Integrated writers at a web marketing company produce a large volume of writing as part of their jobs, though they do not consider themselves writers. They write monthly reports, presentations, and other correspondence. Their work is highly contingent and changes frequently in response to factors like algorithm changes and new technologies. They turn more routine aspects of their work into generic processes that can be automated, freeing up time for more complex problem-solving tasks. They collaborate extensively through sharing innovations that allow them to customize automated texts for specific clients.
All Edge: Understanding the New Workplace NetworksClay Spinuzzi
I presented this talk to the Austin Chamber of Commerce in November 2013. How are new information and communication technologies enabling us to work together in new ways? I discuss some of the lessons from case studies I've conducted in Austin.
How to create best-in-class workplace experiences in 2017ISS Group
Over the years, the “workplace” has become an area where facility managers are able to develop a deeper connection between the organization’s values and stakeholders through a series of shared Facility Management experiences.
Today, creating best-in-class workplace experiences is on the 2017 agenda of every great facility manager and business leader.
But how can you utilize the new generation of Service Management to create the best-in-class workplace experiences for your customers and employees?
My presentation slides for Writing Research Across Borders 2011. I discuss applying two distinctions to genre in order to better understand genre development in rapidly changing environments, particularly digital environments.
Social and economic change made access to knowledge central to how we work. Collaborative working is constantly pushing boundaries.
Tipping point in citizen behaviour, people can now create content, re-use information, co-produce services – otherwise known as web2.0.
Large language models in higher educationPeter Trkman
Discussing the possibilities of large language models for the automatic generation of academic content by the students (e.g. master thesis), and the related need for changes in the way in which to educate and evaluate students.
Successfully Kickstarting Data Governance's Social Dynamics: Define, Collabor...Stijn (Stan) Christiaens
Learn how to launch your data governance program, by answering three questions:
- What does my data mean: collect and manage business definitions and relations, taxonomies and classifications, business rules and ontologies;
- How can I involve all stakeholders: engage them across business units and geographies, with stewards, data owners, … in a guiding workflow;
- How do I operationalize data governance: link MDM, DQ and BI to the business, use business-driven semantic modelling, achieve end-to end traceabilitiy. During this session we will use examples from different verticals: Finance, Government, Utilities,… .
We discuss their main drivers for starting a Data Governance initiative, as well as their pragmatic approach in moving from gradual roll out to support and sustain their Data Governance program.
T-Shaped: The New Breed of IT ProfessionalHaluk Demirkan
T-shaped development is especially important for IT professionals in a converging world because:
- The accelerating rate at which new IT knowledge is being created means that IT professionals must be more adaptive, with “boundary-spanning” abilities.
- The nature of IT project work today often requires IT professionals to work on multidisciplinary, multisector, and multicultural teams.
- The changing role of IT in the enterprise will require IT professionals with business and organizational knowledge in addition to technology expertise.
- Increasingly, IT innovation means providing an expanded role for customers and partners to co-create value on platforms, so Open Services Innovation initiatives are on the rise.
Dartmouth discussion: What's wrong with "What's wrong with CHAT?"?Clay Spinuzzi
My slide deck from the workshop portion of the 2016 Dartmouth Institute. During this portion, respondents and I discussed my paper "What's Wrong with CHAT?" This deck encapsulates the argument, but also briefly introduces activity theory and discusses its development.
A talk I presented at the 2016 Dartmouth Institute about cultural-historical activity theory: how it entered writing studies, how it developed, and what methodological challenges it faces.
All Edge: Understanding the New Workplace NetworksClay Spinuzzi
I presented this talk to the Austin Chamber of Commerce in November 2013. How are new information and communication technologies enabling us to work together in new ways? I discuss some of the lessons from case studies I've conducted in Austin.
How to create best-in-class workplace experiences in 2017ISS Group
Over the years, the “workplace” has become an area where facility managers are able to develop a deeper connection between the organization’s values and stakeholders through a series of shared Facility Management experiences.
Today, creating best-in-class workplace experiences is on the 2017 agenda of every great facility manager and business leader.
But how can you utilize the new generation of Service Management to create the best-in-class workplace experiences for your customers and employees?
My presentation slides for Writing Research Across Borders 2011. I discuss applying two distinctions to genre in order to better understand genre development in rapidly changing environments, particularly digital environments.
