2011 was a year of change. At least that's what LinkedIn announced to me, informing me that 204 of my colleagues had changed jobs.

204? That sounded like a lot of people changing jobs. Then I looked up my contact list, did a bit of simple math, and figured out it was just over 21%. Now it looks low, because I can't think of anyone I know who's been in a job for more than 5 years. In my industry, a normal number might be 30%. OK, I know a few teachers. I know quite a few attorneys, freelancers and people who own their own businesses. They never change jobs, though if they're good marketers, they make sure to update something on their profiles now and again. And if they're great business people, they open a new business every few years or are asked to be a board member, or something that LinkedIn might consider a job change.

So 21%. Hardly a year of change.

What is the change, though? I think it's a gradual change, and it's a change away from corporate. There are fewer "big company" jobs, generally speaking. More and more people have their own businesses. You hear all these empowerment coaches talking about having your own business as the only way to achieve wealth. There's no question about that. But there's also no question that people need to realize that most of us aren't going to "have a job" for most of our career anymore.

In some companies, going above and beyond the customers’ expectations by producing a high quality product can result in a slap on the wrist by your manager. Add in excellent customer service and finishing within the deadline, and you are in serious trouble with senior management. Think I’m making this up? Not a chance.

A technical writer asked me for some advice the other day. He had just finished the enormous task of revamping a User Guide and an Installation Guide for one of the company’s main product lines. Even though it was not in the original request, the product manager asked for some PowerPoint slides. Not thinking twice about it, the writer spent a total of ten minutes putting together four slides. The product manager, thrilled with the guides and the slides, sent a glowing email up the management chain praising the quality and speed of the technical writer’s work and expressing his appreciation for hitting the deadline with efficiency while going above and beyond. The technical writer, cc’d on the email, quickly had the smile wiped off his face when he was called in to his boss’s office for a reprimand.

“Work slower,” he was told. “Why did you finish early? What will management think if you work fast and meet your deadlines? Do you really want your position to be cut to part-time?” That was followed by, “And if anyone from another department asks you to do anything, from now on you always say, ‘I’m too busy.’” As if this ten-minute lecture was not a ridiculous enough waste of time, it was followed by another 15 minutes spent crafting a reply to a higher-level manager’s crucifixion of the writer for not following protocol when filling documentation requests. (Of course, that email contained no mention of the great work the writer had done.)

Managing remote technical writers – or any employees for that matter – is full of daily challenges. If you are working in a start-up, especially in Israel, management is dynamic and things are constantly in flux. Deadlines can shift a few times within a single day and the target is always moving. You have to know when and how much to push and when to pull back. Documentation project management is really no different, in my opinion: you have to get to know and understand your customers just as you do with your employees and support staff.

A few months back, I had a hysterical customer in the middle of a product release and publishing deadline. Their dedicated technical writer became ill with a nasty stomach bug and, on top of that, is a single dad with no childcare support at home. This was not the time to push him.