Now that the new year is upon us, how do you go about kicking off that huge new technical writing project that just landed on your desk?

This week feels like kick-off week here at Tech-Tav. We have five writers starting on four new projects in the first half of this week alone. In between meetings, I thought I’d spend a few minutes sharing my take on the right way to get the ball rolling.

I hope this will be helpful for your next project launch:

Hire the Right Writers: To do this, you need to scope your team. Sometimes it is the chemistry between the personalities that makes or breaks a project. Even if it looks great on paper, the project won’t go anywhere unless people can effectively communicate and share ideas, so make sure you pick the right team. Keep in mind that since the SMEs are not exchangeable, you may  have to swap in/out members of your technical writing team to make it work.

Here are my top ten eleven management DO’s and DON'Ts. Let's start with the DOs:

1. Do keep in mind the old Yiddish proverb “Man plans, God laughs.” But you had better plan anyway. And make sure you have a contingency plan so the joke won’t be on you.

2. Do your homework, make offsite backups and don’t procrastinate…and then you won’t need to call us for help at 3AM from India because your laptop got stolen and you have no files for your customer delivery tomorrow. (Yeah, you. You know who you are.)

3. Do follow the rules of my first grade teacher:  Finish what you start and ask for help when you need it.

4. Do step up to the plate. In a place where there are no men, be the man (or woman). But whatever you do, check your attitude at the door and don’t let your ego get carried away.

5. Do put the Green Jello Theory into practice:  Make everyone an owner, not just a participant.

And now for the DON'Ts...

6. Don’t make promises you can’t keep. 

7. Don’t make people work on the weekends. Five-day work weeks make for happier employees.

8. Don’t try something new on opening night. When I was in drama club, the rule was “Be on time, know your lines, and don’t bump into the furniture.” The time to deploy a single-sourcing solution or move to new tool is not in the middle of a GA schedule.