growing your tech pubs group - wordpress.com · 10/14/2014 ©2014 confidential 1 growing your tech...

10/14/2014 ©2014 Confidential 1

Growing Your Tech Pubs Group

Rebecca FirestoneSenior Technical WriterZep Solar, Inc.

North Bay CommunicatorsOctober 14, 2014

The Question

• How do you know when your

group needs to grow?

• How do you make it happen?

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Lone Writer

Zep Solar’s Products

• Hardware, simple mechanical installation

• Patented PV mounting solutions

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InterlockPart No. 850-1388

Leveling FootPart No. 850-1397

Ground ZepPart No. 850-1172

Scaling Up Fast

• 4 solutions in 2012 to 8+ solutions in 2014

• All kinds of drivers

• Acquired by SolarCity

– Delivery of power

– Quick turnaround on everything

• I didn’t know what would be coming up next

• But it would be fast when it got there

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Invasion of the Bean Counters

• How long does it take?

• Why can’t you just do it faster?

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I had to educate people.

9 months

4.5 months

4.5 months

9 months total…No problem, right?

Double your output without adding resources!!

Informed Client is Vitally Important

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• Example: Someone wants to commission an architect to design and

build a custom home

– Permitting, construction, design process

– Inexperienced clients meddle, withhold, miss deadlines

• A good client knows

– When to push and challenge

– When to accept a situation as it is

– When to intervene and change course

It’s Not Just Workhours

• Workhours

• Calendar days

• % allocated

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What else, besides workhours, factors in?

Well, let’s look at my work logs…

• Not how long it SHOULD take

• How long it DID take

• Actual start and end dates

• Various activities, interactions,

dependencies, wild goose chases,

and other “forgotten” factors

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Start With Historical Data

But, Don’t Try to Explain Yourself Too Much

• It only leads to trouble

• Makes you look defensive

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Couldn’t Control My Own

Work Schedule

• New task comes in

• Schedule’s already full

• Can’t postpone anything

• Can’t scope down, either

• Everything’s top priority NOW

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May

New Task

My Biggest Problem

A Dysfunctional Situation

• Elicits a dysfunctional response

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Coping Strategies

• Jump off bridge

• Drop the ball

• Pick directives at random

• Do a poor job

• Take to strong drink

• Run away and join a circus

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I Asked the Experts

• Tech Pubs managers

• Reams of good advice

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… A mystic Horseman’s Word?

Engineer – Writer Ratio

• Ideal is 6:1

• More commonly 8:1

• Actual is 13:1 or even 17:1

• Some places it’s a lot higher

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Zep – 30:1

SolarCity – 5000 employees, 0 writersIncreasing Ratio

Increasing Ratio

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Products and Markets

• Product Lines

• Market Segments

• International Markets

• Key Relationships

• Audience Segmentation

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Deliverables

• Number, complexity, media, formats

• Sheer volume

• Frequent release cycles

• Quality level of each

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1-2 Hours Per Finished Page

Tie To Company Mission

• “Own the Roof…”

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irobot mission statement

Myth of Infinite Multitasking

• It’s not just workhours

• It’s continuity of attention

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5-minute projects only!

So, What Actually Worked?

• Eliminating pet projects

• Back-channel mentoring

• Going to other departments

• What would you do if…?

• Do we still *need* documentation?

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Really scary to ask this one…

What would YOU do in my shoes…?

Is there something I’m not seeing here…?

What Would Happen If…

…we stopped writing manuals altogether?

– Products won’t get UL certified

– Permits could be rejected

– Jurisdictions may not accept Zep Solar products

– Projects may fail site inspection

– Our warranty states “per written instructions”

– Can’t wow new partners, whoever they might be

– People using my content would have to make their own

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Would The World Stop Turning?

• Well, it might – but not right away

• Things will seem OK – for a while

• Some time may elapse

• Other factors may be at work

• Hard to tie a situation 6 months from now solely to a lack

of documentation today

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What if I Got Hit By A Bus Tomorrow?

• If people don’t think it’s a crisis

• Maybe you’re not that vital to the organization

• A moment of truth

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Take a good hard look in the mirror

Outcome

• They saw the light

• Entry-level position created

• I’d found someone at

STC-Berkeley

• Candidate “auditioned” before joining

• It’s still working!

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Candidate did some Zep fan-boy

artwork

I did, too

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