I began writing the tc unplugged column in 2014. Over one decade (and almost 40 columns), I’ve shared my thoughts, insights, and experiences – as well as some random rants – with my tekom colleagues. Now it is time for me to step aside and let someone with new ideas and a different perspective take up the baton.
Before I go, allow me to share a few last tips for your TechComm career.
Turmoil is here to stay
The past four years have been filled with unprecedented upheaval in our industry. We’ve seen the COVID-induced lockdowns, corporate changes in attitude towards work-from-home flexibility, massive cultural shifts triggered by emerging Gen Z/Gen Alpha users (with their strange linguistic patterns and different UI expectations), and finally, the disruptive technology of AI.
Sadly, turmoil is here to stay. We aren’t likely to go back to long development schedules, large document projects, careful review cycles, and what we used to consider “normal”.
What can you do?Stay flexible and keep learning. It may be more pragmatic to know a little bit about a lot of things rather than know everything about one narrow specialty. Those who are experts in one niche may find it difficult to land another job or adjust to changing business models. Just as financial advisers warn you not to put all your money into one type of investment (the proverbial “putting all your eggs in one basket”), futurists are urging us not to narrow our options. Attend conferences and webinars, take courses, and make time in your weekly schedule to read industry publications.
Develop coping skills
Because of this constant turmoil, we can expect more stress in our jobs. Companies are attempting to downsize, consolidate jobs, and replace people with automation. Add rapid release schedules, limited resources for review and feedback, and more types of deliverables, and you have a recipe for increased stress in the work environment.
What can you do? Most people can deal with short bursts of stress. Our body pumps out adrenaline and cortisol to help us survive. But extended exposure to stress is exhausting and unhealthy. Everyone needs to learn techniques for managing stress in healthy ways, as opposed to the negative coping mechanisms that we often use automatically. First, learn to identify those things that you should never tolerate (bullying, sexual harassment, etc.). While the latter is still a serious problem, European numbers are lower than those in the U.S. Your company almost certainly has a policy in place, and the problem can often be dealt with swiftly and effectively, especially as most companies fear the cost and bad press of litigation. But what about stress that isn’t actionable? There are a range of things you can do to lower cortisol levels and support your body’s resilience, including exercise, a healthy diet, and sufficient sleep. There are also some techniques you can apply on the job, including listening to music, doing breathing exercises, getting away from your desk, and venting safely. (For these and other techniques, join me at the tcworld conference in Stuttgart for my session, “Coping in Chaos and Crisis.”)
Your job is not your calling
There is a trend I see in the United States where career influencers tell people to “find your joy”. The underlying myth is that you can find the perfect job that aligns with your passion if you create a vision board and think good thoughts. Founded by the infamous Louise Fletcher, this movement has done as much to create misery in the workforce as unbridled capitalism.
I consider this to be an utterly ridiculous mindset, and I am happy to say that I do not see it as rampant among my European and local clients. Your career should, ideally, be something that you are good at and do not find distasteful. It does not, however, have to be the thing that gives you purpose and meaning in life. In societies with a healthy work-life balance, people usually look outside of their job for fulfillment.
Don’t expect your job to replace friends, family, community, hobbies, fun, or volunteering. People who place their entire identity into their careers, especially those who are chronic workaholics, have double the risk of heart attacks and a one-third higher risk of stroke than their more balanced coworkers. The Japanese even have a term for work-induced early death – especially an in-office heart attack – caused by this imbalance: karoshi.
What can you do? Develop a life outside of your career. Find hobbies that are vastly different from what you do on the job. For example, if you spend all day sitting in front of a computer, don’t select other activities that are also solitary pursuits in front of a computer! And don’t rely on the workplace to furnish you with friends. When your project is terminated or your department decimated in layoffs, you risk becoming socially isolated. In any case, our lives are richer when we maintain friendships with people of different backgrounds and jobs.
Learn to write
This may seem obvious, but I am often dismayed by the poor writing skills of many so-called practitioners in our field. I once was the guest editor of a journal in the U.S., and was shocked when I received sloppy, unstructured, rambling, incoherent, and typo-riddled submissions from senior writers in the industry.
No tool can take the place of some solid writing and editing skills! This is one of the core foundational skills in our profession, so shouldn’t we proudly earn this ability? Also, we’ve all seen some of the more egregious errors that AI content authoring can produce; no one can safely rely on tools to do all of the work.
But it goes beyond that; you need to think! A good TechComm professional should be curious, logical, and sometimes appropriately suspicious. You need to be able to know when to ask the client or SMEs and when to do external research for yourself. And you need to proactively write the best possible content to address your client’s pain points while serving the needs of the users, rather than blandly pandering to the client’s most illogical requests. Sadly, many practitioners in our field think that their domain and product knowledge is sufficient, and they never take the time to research other information, perform audience analysis, or even learn to write.
What can you do? If you never learned how to logically structure information, write a good context paragraph, create lists that have correct agreement, or simply write clear, useful content, then get started! There are plenty of courses, workshops, and even private coaching options. You’ll feel more confident and more connected to the profession.
I also encourage everyone to study logic. A logical mind will help you recognize problematic source content. Once you can spot the problems, you can ask the right questions and thus get the information you need to create useful content. Initially, you may need a checklist of things to look for or ask. Eventually, you’ll get better at spotting problems, which is essential if you want to grow in this field.
No one gets out alive!
We have a finite time on this earth. Very few of us will lead a life that has a historic impact. Realistically, we leave a very small mark, only affecting family, friends, and occasionally those we teach or mentor. It may seem harsh, but at times it is important to remember that today’s disaster in the office probably won’t matter in a month – and certainly not in ten years!
What can you do? Don’t become so cynical that you don’t take anything seriously. After all, we all need to take pride in our work and do the best we can for our clients and their users. Despite your best intentions and efforts, documentation mistakes occur. This is when you need to step back and adjust your view. Take responsibility for your role in the problem, figure out how to fix it, and move on. Remember that in the scheme of things, it is just a tiny blip in the universe. I remember one of my early bosses who used to say, “It’s not cancer!” when things went wrong. That was her way of putting problems in perspective for us.
Conclusion
I’ve enjoyed these past ten years as your columnist, and it has been a privilege to work with tcworld magazine’s outstanding editor, Corinna Melville. And remember, I’m still here, leading workshops, teaching courses, and presenting at TechComm conferences. So come say hi and let’s talk about your vision for our profession.