Social and economic change made access to knowledge central to how we work. Collaborative working is constantly pushing boundaries.
Tipping point in citizen behaviour, people can now create content, re-use information, co-produce services – otherwise known as web2.0.
Large language models in higher educationPeter Trkman
Discussing the possibilities of large language models for the automatic generation of academic content by the students (e.g. master thesis), and the related need for changes in the way in which to educate and evaluate students.
Successfully Kickstarting Data Governance's Social Dynamics: Define, Collabor...Stijn (Stan) Christiaens
Learn how to launch your data governance program, by answering three questions:
- What does my data mean: collect and manage business definitions and relations, taxonomies and classifications, business rules and ontologies;
- How can I involve all stakeholders: engage them across business units and geographies, with stewards, data owners, … in a guiding workflow;
- How do I operationalize data governance: link MDM, DQ and BI to the business, use business-driven semantic modelling, achieve end-to end traceabilitiy. During this session we will use examples from different verticals: Finance, Government, Utilities,… .
We discuss their main drivers for starting a Data Governance initiative, as well as their pragmatic approach in moving from gradual roll out to support and sustain their Data Governance program.
T-Shaped: The New Breed of IT ProfessionalHaluk Demirkan
T-shaped development is especially important for IT professionals in a converging world because:
- The accelerating rate at which new IT knowledge is being created means that IT professionals must be more adaptive, with “boundary-spanning” abilities.
- The nature of IT project work today often requires IT professionals to work on multidisciplinary, multisector, and multicultural teams.
- The changing role of IT in the enterprise will require IT professionals with business and organizational knowledge in addition to technology expertise.
- Increasingly, IT innovation means providing an expanded role for customers and partners to co-create value on platforms, so Open Services Innovation initiatives are on the rise.
Dartmouth discussion: What's wrong with "What's wrong with CHAT?"?Clay Spinuzzi
My slide deck from the workshop portion of the 2016 Dartmouth Institute. During this portion, respondents and I discussed my paper "What's Wrong with CHAT?" This deck encapsulates the argument, but also briefly introduces activity theory and discusses its development.
A talk I presented at the 2016 Dartmouth Institute about cultural-historical activity theory: how it entered writing studies, how it developed, and what methodological challenges it faces.
Graduate students and faculty are perpetually busy—and they always seem to be behind. How can they effectively manage their time and projects? In this presentation, I discuss the principle of mediation, discussing how nine levels of strategies can help us manage the complex demands on our time.
Cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) has been used in writing studies for the last twenty years. In the mid-1990s, it offered a solution to a methodological problem that the field faced. But 20 years later, the field faces new methodological challenges. Can CHAT keep up?
In this presentation, originally given at Syracuse University, I discuss three meanings of "network" used in social science and humanities research. These meanings imply different methodological assumptions. I compare them, discuss how they lead to different insights, and suggest how to cautiously use them together.
"Data is not the plural of anecdote!" If you've heard this, you're probably a qualitative researcher, and you've been wondering how to inject more rigor into your methodology. This workshop, presented at Syracuse University and at ATTW 2016, discusses the principles of modeling qualitative data. It covers three main types of models and variations, discussing what they're for and how they can be used to more rigorously compare, understand, and interpret your data.
How do students and faculty publish their academic work? In this presentation, I discuss the publishing process and how to use it to improve your chances of publishing.
My Empirikom 2012 presentation in Aachen, Germany. I discuss my work with analytical constructs (genre ecologies, activity systems, activity networks), illustrating them with a case and showing how they might point to better understandings of computer-mediated communication in professional environments.
Le nuove frontiere dell'AI nell'RPA con UiPath Autopilot™UiPathCommunity
In questo evento online gratuito, organizzato dalla Community Italiana di UiPath, potrai esplorare le nuove funzionalità di Autopilot, il tool che integra l'Intelligenza Artificiale nei processi di sviluppo e utilizzo delle Automazioni.
