z

• Technical communications leader• 32 years of technical documentation

experience• Led writing teams at 6 US companies • Founded Saiff Solutions, Inc. in 2011• Provides content development to

Fortune 500 companies in Japan & US• Loves acronyms

About the Speaker: Barry Saiff

AGENDA

Who are we?

Management: A Sacred Trust

Keys to Success: CARVE (Caring, Access, Respect, Vision, Expect Excellence!)

Our Challenges, Trust, Being, Case Study

THRIVE (Training, Heard, Respect, Integrity, Vision, Empower)

Powerful Motivation: SLAP! (Success, Learning, Accurate Feedback, Praise)

Managing Cross-Cultural Teams

What is your challenge?

BONUSES: LavaCon Dublin Discounts

1. 55-Euro discount code for LavaCon Dublin registrations: SAIFF

2. We have a limited number of deeply discounted registrations (70% off).

At the end of this webinar, we will explain how you can get one.

QUESTION: Where are you located?

Please type your country and city in the chat window.

QUESTION: What are Your Interests/Experiences in Managing Technical Writers?

Have you experienced:•Managing a team of writers?• Leading a team, without management authority?•Managing outsourced or off-shore writers?•Hiring? Firing?•Working for a good manager?•Working for a not-so-good manager?•What else?

Management is a sacred trust. As a manager, at any level, you have the power to:• destroy careers• destroy jobs• destroy morale• destroy the enterprise

• build careers• achieve miracles• treat people fairly• develop lifelong

relationships of trust

Management is a sacred trust. As a manager, at any level, you have the power to:

• turn lives around• empower people to be more

effective and productive• enable people to learn things

that make them more successful• turn the enterprise around

Management is a sacred trust. As a manager, at any level, you have the power to:

CaringThe fundamental way of being of a manager is caring.• A manager cares about the results.• A manager cares about the process.• A manager cares about the people.• A manager cares about the enterprise.

• A manager is trusted with power that they must always use to benefit the enterprise and support the staff. • A manager faces many opportunities

to abuse that power, and cause harm to the enterprise and the staff. • A manager must, at times, be selfless,

and act against their own (narrowly conceived) self-interest.

Caring

Caring• A good manager is a creator of healthy administration, and

an enemy of bureaucratic corruption and inertia. • The mission, the customers, the enterprise, the people,

and the results are more important than the rules. • Rather than offering excuses for inaction, a good manager

strives for continuous improvement, rational administration, fairness, and productivity gains.

Caring

CaringHave you ever thought about management in terms of caring?

Please type Yes if this is not a new idea to you.

Caring

AccessAccessYour people need regular access to you, and you need access to your management.Have you ever had difficulties or stress at work because your manager had no time for you?Please type Yes or No.

It is unacceptable to accuse someone in front of others. It is counterproductive to blame someone in private. Even if you don't think you are accusing or blaming, if the other person thinks you are, you are responsible for their perception. This is particularly important in Asian cultures.

RespectBeing Respectful

It is unacceptable to raise your voice in anger, use profanity, or act in a less than civil or business-like manner.

A manager knows how to manage their emotions, without dumping them on people in the workplace.

A manager understands the difference between passion and emotion, and is not controlled by emotions.

A manager is responsible for the impact of his or her actions.

A manager does not react. A manager creates.

RespectBeing Respectful

Expand the realm of what you consider yourself responsible for.

Do not accept being treated with less than full respect.

Give yourself a break.

You will make mistakes, in fact, you must make some mistakes in order to learn how to improve.

BALANCE Infographics: 7 Elements of Respect

RespectBeing Respectful of yourself

VisionWithout vision, management is damaging. Be inspired, and you will inspire others.

Keep the mission, vision, and values of the organization alive, in everyone.

Make sure people understand how their work forwards the whole.

Are you clear about the mission OR the vision of your organization?Please type Yes or No.

Vision

Dr. Wayne Dyer was well known for the idea, based on extensive research, that we create what we expect.Be aware of your expectations. Choose them wisely.

Expect Excellence!

QUESTION: What, in your experience, are the most difficult management issues?

Please speak up, or type in the chat window. We’ll address a few issues now, and others later.

Caring – Trust = MicromanagementTrust is the currency of business success. Without trust, nothing is possible. You must calibrate trust for each person/situation. What do you trust me for? Do you trust me to do my job well? Would you trust me to protect your daughter from harm? These are very different questions.

TRUST

Team (We are all on the same one.)Relationships based uponUnderstanding, Sensitivity, andToleranceCalibrate your level of trust in each person wisely. Believe in people.

TRUST

Question for managers: Who am I being?Get clear on who you are, as a manager and a leader. For example, here is my statement:I am an authentic, caring, challenging, dedicated mentor.What is yours? (Feel free to steal from mine.)To get clear on your statement:• Notice, ask for feedback• Envision (Whom do you aspire to be like?)

