Technical Communication Recap for March 1, 2013

Our technical communication recap this week looks at the controversial as well as the informative, coming at the end of a big week in the news. It’s actually a bit refreshing to see the current debate raging about something other than style, formatting, or tool issues. Telecommuting is front and center in technical communication this week after the announcement that Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer requiring all employees to work onsite. Telecommuting is a way of life for many in technical communication (including TechWhirl’s owners), so the varied perspectives of many Whirlers on the email discussion list brings a lot to the discussion in terms of productivity, distractions, creativity, and more.

This week’s features on TechWhirl may not rise to the same level of controversy, but they do address technologies and processes that technical communicators and content managers need and want. Jacquie Samuels, TechWhirl’s resident (but telecommuting) CMS and CCMS genius, takes readers into the depths of assessing the maturity of their content management systems. She also takes a stand on the question of whether the ubiquitous Microsoft SharePoint can really manage content effectively. Craig Cardimon has curated some really interesting blog posts on content strategy, tech comm and user experience.

Have a great weekend!

-Connie and the gang at TechWhirl

	Tech Writer This Week for February 28, 2013 Happy last day of February, in which we look forward to better weather, and enjoying all the great commentary we can pull together. Refreshing and useful stuff from awesome bloggers in tech comm, content strategy and curation, user experience, and the ever-present and always necessary career and life.
	Can SharePoint® Manage your Content? If it seems that Microsoft® SharePoint is nearly as ubiquitous as Word and Windows, it’s because SharePoint implementations are a major factor in IT project expenditures today. In fact, if SharePoint were a standalone company, it would rank in the top 50 software companies in the world. It should come as no surprise that executives concerned about the management of technical content often wonder if technical publications in XML can be managed well using Microsoft SharePoint.
	Technical Communication Poll: Handling Conflict Over Your Work As much as we would all like to have perfect relationships with all of our colleagues, superiors, and clients, the real world just never seems to work that way. Sometimes they just don’t agree with, or like the work you’re producing… which can cause a collision between worlds that makes last week’s meteor strike look like a light show. What tactics do you use to respond when someone has a problem with your work?
	Assessing the State of Your Content: Applying the Content Management System Maturity Model Before you can decide how you can improve your content management practices and get on the road to implementing or enhancing your content management system solution, you need to assess where your organization stands—what kind of content do you have, where is it located, and how is it currently managed? Answering these critical questions is essential to determining your content maturity.

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