Culture lives in the details -- in every moment, every action and interaction.

Think about how you deal with stress. You are a role model for your team. Your stress level impacts them.

Successful managers rely on the 4 Cs:

• Curiosity, Caring, Competence, and Creativity

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Supplement Your Excellence!• Attend our breakout session CARVE and SLAP Your Way to THRIVE as a MANAGER.Wednesday, October 26, 2016, 1:45PM – 2:45PM PST

• Visit our Saiff Solutions booth to pick up organization-transforming freebies and have a candid conversation with us on your content challenges.

• After workshop snack and networking event

• Visit www.SaiffSolutions.com for tech comm empowerment!

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