Is there a place for compassion in TC?

Data-driven business cases. Analytics. Standards. Methodologies. Certification. Open any TC-related magazine or journal and you will discover a strong focus on the business side of our industry.

Text by Leah Guren

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As professional practitioners, we are urged to think of the cost of the content we create. At every conference, we see presentations urging us to talk about the "bottom line" and talk to managers about the monetary value of our services, rather than the value we bring to their customers.

On a certain level, it makes sense to think of our work in terms of analytics. We are the purveyors of technical information, which is the dry statement of facts about our company’s products and services. So why not look at us as just another cost center that must earn its keep within the company?

What we tend to overlook is that there are people on the receiving end of our work: Users are simply people who rely heavily on our content to be able to use the products they have purchased. And once people enter the equation, mere dollars, euros, or pounds cannot quantify the true cost and value of our ...