📕 Vedremo insieme alcuni esempi dell'utilizzo di Autopilot in diversi tool della Suite UiPath:
Autopilot per Studio Web
Autopilot per Studio
Autopilot per Apps
Clipboard AI
GenAI applicata alla Document Understanding
👨🏫👨💻 Speakers:
Stefano Negro, UiPath MVPx3, RPA Tech Lead @ BSP Consultant
Flavio Martinelli, UiPath MVP 2023, Technical Account Manager @UiPath
Andrei Tasca, RPA Solutions Team Lead @NTT Data
Observability Concepts EVERY Developer Should Know -- DeveloperWeek Europe.pdfPaige Cruz
Monitoring and observability aren’t traditionally found in software curriculums and many of us cobble this knowledge together from whatever vendor or ecosystem we were first introduced to and whatever is a part of your current company’s observability stack.
While the dev and ops silo continues to crumble….many organizations still relegate monitoring & observability as the purview of ops, infra and SRE teams. This is a mistake - achieving a highly observable system requires collaboration up and down the stack.
I, a former op, would like to extend an invitation to all application developers to join the observability party will share these foundational concepts to build on:
PHP Frameworks: I want to break free (IPC Berlin 2024)Ralf Eggert
In this presentation, we examine the challenges and limitations of relying too heavily on PHP frameworks in web development. We discuss the history of PHP and its frameworks to understand how this dependence has evolved. The focus will be on providing concrete tips and strategies to reduce reliance on these frameworks, based on real-world examples and practical considerations. The goal is to equip developers with the skills and knowledge to create more flexible and future-proof web applications. We'll explore the importance of maintaining autonomy in a rapidly changing tech landscape and how to make informed decisions in PHP development.
This talk is aimed at encouraging a more independent approach to using PHP frameworks, moving towards a more flexible and future-proof approach to PHP development.
GDG Cloud Southlake #33: Boule & Rebala: Effective AppSec in SDLC using Deplo...James Anderson
Effective Application Security in Software Delivery lifecycle using Deployment Firewall and DBOM
The modern software delivery process (or the CI/CD process) includes many tools, distributed teams, open-source code, and cloud platforms. Constant focus on speed to release software to market, along with the traditional slow and manual security checks has caused gaps in continuous security as an important piece in the software supply chain. Today organizations feel more susceptible to external and internal cyber threats due to the vast attack surface in their applications supply chain and the lack of end-to-end governance and risk management.
The software team must secure its software delivery process to avoid vulnerability and security breaches. This needs to be achieved with existing tool chains and without extensive rework of the delivery processes. This talk will present strategies and techniques for providing visibility into the true risk of the existing vulnerabilities, preventing the introduction of security issues in the software, resolving vulnerabilities in production environments quickly, and capturing the deployment bill of materials (DBOM).
Speakers:
Bob Boule
Robert Boule is a technology enthusiast with PASSION for technology and making things work along with a knack for helping others understand how things work. He comes with around 20 years of solution engineering experience in application security, software continuous delivery, and SaaS platforms. He is known for his dynamic presentations in CI/CD and application security integrated in software delivery lifecycle.
Gopinath Rebala
Gopinath Rebala is the CTO of OpsMx, where he has overall responsibility for the machine learning and data processing architectures for Secure Software Delivery. Gopi also has a strong connection with our customers, leading design and architecture for strategic implementations. Gopi is a frequent speaker and well-known leader in continuous delivery and integrating security into software delivery.
Builder.ai Founder Sachin Dev Duggal's Strategic Approach to Create an Innova...Ramesh Iyer
In today's fast-changing business world, Companies that adapt and embrace new ideas often need help to keep up with the competition. However, fostering a culture of innovation takes much work. It takes vision, leadership and willingness to take risks in the right proportion. Sachin Dev Duggal, co-founder of Builder.ai, has perfected the art of this balance, creating a company culture where creativity and growth are nurtured at each stage.
Epistemic Interaction - tuning interfaces to provide information for AI supportAlan Dix
Paper presented at SYNERGY workshop at AVI 2024, Genoa, Italy. 3rd June 2024
https://alandix.com/academic/papers/synergy2024-epistemic/
As machine learning integrates deeper into human-computer interactions, the concept of epistemic interaction emerges, aiming to refine these interactions to enhance system adaptability. This approach encourages minor, intentional adjustments in user behaviour to enrich the data available for system learning. This paper introduces epistemic interaction within the context of human-system communication, illustrating how deliberate interaction design can improve system understanding and adaptation. Through concrete examples, we demonstrate the potential of epistemic interaction to significantly advance human-computer interaction by leveraging intuitive human communication strategies to inform system design and functionality, offering a novel pathway for enriching user-system engagements.
