ABSTRACT
Many technical communicators are project managers. They establish goals, create project schedules, coordinate their efforts with those of other people, assure that deadlines are met, and perform other managerial tasks required to complete their projects. Most college programs in technical communication teach project management. Some even offer special courses on the topic. In contrast, organizational management is rarely taught. Instruction in it is not mentioned once in two collections of bibliographic essays about technical communication and its teaching. In many instances technical communication majors find themselves with managerial responsibility soon after graduation. Because technical communication is a rapidly growing profession with considerable upward mobility, recent graduates are sometimes promoted to fill vacated management positions. Technical communication majors need to learn an action-oriented approach to management. The alternatives are also important to technical communication managers, even if they manage only a small percentage of a company’s overall workforce.