Being

An inauthentic manager is an ineffective manager.To increase authenticity, clarify your inauthenticities.Everyone has inuathenticities.Ask for help:•What don’t you believe? How would you not trust me?Ask yourself: What do I really care about? What don’t I?Get training: Never stop learning about yourself.Highly recommended: http://www.landmarkworldwide.com

Being Authentic

Case Study: Surprise!Background: Tech Docs is working with a new Engineering group, but is not aware that this team transitioned from waterfall to agile. Issue: Midway through the project, the Engineering Team Lead is demanding the doc, 4 weeks early. They are including the doc in each sprint, so portions of the doc must be completed early. The Engineering Manager forgot about this when he approved the doc schedule.

What do you, as Documentation Manager, do? Let’s discuss.

Expect Excellence!Empower Excellence: THRIVEA manager operates at a high level of INTEGRITY. This requires a deep respect for the power of your own words, actions, and ways of being. This includes:• Being careful not to promise too much, or raise

expectations too high. However, not too low either – expect great things of yourself!

• Being responsible for your impact on the self-image and performance of others.

• Keeping your promises. When you cannot, pro-actively take responsibility for mitigating the impacts on others.

• Modelling the behaviors, attitudes, and approaches you want to develop in the staff.

Expect Excellence!I – Integrity:

Empower Excellence: THRIVE

• Always examining how you might be the source of the problem

• Learning from every mistake or failure, and from every success

• Not cutting corners with integrity – do not deceive, break the law, or let yourself off the hook; do not share information prematurely or inappropriately

• Working at least as hard, and smart, as your staff.• Holding yourself accountable for the performance

and results of your team

Motivation: A, M, P, T, AFThree Key Factors for Motivation:

1. Autonomy2. Mastery3. Purpose

Great 11-minute video on motivation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuF

Two Orientations of Motivation:• Toward (things you want)• Away from (things you don’t want)

Managing Cross Cultural TeamsThree Key Success Factors:1. Mix cultures and locations. Having a mix of cultures in one location makes a huge difference.2. Ensure editing, quality control, and inclusion. Make sure writers in each location/of each culture have the advantages they need to succeed.One of the key success factors for Saiff Solutions, Inc. is that our Filipino writers in the Philippines work with American, Canadian, and Filipino editors and managers in the Philippines, as well as American and Indian editors who are remote. Our editors each have at least 9 years of technical writing/editing experience.

Managing Cross Cultural Teams3. Embrace differences by increasing your awareness!Understanding cultural differences – between countries, professions, departments, companies – is crucial to your success. Consider:• How do these people learn best?• How do they typically handle conflict?• What does “Yes” mean to them?

Learn how to listen newly, to hear what you are missing, and to speak newly, to add what you assume and others do not. You’ll need to continually expand your awareness to new levels.You cannot succeed in this without getting to know people well.

Managing Cross Cultural Teams• Management entails awesome responsibility and awesome

opportunity. Both are magnified by a mixture of cultures. • For example, many Asians are socialized to defer to authority figures,

and foreigners, even those not in positions of authority. They may be unwilling to say “no” or disagree with you, to ask questions or ask for help, especially if you (even unknowingly) raise your voice or exhibit frustration or anger.• They may hide from you the impact of how you are being and what

you are doing. This can lead to very damaging situations, that you only become aware of when it is too late.

Managing Cross Cultural Teams

To be successful with people in other cultures, you need to be sensitive. You need to be willing to change. You need to give up the idea that your culture is better. All cultures have strengths and weaknesses. Learn the strengths and weaknesses of your culture and other cultures.

Managing Cross Cultural Teams

QUESTION: What management challenge a are you facing now?

I could benefit from a conversation about…?

Please complete the sentence above in the chat window. We’ll address one or two now. If you type your answer in the chat window, I promise to contact you for a private conversation.

BONUS: Resources

• BALANCE Infographics: 7 Elements of Respect• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Technical Writers• Global Content Creation – Making it Work• A Motivating SLAP• 2016 New Years Free Gifts• What do good technical writers do? Why do we need them?• Great 11-minute video on motivation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc

Email: barrysaiff@saiffsolutions.comSkype: SaiffSolutionsContact: +1 415 350 2959 +63 917 872 0929Web: www.saiffsolutions.com

Join us at:LavaCon Dublin, June 5-8: http://lavacon.org/2016/dublin/UA Europe, Budapest, June 9-10: http://www.uaconference.eu/LavaCon Las Vegas, October 26-29: http://lavacon.org/2016/vegas/More webinars, more conferences, our blog!

ALL QUESTIONS ARE WELCOME!

BONUS: Creativity in the Face of Stress

A good manager creates and protects a healthy culture.Culture lives in the details -- in every moment, every action and interaction. Think about how you deal with stress. You are a role model for your team. Your stress level impacts them.Successful managers rely on the 4 Cs:•Curiosity, Caring, Competence, and Creativity

BONUS: LavaCon Dublin Discount Codes

LavaCon Dublin takes place June 5-8, 2016 in Dublin, Ireland. You can use our discount code, SAIFF, to save 55 Euros off of your LavaCon Dublin registration.

We have a limited number of 70% offdiscounts. Speak up now if you want one.