Welocme to ViralQR, your best QR code generator.ViralQR
Welcome to ViralQR, your best QR code generator available on the market!
At ViralQR, we design static and dynamic QR codes. Our mission is to make business operations easier and customer engagement more powerful through the use of QR technology. Be it a small-scale business or a huge enterprise, our easy-to-use platform provides multiple choices that can be tailored according to your company's branding and marketing strategies.
Our Vision
We are here to make the process of creating QR codes easy and smooth, thus enhancing customer interaction and making business more fluid. We very strongly believe in the ability of QR codes to change the world for businesses in their interaction with customers and are set on making that technology accessible and usable far and wide.
Our Achievements
Ever since its inception, we have successfully served many clients by offering QR codes in their marketing, service delivery, and collection of feedback across various industries. Our platform has been recognized for its ease of use and amazing features, which helped a business to make QR codes.
Our Services
At ViralQR, here is a comprehensive suite of services that caters to your very needs:
Static QR Codes: Create free static QR codes. These QR codes are able to store significant information such as URLs, vCards, plain text, emails and SMS, Wi-Fi credentials, and Bitcoin addresses.
Dynamic QR codes: These also have all the advanced features but are subscription-based. They can directly link to PDF files, images, micro-landing pages, social accounts, review forms, business pages, and applications. In addition, they can be branded with CTAs, frames, patterns, colors, and logos to enhance your branding.
Pricing and Packages
Additionally, there is a 14-day free offer to ViralQR, which is an exceptional opportunity for new users to take a feel of this platform. One can easily subscribe from there and experience the full dynamic of using QR codes. The subscription plans are not only meant for business; they are priced very flexibly so that literally every business could afford to benefit from our service.
Why choose us?
ViralQR will provide services for marketing, advertising, catering, retail, and the like. The QR codes can be posted on fliers, packaging, merchandise, and banners, as well as to substitute for cash and cards in a restaurant or coffee shop. With QR codes integrated into your business, improve customer engagement and streamline operations.
Comprehensive Analytics
Subscribers of ViralQR receive detailed analytics and tracking tools in light of having a view of the core values of QR code performance. Our analytics dashboard shows aggregate views and unique views, as well as detailed information about each impression, including time, device, browser, and estimated location by city and country.
So, thank you for choosing ViralQR; we have an offer of nothing but the best in terms of QR code services to meet business diversity!
Essentials of Automations: Optimizing FME Workflows with ParametersSafe Software
Are you looking to streamline your workflows and boost your projects’ efficiency? Do you find yourself searching for ways to add flexibility and control over your FME workflows? If so, you’re in the right place.
Join us for an insightful dive into the world of FME parameters, a critical element in optimizing workflow efficiency. This webinar marks the beginning of our three-part “Essentials of Automation” series. This first webinar is designed to equip you with the knowledge and skills to utilize parameters effectively: enhancing the flexibility, maintainability, and user control of your FME projects.
Here’s what you’ll gain:
- Essentials of FME Parameters: Understand the pivotal role of parameters, including Reader/Writer, Transformer, User, and FME Flow categories. Discover how they are the key to unlocking automation and optimization within your workflows.
- Practical Applications in FME Form: Delve into key user parameter types including choice, connections, and file URLs. Allow users to control how a workflow runs, making your workflows more reusable. Learn to import values and deliver the best user experience for your workflows while enhancing accuracy.
- Optimization Strategies in FME Flow: Explore the creation and strategic deployment of parameters in FME Flow, including the use of deployment and geometry parameters, to maximize workflow efficiency.
- Pro Tips for Success: Gain insights on parameterizing connections and leveraging new features like Conditional Visibility for clarity and simplicity.
We’ll wrap up with a glimpse into future webinars, followed by a Q&A session to address your specific questions surrounding this topic.
Don’t miss this opportunity to elevate your FME expertise and drive your projects to new heights of efficiency.
Securing your Kubernetes cluster_ a step-by-step guide to success !KatiaHIMEUR1
Today, after several years of existence, an extremely active community and an ultra-dynamic ecosystem, Kubernetes has established itself as the de facto standard in container orchestration. Thanks to a wide range of managed services, it has never been so easy to set up a ready-to-use Kubernetes cluster.
However, this ease of use means that the subject of security in Kubernetes is often left for later, or even neglected. This exposes companies to significant risks.
