By Elizabeth (Bette) Frick | Associate Fellow
This column explores the joys and challenges of managing your own technical communication business. Please share your experience and ideas. Contact Bette Frick at efrick@textdoctor.com.
The working style of an independent consultant (writer, editor, desktop publisher) is often a paradox. By choosing to remain self-employed rather than seeking “captive” employment in a company, we demonstrate our need and desire for autonomy. However, we still crave interaction with others, and many of us seek out groups, both existing and self-formed.
It is this “no-one-is-an-island” need for community that fascinates me. I read last year that sports training in a group may heighten an individual’s tolerance for pain and allow him or her to train longer and harder (The Economist, 19 September 2009, 92). Biologists think that the positive effects of community may be part of an evolved mechanism that rewards group interaction with endogenous opioids (endorphins), or a legal “high.” Sounds great to me!
In this column, I will explore the range of communities that independents may belong to on a continuum from formal to informal and (sometimes) ad hoc. I will relate what some STC Consulting and Independent Contracting Special Interest Group (CIC SIG) members shared in an informal survey conducted in early April 2010, attributing quotes where respondents provided their names. I will tell about my own involvement with group support and close with a few tips on improving your own behavior in communities that you seek out.
Most of my readers are members of long-standing professional and formal organizations such as Society for Technical Communication (STC) or American Medical Writers Association (AMWA). We seek technical answers, business advice, professional opportunities, networking, and fun from these groups. One respondent said, “Belonging to STC and attending local chapter meetings gave me the chance to network with others in writing/editing, affirmed my belief that I was in a profession with other like-minded and very nice people, and provided inspiration to pursue my Masters in technical communication.”
Another respondent had a similarly useful group experience. Kathleen McIlraith found the STC Instructional Design and Learning SIG (IDL SIG) particularly useful “during these months when I’ve been unable to find employment as a tech writer or an instructional designer … [it] has provided lively discussion on issues and furnished me with additional reading so I stay current.”
Likewise, Rhonda Bracey of Cybertext Consulting shares a positive experience with groups. “When I started in TC, I taught myself WinHelp. I had no one to turn to when I was stuck. I discovered the HATT (Help Authoring Tools and Techniques) discussion group and received an enormous amount of help from the members, none of whom talked down to this ‘newbie.’ From HATT, I discovered STC and the Lone Writer and CIC SIGs. All have helped me often. I couldn’t be a lone writer without these support groups.” Another respondent said, “When I was moving from unstructured FrameMaker to structured FM as a lone writer, the FM forums and listservs were invaluable. Every question I had was thoughtfully answered, with examples … even to the point of viewing my own files and making suggestions.”
But for many of us, professional group input fulfills only part of our need for engagement. In my personal life, I have turned to communities such as circuit training classes at my gym and several 12-Step recovery groups. It was through these experiences that I learned what the goal of belonging to a group should be: Give as much as you can to the group, and you’ll reap much more than you sow. I have found lifelong friends in these groups, people I can help and can turn to for help.
Respondents also noted that small, personal groups could be very supportive. McIlraith cited a positive story about the power of community for personal growth or healing: “I facilitated a group of women in the 1990s who were diagnosed with either multiple sclerosis or fibromyalgia. Over six months of weekly meetings and discussions, each woman’s disease went into remission as they encouraged and mentored one another.”
Sometimes, as Laura Ricci of 1Ricci shares, just one other person can help you as an independent. “I was working onsite with a new client and was asked to solve a problem with software that I didn’t have the best experience with, so I posted to the group and got some suggestions; one person was able to take a phone call with me to try to find a work-around.”
Independents have also formed informal communities when there did not appear to be an existing group that would meet their needs. For example, in graduate school, I started a dissertation support group that provided accountability and an opportunity to get feedback on writing issues. Dissertation in hand, I started a job search support group that helped with job search strategy, résumés, and cover letters; we taped mock interviews and gave each other feedback. Once I had landed a job, I faced divorce and began a divorce support group to guide me through another rocky period. Another respondent to my survey created an ad hoc babysitting co-op as a military wife on a small base in Texas.
Of course, not all communities are helpful. One respondent described good group behavior: “No one in the group saw themselves better than anyone else. Everyone recognized that the total was much stronger than the individual parts.” This good behavior was compared to a dysfunctional group in which the manager intentionally set up competition among group members and played favorites about who was the cream of her crop. I am sure you would agree: If possible, avoid interacting in a group like the latter!
Here are a few tips about groups that might help you work better within them:
- Approach a community with the idea of “How can I help others in the group?” rather than “How can I get my needs met?” You may have joined the group to meet your needs, but paradoxically, the more you give, the more you receive.
- If you find the group too large and intimidating, join or form subgroups. Our CIC SIG discussion board is a great introduction to the larger group. Perhaps you could join a committee and get to know a few people who might then introduce you to others in a large group. When I moved into my condo in 2005, I was overwhelmed by the size of this development (448 units). Soon, however, I ran for and was elected to the board of directors, which brought me into contact with a nine-person subgroup. At our dog park, I found many new human and canine friends. I also joined our community garden and met other gardeners. Gradually, I found myself feeling less isolated in this huge complex and now feel very lucky to be a resident of such a richly diverse, supportive community.
Still skeptical about groups? View This Emotional Life, a PBS documentary in three parts hosted by Harvard psychologist and bestselling author Daniel Gilbert. The documentary cites overwhelming evidence that points to one conclusion: Long-term happiness depends on the quality of your relationships. I would argue that groups provide us all with a great source of potential relationships and happiness.
Elizabeth (Bette) Frick, the Text Doctor (efrick@textdoctor.com), teaches technical and business writing in companies and organizations nationally and edits medical documents. She holds a PhD in English from the University of Minnesota.
