Performance management and evaluation in technical communication

At tekom Magyarország, we had many exciting plans for 2020, but unfortunately we could not realize any of them due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, which has ruined the possibility of personal encounters.

However, we did not want this year to pass without hearing from each other, so we decided to organize an online mini-conference for our members, which was held on October 7.

We focused on the topic of performance management and evaluation in technical communication, with two speakers:

- Péter Ács, Documentation Technology Specialist and Operations Manager at DTC Enterprise

- Ildikó Fehér, Content Development Manager at Cloudera

We, technical communicators often struggle from being perceived (or self-perceived) as neglected outsiders, lack of recognition or not having a clear development path.

How can we set up an evaluation framework that shows commitment, diligence and care?

Péter Ács reported on their years-long quest to come up with a meaningful and sophisticated performance evaluation scheme tailored to technical writers.

A scheme that can foster self-development and professional pride.

It turned out to be not only useful but also fun – we all could see how many levels a wise owl can ascend.

Ildikó Fehér put the focus on feedback, a gift at hand in your everyday work, which also help set up the spirit of gratitude in a team.

Apart from that, they have the usual corporate practices in performance management at Cloudera They focus on developing people to their full potential through people management, on-the-job coaching, peer-to-peer and outside training.

It was revealing to see how a thoughtful evaluation scheme and related processes, apart from providing a regular feedback channel, can cultivate professional self-esteem.

Our event drew quite a large interest: we had quite many participants (over 20, even more than at some of our F2F events), who engaged in a lively discussion after the presentations.

As usual, we also had some snacks, but this time delivered to the homes of the participants. The snacks from  Mártogatós also cheered up our afternoon. :-)