Comments on: Tech Writers Need to Learn to Say Yes. However … http://www.itauthor.com/2010/06/17/tech-writers-need-to-learn-to-say-yes-however/ Stuff about technical writing and software Sat, 04 Feb 2012 23:42:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: itauthor http://www.itauthor.com/2010/06/17/tech-writers-need-to-learn-to-say-yes-however/comment-page-1/#comment-7263 itauthor Mon, 09 Aug 2010 19:42:03 +0000 http://www.itauthor.com/?p=1658#comment-7263 Quote: "no" ends a conversation and "yes" begins a collaboration I like that a lot. (I feel a tweet coming on.) Thanks for commenting Mark. Quote: "no" ends a conversation and "yes" begins a collaboration

I like that a lot. (I feel a tweet coming on.)

Thanks for commenting Mark.

]]> By: Mark Metcalfe http://www.itauthor.com/2010/06/17/tech-writers-need-to-learn-to-say-yes-however/comment-page-1/#comment-7257 Mark Metcalfe Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:01:15 +0000 http://www.itauthor.com/?p=1658#comment-7257 "However, I worry that it's not quite as easy as Mark suggests. Very often requests for time come out of the blue and the start date is today." I agree that nothing is as black and white as "yes" being the right answer 100% of the time. You will have circumstances where the answer is that "it cannot be done." You mention diplomacy and negotiating skills, and my blog post and I agree. The thrust of the message that "no" ends a conversation and "yes" begins a collaboration. Balancing competing priorities is tricky business and I do not advocate burning out. So brush up on the diplomacy and negotiating skills, but keep the attitude of "yes" to advance the interests of your company or business. Mark Metcalfe "However, I worry that it's not quite as easy as Mark suggests. Very often requests for time come out of the blue and the start date is today."

I agree that nothing is as black and white as "yes" being the right answer 100% of the time. You will have circumstances where the answer is that "it cannot be done." You mention diplomacy and negotiating skills, and my blog post and I agree. The thrust of the message that "no" ends a conversation and "yes" begins a collaboration. Balancing competing priorities is tricky business and I do not advocate burning out. So brush up on the diplomacy and negotiating skills, but keep the attitude of "yes" to advance the interests of your company or business.

Mark Metcalfe

]]> By: Gordon http://www.itauthor.com/2010/06/17/tech-writers-need-to-learn-to-say-yes-however/comment-page-1/#comment-7235 Gordon Fri, 18 Jun 2010 10:02:26 +0000 http://www.itauthor.com/?p=1658#comment-7235 My team gets a LOT of these requests, and we end up being invovled in one way or another. We do have some processes in place that give me visibility of requests that might be coming down the line, and for quite a while my answer was always No, and I'd clarify that I was happy to be told to do it (escalation) but it would impact the plans for my team. Ultimately I want the company to do well so it's in my own interests to say yes as much as I can. Making sure everyone understands the impact of the interruptions is key. My team gets a LOT of these requests, and we end up being invovled in one way or another.

We do have some processes in place that give me visibility of requests that might be coming down the line, and for quite a while my answer was always No, and I'd clarify that I was happy to be told to do it (escalation) but it would impact the plans for my team. Ultimately I want the company to do well so it's in my own interests to say yes as much as I can. Making sure everyone understands the impact of the interruptions is key.

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