In this talk, I'll show you step-by-step how to secure your Kubernetes cluster for greater peace of mind and reliability.
10. Adhocracies “ man will find himself [sic] liberated, a stranger in a new free-form world of kinetic organizations . In this alien landscape, his position will be constantly changing , fluid, and varied. And his organizational ties, like his ties with things, places, and people, will turn over at a frenetic and ever-accelerating pace. ” “ managers are losing their monopoly on decision-making ” 1970, p.125, 140
11.
12. Improving Adhocracies Drucker 1993, p.40 “ from now on, what matters is the productivity of non-manual workers. And that requires applying knowledge to knowledge . ” (Drucker 1993, p.40) “ Knowledge is becoming the defining characteristic of economic activities ” (Burton-Jones 2001, p.4)
13.
14.
15. “ Semoptco ” : A web marketing company in Austin
16. Search Engine Optimization “ Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site or a web page (such as a blog) from search engines via ‘ natural ’ or un-paid ( ‘ organic ’ or ‘ algorithmic ’ ) search results ... ” Wikipedia, “ search engine optimization ”
20. Projects at Semoptco Launch : Kick off campaign, examine needs, formulate keywords and goals, plan goals. • Account manager and 1-2 specialists • Small set of standard milestones • About 4 weeks Maintenance : Analysis, reporting, meeting, link building. • Primarily a specialist; “ lone wolf ” • Weekly, monthly, sometimes yearly cycles • Periodic coordination with account manager • No milestones - but long-term performance goals and constant problem-solving
25. Flexibility through Constant Customization “ Innovation is the primordial function ” (Castells 2003, p.100) “ The Internet is the essential tool to ensure customization in a context of high-volume production and distribution ” (Castells 2003, p.77) “ [Projects are] all very different ” (Stacy, Account Manager)
34. Extending the network “ I ’ ve got friends in med school. ” (Daria, Senior Search Specialist) "In your industry , do you call it this or this?" (Daria, Senior Search Specialist) " Jewellery " (Carl, Search Specialist)
38. “ Self-programmable labor has the autonomous capacity to focus on the goal assigned to it in the process of production, find the relevant information, recombine it into knowledge, using the available knowledge stock, and apply it in the form of tasks oriented toward the goals of the process. ... ” Castells 2009, p.30.
39. “ ... tasks that are little valued, yet necessary, are assigned to generic labor , eventually replaced by machines, or shifted to lower-cost production sites, depending on a dynamic, cost-benefit analysis. ” Castells 2009, p.30.
I ’ m an associate professor of rhetoric and writing at the University of Texas, Austin. My research involves conducting workplace studies: going into a workplace, observing people as they work and interact, interviewing them, gathering copies of the texts and tools they use, and building a comprehensive picture of how they circulate information. I ’ ve written two books (above) and several articles about these studies. Currently, I ’ m interested in how changes in technology and in organizations have been changing how people produce and circulate knowledge in loose organizations. I ’ ve been examining nimble organizations in Austin.
This presentation is based in part on an article I published two years ago. Why am I still flogging an article I wrote two years ago? Because it’s such an interesting case study that I want to tell the world about it. At least I think it’s interesting – and I think you will too.
First, let’s get some background. This case study involves some really interesting changes in how we write, work, and organize. Think about the many changes that we have seen in recent history.
Let ’ s think in broad strokes. Futurist Alvin Toffler argued in 1980 that we have gone through three “ waves ” of major change in human history. Public domain, Library of Congress, http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2179136302/ Public domain, Library of Congress, http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2179077779/ in/photostream/ CC, Rod McLatchy, http://www.flickr.com/photos/ rodbotic/2479178443/
In the first wave, we became an agricultural society and for millennia most of our work was agricultural. Public domain, Library of Congress, http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2179136302/
In the 18th century, we began the second wave, the Industrial Revolution, and until the mid-1900s industrial work dominated. Public domain, Library of Congress, http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2179077779/ in/photostream/
But, Toffler argued, since the mid-1900s we have been in the third wave: we have become a knowledge society and the most influential work is knowledge work. Remember, these are broad generalizations, but they ’ re still useful for thinking through some of the changes we ’ ve seen. Because we certainly have seen changes. Knowledge work has taken an increasingly large share of the developed world's economy in the last century. By 1980, the information sector grew to 46.6% (Beniger). By 1994, traditional (agricultural and industrial) work has shrunk to only a sixth or an eighth of the workforce - the rest of the workforce is engaged in service and knowledge work (Drucker 1994, p.6). CC, Rod McLatchy, http://www.flickr.com/photos/ rodbotic/2479178443/
But these changes aren ’ t all. Each form of work has its own logic and form of organization. To get agricultural work done, you have to establish hierarchies that direct labor on a mass scale. To get industrial work done, you have to create and leverage markets. To facilitate knowledge work, it helps to establish networked forms of organization: relatively independent workers in fast-changing, recombinant organizations.
