A survey on Technical Communicators on Cross-Functional Teams

[James_Conklin -at- idt -dot- mb -dot- ca]

Hi Everyone


Eric Ray has kindly agreed to allow me to post this request.


If you are a technical writer with full-time employment with an
organization, please take a moment to participate in a new research effort
to understand the current state of Technical Communicator participation in
cross-functional teams.  Also be sure to attend the session at the
Baltimore STC conference in May when the results are presented and
discussed.


Rationale:  Technical communicators continue to report that much of their
work is done in a team environment.  As workplace collaboration gains in
importance and becomes more common, some tech communicators find new
opportunities are opening for them, which demand new skills and attitudes,
while others indicate that their status and role remains unchanged.  The
purpose of this research effort (which is being undertaken by me as a
labour of love, combining my two consuming professional interests -- group
dynamics and the evolution of communication requirements in the modern
workplace) is to:

- Gain an understanding of current experiences of technical communicators
in cross-functional teams
- Learn where the issues and challenges are in technical communicator
participation on cross-functional teams
- Work with others in interpreting the survey and interview data, and to
consider possible solutions to the challenges

The research will help us to understand the kinds of teams that technical
communicators are assigned to, the point in a team's lifecycle when
technical communicators join the team, the roles that technical
communicators are currently playing on teams, and the issues and challenges
that they face.

I will present the results of the survey at the STC conference in Baltimore
in May 2004, and will followup with a journal article submission to the STC
journal.


So please take the time (as little as a few minutes if you do not append
open-ended comments) to download and fill out the survey.  To participate,
take the following steps:


1.  Go to the following website:


www.idt.mb.ca


2.  Click on the following link:  Survey - Cross-Functional Teams


3.  Download the survey (it is in MS Word format), fill it out, and then
email it to


jamie -at- idt -dot- mb -dot- ca





Surveys received up to February 13 2004 will be included in the analysis.

Thank you for participating.

Jamie Conklin

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
James Conklin
President, IDT Inc.
204 946 5334 ext 231
jamie -at- idt -dot- mb -dot- ca
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"The future of work consists of learning a living..."
                                Marshall McLuhan