Not yet over

Are your projects done? Don’t be too happy. Projects don’t end in the implementation phase. Once your projects are done, you should take a moment to look back and see what went wrong and what went well. Some of us might think that it isn’t necessary because we can’t turn back the hands of time; however, evaluating projects can bring the following benefits.

• Evaluation helps you avoid doing the same mistakes in future projects. Always keep in mind the popular saying “one is enough and two is too much”.
• Recognize your strengths and continue building on it during your next projects. Knowing what helped you hit the marks during your recent project will help you develop strategies for future projects.
• Recognize your weaknesses and find ways to improve them. By evaluating your projects, you can see areas that you need to work on. Those weaknesses might have negatively affected your project at this time; however, when you continue to improve those areas, you are reducing its impact on your future projects. Those can possibly be your future strengths, too.

So before you celebrate, make sure you find time to look back. In the Philippines, we have a popular saying, “a person who does not look back to where his from, will not make it to where he plans to be”.

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Information please

I watched Pilot Betrayed, an episode of Mayday Television series. The episode is about a plane crash wherein numerous things in placed on the airline and aircraft manufacturer’s system weren’t implemented correctly. Here are some of the things that contributed to the catastrophe.

• The deicing method currently in place doesn’t completely deice a part of the airplane that is necessary to safely fly the plane craft.
• The manufacturer of the plane craft introduced a new feature; however, pilots were not made aware of the new feature. The new feature called Automatic Thrust Restoration confused the pilots when they were trying to save the plane from crashing. The pilot was directing the plane to do something but the plane did otherwise.

What struck me most about this episode is the importance of passing on important information to people who will be directly affected by the use or non-use of the information. Having the right information at the right time enables users to effectively proceed with their tasks. As technical communicators, it is our task to create user-friendly documentation; however, the organization that we work for should also be diligent in making sure that the information are distributed and implemented. 

We owe the information to the user.

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Space

Everyone needs space. Everything needs space. This morning I was hoping to work on my project; however, all the classrooms with the software that I need for my project were occupied. Needing that space so badly and not having it made me realize the value of space in our lives.

Space is not only important when you need to fill something. Space is also valuable when you need a break from something. This is very evident in various communication materials. In different documents that we do, we should not be scared to use space. Space gives the users the following benefits.

• Space creates grouping for the information. Using space effectively helps our audience to identify where an idea belongs.
• Space gives audience the opportunity to pause and think of the information that were presented.
• Space makes documentation materials less scary. You might think that using space makes your material look like it has nothing valuable to say or it contains very little information. I think that’s not true. Space makes the audience feel that our material is something  that is easy to digest or go through.

So whatever you’re doing, always remember to use space. You might also need some personal time and space before starting your project!

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Two years and two weeks

Almost two years have passed since I entered Red River College. Now, we have about two weeks left in the program. I would say my stay at the College was really short but I feel and know that I learned a lot. Here are just some of the things that I learned out of my two years of stay at the College.

• I learned to remember to think of others in everything that I do. In technical communication, we were thought of always asking who is our audience? What I learned in college is to always think of the welfare of others in all that I do because the world doesn’t just belong to myself.
• Timing is everything. Everyone seems to be busy at the College. Having to juggle all the balls in my hands thought me the value of time and perfect timing.
• Always learn to love what I do. I realized that sometimes it just takes a little love for the work that you’re doing to actually get it done.
• What does not kill me only makes me stronger. I like this saying because it helps me remember to always take something as a learning experience, no matter how hard it is. College is survival of the fittest. And like animals do, I need to adapt in order to come out strong.

I still have two weeks left. I should try to get the most out of it because someday I might look back and of course I want it be mostly happy memories. 

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What I learned with blogging

This school year, we were asked twice in two different courses to create a blog and share to the world our ideas. Blogging might look like an extra task to some but I think blogging gave me a different kind of learning experience.

Here are some of the things I got from the few months of blogging.

Blogging = Learning

Blogging encouraged me to read new things to share to people. I agree that is important to keep a theme on our blog; however, it doesn’t mean that we need to be talking about the same topic all the time. When we blog, we should try to continuously learn about things that are interesting to us and to others.

Blogging = Filtering

When we blog, we should know how to pause. Since everything is just within our fingertips, we might have the tendency to just spill out the beans. Blogging taught me to take a moment before pressing publish, to know whether what I typed down is what I want the public to get from me.

Blogging = Practice

The most important thing I got from blogging is constant practice. Blogging gave me an avenue to work on my writing skills. It made me realize that there are still so many things to learn, especially about grammar.

I enjoy blogging. Even though blogging takes about one hour of my time each week, blogging gives me benefits that are worth spending my hour for.

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Spring of hope

The weather is slowly getting nicer. I can see the snow melt and the grass starts to show up again on our yard. After almost six months of having to wear multiple layers of clothing and warm boots, we can again use our light comfortable clothes. This spring is really special to me because it will mark a new chapter in my life. I am expecting to finish school at the end of April. With only less than five weeks left to finish all the final projects, it is easy to get stressed. What I planned to do while I am in this stressing position is to just look forward to spring.

I know everyone copes with stress differently. I don’t actually enjoy hearing complains about workload. Each of us is busy in our own way. What I think we should work on is just spend more time working on stuff that needs to get done rather than spend extra hours ranting. If you're stressed right now, always remember the famous saying, “every dark cloud has a silver lining”. If you’re a pessimist, yours might go this way according to Larry Kersten, “Pessimism - Every dark cloud has a silver lining, but lightning kills hundreds of people each year who are trying to find it”.

When planning is not an option

Starting a business should involve tremendous amount of planning. Investing in a business is not like signing up for a crash course. You can’t just back out anytime you want, and still look good. Before starting a business venture, you must take time to measure risks, plan your resources, and assess even your personal strengths and weaknesses.

Investing in a business involves more than putting in your money for something. You should be mentally, physically and emotionally prepared for the business.

This week is our submission of our business plan for our Freelance business management class. When I was doing it, I felt like if it was a real business, I will probably take months before actually completing the plan. It is my money and effort that I am putting in so I want everything to be perfect, or at least planned for. Since it was a sole proprietorship that we prepared for, the project felt like a personal assessment of my strengths and weakness, and how I plan to market myself so I can have an income.  

Some may say nothing usually comes out according to plan. I would say that that’s why we need a plan. 

Planning prepares us even for the worst times. Creating a business plan is never an option; this is a must for all businesses. Nothing would be worst than going out for battle without a weapon. Business plans are businessman’s weapons. Make one if you plan to join the business sector’s battle. 

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