Project Management Skills and Tech Writing.

[Gwen Barnes <gwen -dot- barnes -at- MUSTANG -dot- COM>]

To: TECHWR-L -at- VM1 -dot- ucc -dot- okstate -dot- edu

-> I'm curious about the phrase "Project Management Skills" seen in so many
-> position descriptions.  Is it fairly common for TWs to juggle three or
-> four projects simultaneously?  And, if this is true, were you born with
-> this ability or did you acquire it out of necessity?  Finally, does
-> anyone use project management software to control their writing projects?

Oh, goody. A chance to rant about one of my favorite topics.  There are
two ways to look at the process of getting an important job done. THe
first, and commonest, is "crisis management" -- deal with each deadline
or disaster as it comes up, put out the fire as best one can, and work
like hell till you get caught up with your regular work. As long as
you're concentrating on getting through the day, completing the project
really isn't important.

I prefer the "project management" approach. I don't think there's really
any good excuse, having once completed a project, to repeat the same
mistakes with each subsequent project. It means keeping the goal in mind
at all times, and making sure that everything you do advances you
towards that goal.

To manage projects instead of crises, you need to know:

1. When it has to ship
2. When the books have to be ready
3. How long it takes to print the books
4. Your drop-dead camera ready date
5. Which printers you're going to bid it out to
6. Who's going to sign off on the final manuscript
7. How long it takes to prepare a good index
8. How long it takes to make any necessary issues resulting from
   engineering review
9. How long it takes for the engineers to review the final draft of the
   manuscript
10. How long it takes to get the first draft ready for engineering
    review
11. How long it takes to write the first draft
12. When you get to see the product you're writing about for the first
    time.

If you *know*, for instance, that printing takes 3 to 4 weeks, and your
shipping department needs the books 1 month in advance of the actual
ship date, to give them time to assemble and ship the product to your
distributors, that's your drop-dead camera ready date.

If you know indexing will take you 2 person-days, that's how long you'll
need to spend on it.

If the engineers need a weekend to review and report on the final draft,
allow for that, and make the day before that weekend your deadline for
final draft.

Etc. Etc. ETc.

Stuff takes as long as it takes. 16 hour days are NOT necessarily as
productive as 8 hour days, sometimes a lot less so because of burnout.
My productivity flames out after 8 hours, and no pep talk is going to
make much of a difference. I might squeeze in a couple of weekends or a
couple hours O.T. if I'm running behind schedule, but that catches up to
an old fart like me way too fast and I end up losing more than I gain.

Don't let people distract you from the goal, which is to complete the
project. Everyone will have their own little pet crisis for you to
manage -- don't fall for it.

If Management or Marketing wants something yesterday, let them know
you're willing to do anything they ask, and ask for their help in
re-prioritizing your main project, adjusting deadlines (don't forget to
mention shipping date) accordingly. If the deadline can't move, then
help them make alternate plans to have their projects handled, and plan
for these kinds of crises the next time you get going on a big project.
In other words, let everyone who asks a favor know how it will affect
achieving your mutual goal ... and provide whatever cooperation is
prudent within that framework.

Spend some time every week or so evaluating where all the parts of your
project are in relation to your time-line. If you happen to complete one
part a little ahead of schedule, that's great -- spend some time
bringing some of the other stuff back on schedule. Chart your progress,
so you have a visual reminder of how you're doing. You don't need
project management software for this, a whiteboard is great for this
cause other people can see that you at least have some idea what has to
be done by what date...