Does this type of “off-site” collaboration make it hard for tech pub managers to manage?
EH: Not really. The work is self-managed by the team through their collaborative efforts. The team is responsible for delivering the project on time because everyone knows what the deadlines are. The team keeps one another in check so no one goes off on a tangent and the whole process drastically speeds up because there are no more of the hurry-up-and-wait problems. But the manager is still in charge of setting standards, quality control, professional development, budget, and resource allocation (among other things). It’s even possible to develop an entrepreneur sort of mind-set within the company, whereby when it’s time to start a new team, workers can, in a way, bid for the project they want to work on. The managers decide if that person is the right person for the project based on experience, timelines, and so forth. They still manage the people and the department, but let the team take responsibility for the work. The writers don’t even need to be in the same building as the manage
