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My supervisor is the head of engineering. He's only the third supervisor
I've had as a tech writer. The first one did not have a tech writing
background, which was bad because he couldn't teach me anything. The
second one was a long-time tech writer, which was bad because he had
extremely high standards.
My current supervisor doesn't have a tech writing background, which is
good, because it's a small startup and he realizes that anything I give
him is better than nothing at all.
I try to teach people the finer points of the tech writing biz as I go,
supervisors included. I also have an extensive background in the
computer business as a whole, so my supervisor trusts my knowledge and
intuition.
Supervisors without management experience can be extremely dangerous,
particularly in highly political organizations.
Joe Malin
Technical Writer
(408)625-1623
jmalin -at- tuvox -dot- com
www.tuvox.com
The views expressed in this document are those of the sender, and do not
necessarily reflect those of TuVox, Inc.
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+jmalin=tuvox -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+jmalin=tuvox -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf
Of arroxaneullman -at- aol -dot- com
Sent: Tuesday, May 09, 2006 7:42 AM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Non-TW supervisor
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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