News & Events
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Dr. JoAnn Hackos to speak at Content Management and XML Conference in Seattle
Dr. Hackos describes the process of defining a XML-based comprehensive Information Model and conducting a content-management project.
Click here for conference information
Dr. JoAnn Hackos to speak at STC Puget Sound Meeting - Open to the Public
Topic: Let’s stop writing documentation and start working for the users
Location: Monaco Hotel, Downtown Seattle
Date: September 18, 2003
Time: Social Hour 5:30pm, Meeting 7:00pm
Read Dr. JoAnn Hackos's article
Ben Jackson Receives Promotion
Ben Jackson has received a promotion to Director of Information Development at
Cisco Systems, Inc. CIDM members provided
job descriptions and rationale that were used to support their own
promotions to director.
The Sept. 1 issue of CIO magazine takes a hard look at the costs and consequences of offshore outsourcing.
Read more about it.
Best Practices 2003 Conference
September 22–24, 2003
Seattle, Washington
Innovator's Forum
September 25–26, 2003
Seattle, Washington
Visit
www.infomanagementcenter.com
for more information and to register.
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Upcoming Workshops
The CIDM sponsors the following workshops.
Sign up now:
Structured
Writing for Single Sourcing
JoAnn Hackos, PhD,
September 16–17, 2003,
San Jose, CA
Minimalism: Creating Manuals People Will Use
JoAnn Hackos, PhD,
November 6–7, 2003,
Atlanta, GA
Managing
Your Documentation Projects
Bill Hackos, PhD
October 16–17, 2003,
Phoenix, AZ
Developing a Content Management Strategy
JoAnn Hackos, PhD,
December 4–5
Rochester, NY
Developing
Online Information for Help and Web-Based Delivery
JoAnn Hackos, PhD,
October 21–22, 2003,
New Orleans, LA
November 11–12,
New York, NY
XML for Writers
Tina Hedlund
October 21–22, 2003,
Chicago, IL
For more information on these and other workshops,
visit the Seminars in Usable Design Web site at
www.comtech-serv.com/workshops/index.shtml
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Middle managers are key contributors to implementing change
JoAnn Hackos, PhD
CIDM Director
www.infomanagementcenter.com
Tom Peters started the move to rid organizations of middle managers. In many
companies, the mantra became "Flatten the organization." — "Middle managers
are stubborn defenders of the status quo." I recall one large, effective
information-development organization that was told to manage their projects through
self-directed teams. The publications managers were either fired or demoted.
Very recently I've received word of more companies who got rid of the manager because
they were perceived as adding no value, even though they had initiated the changes
that were making their departments successful.
Read
the article
More articles
Change-Management Reading List
One More Reorganization
Clarifying requirements — asking what and how
Dr. JoAnn Hackos and the Center for Information-Development
Management invite you to...
Innovator's Forum
September 25–26, 2003, Seattle, Washington
You know what your people are capable of doing if you just had the support.
You have great ideas that will make technical publications relevant to the customer.
You've put together a strategic plan and laid out the metrics.
Why is it still so hard to make your change message stick?
Innovations are easy to imagine and difficult to make happen. At the Best
Practices conference, experience how fellow information managers make a difference
in their organizations:
- Learn to cope by bringing current resources to bear on solving problems.
- Help key managers and staff understand your vision.
- Identify your key team members who can help everyone understand the need for change.
- Disarm the naysayers and laggards.
Join us at the water's edge. The Edgewater hotel overlooks Puget Sound in
downtown Seattle, Washington. It's down the hill from historic Pike Place
Market, the locale of the FISH! philosophy—last year's theme. As you prepare
to attend in 2003, read Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point, this year's
theme book.
Be prepared for the challenges of Tipping Point Leadership in introducing innovations
and making the changes that your team needs to succeed in tough economic times.
Turn your conference experience into tangible results.
- Are you excited by speakers at the conference?
- Do deadlines and demands drown out your good ideas for change as soon as you
get back to the office?
- Take this priceless opportunity to make change happen.
Join the Innovator's Forum immediately following the Best Practices conference
to turn your ideas into reality.
For more information and to register, visit
our Forum Web site.
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Change-Management Reading List
Bill Hackos, PhD
Vice President, Comtech Services, Inc.
While preparing for our upcoming Best Practices Conference and Innovator's Forum in
Seattle this month I've been reading a number of books about change. I thought I
would let you know about the best of them in case you want to prepare for the conference
or if you can't make it to the conference this year.
Read
the article
One More Reorganization
Diane Davis
Director, IC Implementation, Synopsys, Inc.
It is amazing how much stress is associated with reorganizations. My company just
announced yet another one. Keeping your staff productive during the rumor stage is a
managerial challenge that is complicated by today's economy. People are afraid of
losing their jobs, and many people think that reorganization is synonymous with a
layoff.
Read
the article
Clarifying requirements — asking what and how
Vesa Purho
Development Manager, Nokia
In my last article, I talked about how important it is to ask "why" so many
times that you get to the bottom of what it is that people actually require without
specifying an implementation alternative. Starting from "the possibility to import an
XML configuration in the system," we ended up with "making changes in the configuration
and changing the status of the modules has to be easy." Two issues need to be clarified
in the requirement: do we have one requirement or two, and, most important, what is
meant by easy?
Read
the article
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The Center For Information-Development Management
The Center for Information-Development Management (CIDM) is an
organization of information-development, training, and support
managers across the United States and internationally. The CIDM
is directed by Dr. JoAnn Hackos, international leader in the management
of the design, development, and dissemination of information to
customers and employees. Under her leadership, the CIDM conducts
benchmark studies among member organizations and elsewhere, sponsors
research into information development and its management, and
gathers and disseminates results and resources through newsletters,
the Web, seminars, an annual conference, and research white papers.
The CIDM facilitates the sharing of information among the most
skilled managers in the information industry.
If you are interested in reading more in-depth articles, you
should consider subscribing to the Best Practices newsletter at
www.infomanagementcenter.com/masterindex.shtml.
©2003 by the Center for Information-Development Management. All rights reserved.
Tel. (303) 232-7586
Fax. (303) 232-0659
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