Project managers verbalize the big picture in a project plan. This high-level document covers the scope and requirements. Alone it doesn’t answer all questions so the plan is complemented by subsidiary plans. Project teams manage their work through a set of formal planning documents. They cover details about department functions. Scheduling, staffing, cost, quality, risk, …
Read More…Tethered to a cloud
It must have been twenty years ago when Larry Ellison fascinated me with the idea of diskless desktop computers. The benefit as I saw it was that some grandmaster App would keep the department’s word processing installations up to date. Eventually, maintaining software as a service became its own product. Known as SaaS the service is …
Read More…Professional Programs Compared
Hello, my name is Spring! I’ve resurfaced, finally, after completing a long contract. Now there are IOU lunches to plan and vacation photos to edit, and after criss-crossing Canada, it’s a must-do to get back into the swing of professional development. They say to carry a pocketful of business cards and memorize your elevator pitch. …
Read More…SIPOC tool
The process map is an information type in the Information Mapping Method. Similarly, SIPOC is a tool from the Define and Measure phases of a Six Sigma project. SIPOC takes its name from Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, and Customers. These segments in the process map define where a process starts and ends. Here I’m going …
Read More…Font-challenged learners
If fonts were cars, the Arial Light would be fitting for night driving. I imagine it having a softly illuminated dashboard and headlight-cancelling rearview mirrors. Reading too should offer the same adaptations–flick a few switches to give us the best fonts in pleasing shades so we don’t ruin our eyes. Twelve-point Comic Sans MS, if it’s not …
Read More…Letter wizard – what the family pack proved
My mother remembered birthdays without fail. She’d pre-write cards for all December-borns, penciling the recipient’s DOB in the postage stamp corner. Three to four days later a Hallmark greeting arrived like clockwork. Given the scale of mom’s birthday card sending, a request for backup was reasonable at Christmastime. Dad enlisted to sign cards going to …
Read More…Holidays & Observances
Today, we paused to remember those who served. My father who served in WWII called it Armistice Day long after the US renamed it Veterans Day. He’d fasten the poppy’s wire stem through a buttonhole. By December the poppy hung like mistletoe from the Ford’s rear view mirror. Nations render their own design of the …
Read More…We value your opinion
Surveys are meant for collecting data. The analysis says how one measures up to other survey takers. But sometimes the data is useless. A simple error in survey design proves why. If you’re a customer responding to a satisfaction survey, you’d assume “1″ to be low on a scale of 1 to 10. The question …
Read More…My centred life
My identity blurred the day I become chapter president and employed. Leaving only pockets of time to savor summer, I relished one late afternoon, on a rooftop patio, sipping coffee and being interviewed about work. Let me back up… STC Canada West Coast recently launched a service that connects senior technical writers with people exploring …
Read More…A case for terminal punctuation
The key is knowing how tools work, whether a job takes physical strength or mouse clicks. I used the latter to find a handyman. My needs were simple. Loosen shower handle so that it turns easily. Adjust shower doors so that they slide fully from end to end. Align bi-folding doors and adjust hinge hardware. …
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