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Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Most Documentation Managers Don’t Use Metrics As Performance Measure
If a recent survey of technical documentation managers (conducted by TechCom Manager) is any indication, most managers do not use metrics as a performance measure when evaluating the writers that work for them. This is, in our view, something that needs to change.
Not using metrics as a performance measure is an issue that needs addressed. It’s important to note that failing to use metrics indicates both a lack of professional management skills and a lack of awareness about content quality management software—tools designed to automatically collect performance metrics, among other measures.
When asked if “metrics are used to assess technical communicators where you work?”, 74% of the survey respondents said “No, metrics are not used as a performance measure.”
If technical documentation managers are to be respected as professionals, gathering and reacting to metrics are critical.
The survey also revealed:
- The vast majority of respondents are managers, most of which classify themselves as documentation managers who work in a high-tech industry, and who have complete budgetary and hiring control over their staffs.
- Managers’ most challenging activities revolve around finding good employees and balancing the workload with the resources they have.
- Most feel their companies value tech writers moderately high, and most plan to maintain the same number of writers during the next year. Most staffs consist of both regular employees and contractors.
- The skills/qualities that are the most important to most managers include writing ability, attitude/personality, and writing experience.
- Most managers are degreed, having majored primarily in English or Journalism, and most earn over $90K.
- Most managers are responsible for software documentation and online help.
- Most managers are only considering using structured authoring and content-management software, but are already using single-sourcing.
With the bulk of managers coming from an English or a Journalism background, it’s no wonder that metrics aren’t being used to measure performance. It’s also telling that most of these managers find writing ability and experience as the most important skills—something that every college graduate should have regardless of their educational path.
Filed under: Technical Writing : Career Information
Comments
By ScottAbel on June 5, 2007 -- 3:53pm
Alisha:
I’m working on an article and an interview on this subject which should help you learn a little more about the topic. It’s still a relatively new area for most technical documentation and training managers—and tool vendors are also just starting to hear folks like me gripe about the need for measurement tools. So, keep an eye out for additional articles on the subject, coming soon.
Scott Abel
TheContentWrangler
By Amanda_Cross on June 7, 2007 -- 7:57am
A few years ago at a session at the STC conference, a person in the audience talked about how their department used metrics for evaluation--horribly! As I recall, the writers were penalized with the number of grammatical errors the editors marked, without regard to the amount of work produced, the experience level of the writer, or the difficulty of the subject matter. It did nothing but cause animosity between writers and editors.
Not to say that performance evaluation wouldn’t benefit from metrics, but it certainly can be done the wrong way. The issue shouldn’t be whether to use metrics, but which ones to use.
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By Alisha Logsdon on June 5, 2007 -- 1:55pm
I work on a team that is not measured by metrics. We use metrics to estimate the department costs for projects. I would like to know how a metric could be used, though, to judge the quality of each writers work. As a technical writer who comes from an English background, I have no experience with any metrics other than those mentioned above, and your message in this article is unclear. I’d like more information on how a manager should use metrics, and what type of metrics. Thanks.