And then there was one ... Documentation team

©2013 Ventyx, an ABB company | Confidential & Proprietary

And Then There was One … Documentation TeamMay 2013

How did we get here? And where are we?

©2013 Ventyx, an ABB company | Confidential & Proprietary | 2 ©2013 Ventyx, an ABB company | Confidential & Proprietary | 2

VENTYX brings together industry leaders Ventyx, Mincom and ABB Network Control to create the world’s most complete industrial enterprise software and solution provider, backed by the global reach of ABB, that optimizes the assets and operations of customers in asset intensive industries.

Who is Ventyx, an ABB company?

Network Control

©2013 Ventyx, an ABB company | Confidential & Proprietary | 3

Global Operations and Customers2,600+ employees in 33 offices () and over 2,000 customers worldwide


http://www.cliffsnaturalresources.com/

http://www.goldcorp.com/

http://www.goldfields.co.za/index.php


21 people, 3 continents, 11 offices

Content team

Ventyx M&A before Mincom


Central doc team Multiple acquisitions in years leading up to 2010 Aligned tools Aligned standards and styles – doc, training, online help Aligned responsibilities and roles Distributed team, but central function and reporting structure Consensus

And then Mincom got added to the mix


Largest acquisition to date (for tech comm - nine technical writers)

Two separate, but collaborating teams from Oct 2011- Sept 2012

Upper leadership changes for the company in that time

Dec 2012 – EVP R&D started

Mar 2013 – VP of Quality Operations started

Was not like a takeover

Separate but Together


Managers started emailing and working together from about Oct 2011

Able to meet face-to-face in Nov 2011

In February 2012, Mincom officially merged into Ventyx

Refreshed branding for all

Early 2012, formed a standards committee for online help with key team members.

Narrow and define the number of voices at the table. Want a range of ideas, but also want cohesion and a group that will work together

Quick wins and some collaboration


Online help stylistic standards

Monthly meetings

Output format Not tools Not writing style Not information architecture

Can we start looking like one company and acting like one team? Even when we’re not technically a single team?

Used knowledge and experience gained from earlier mergers and acquisitions to help guide us all

Try not to kill anyone’s babies. We all have babies.

Problems? Have we got some problems …


Let’s call them Challenges instead


Time zones – 2 offices are 12hrs apart. 7am PER is 7pm ATL (the day before).

Time zones + variety of personal preferred work times & times where our team members are most alert and at their best = tricky for managers scheduling meetings, but not impossible

M&A and other standards work in the US meant the team there are used to these discussions and negotiations.

Aus team have been used to getting everyone on a phone call/webinar, discussing, making a decision, and going back to their desks and making the changes

Easy to group and name by former company or region – gives both a sense of belonging and creates/enforces a division

Our company is still consolidating and standardising many technologies and tools for us to use internally (e.g. webinar, phone conferences, leave requests)

More challenges


Tools – for content creation, curation, publishing, eLearning, classroom training materials, demos/videos, screenshots, UI text

What is standard in one office or region may not be standard globally. Be aware of imposing or assuming norms.

Content/writing standards US English and Australian English (it’s not just s, z, and u – and what about the UI?) Information architecture Voice And more …

Create cohesion and a sense of team. If you’re a manager, choose your vocabulary careful. We and Our are very important words.

Foster and develop relationships between team members across the pond

Team building proposed


Encouraging our team to collaborate


Global team meeting with getting to know you game and slide on each team member

Internal social networking – Chatter Team discussions Share articles and blog posts Ask questions and interact with one another

Buddy pairs for particular topics or projects Give & take on meeting times Allow WFH for early meetings, or early start and evening meetings from home

Team task list SharePoint locale settings

Virtual brown bags, webinars, recorded demos

Main themes so far


Our people Change management Team relationships

Processes Align Explain/Justify Change management

Systems Our tools Align Explain/Justify Change management

Cooperation. One Team.

Questions? Discussion?


Contact me:

e: [email protected]

Twitter: @kirstyt

And then there was one ... Documentation team

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