Toffler predicted in 1970 that work would be reorganized from departments to projects, attacked by transient teams of specialists: knowledge workers, people whose job was to produce and analyze knowledge rather than to grow or make things. In these loose organizations - these “ adhocracies ” - cross-functional teams change in composition and their leadership shifts during different stages and different projects. Each unique project requires a unique set of specialists.
In such adhocracies, knowledge isn ’ t pinned down in a specific field or factory. Although knowledge work affects those too: farmers use GPS and inventory control databases now, while factories are reengineering processes and sharing information electronically. Even in the more traditional kinds of work, they ’ re feeling the ripples of these new capabilities. Public domain, Library of Congress, http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2179136302/ Public domain, Library of Congress, http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2179077779/ in/photostream/ CC, Rod McLatchy, http://www.flickr.com/photos/ rodbotic/2479178443/
Peter Drucker didn ’ t use the term “ adhocracies, ” but he was familiar with the trend of specialists who focused on knowledge work. He argued in 1993 that if we ’ re to enable those workers to work most effectively, we need to help them apply knowledge to knowledge - that is, to be better able to manage and support their own processes. Examples might include the project management systems and collaborative tools that emerged throughout the first decade of this century. Work is increasingly textualized. It turns out that these changes also impact writing.
In technical communication, we’ve noted some significant changes that are related to changes in work organization. For instance, I’ve been working with Eva-Maria Jakobs at the University of Aachen to describe a phenomenon we’ve both noticed in our studies. “Integrated writers”: that is, people who don’ t consider themselves to be professional writers, but who nonetheless have to write quite a bit for their work. They ’ re on the rise: as we shift to knowledge work, more work is textualized, so more of us have to manage textual processes and integrate writing into those processes. Examples include engineers, general managers, accountants, and health technologists.
Related, Jakobs and I have both seen many instances of integrated writing, in which products are automated, then customized to create specific value for a given customer. As sociologist Manuel Castells pointed out, increasingly, products are automated and mass-produced, but then customized at the end of the production process to create specific value for a given customer. Think in terms of documentation that is customized for a specific company. Integrated writing is on the rise because of various factors – beyond the fact that writing has become easier to automate. [read]
So let’s examine these issues through a case study – the case of “ Semoptco, ” a web marketing company in Austin (not its real name). How does Semoptco work as an adhocracy, and what does it have to do with integrated writers and writing? These questions were not on my mind as I began this study of search engine optimization specialists at a web marketing company. I was interested in how they managed their projects. But it’s all related, as we shall see.
What ’ s SEO? The definition is above. When people want information, they increasingly turn to Google and other search engines to get it. “ White hat ” SEO is a way to identify people ’ s queries and use legitimate techniques to make your site rank high in the search results. “ Black hat ” SEO, aka “ snake oil, ” has the same goal but uses improper techniques.
For example, say you want to plan a trip to Disneyland, so you Google “ hotels near disneyland ” . You probably won ’ t click through more than a couple of pages of results. So businesses want to promote their sites to the top of the search results. And you, the customer, want the most relevant results. Everyone wins!
But SEO is sometimes associated with “ snake oil, ” underhanded tricks such as hiding white text on a white background. These are improper, and for the most egregious tricks, search engines will de-list the site - the death penalty for a website. See the story on this slide. Semoptco doesn ’ t use “ snake oil ” techniques.
I began this study by looking at how people managed projects at Semoptco. Here’s a basic idea of what the study involved, as well as my five participants (all pseudonyms).
It turned out that project management was relatively thin. Basically, Semoptco has a pool of SEO specialists and a smaller number of account managers. When a new customer comes in, a 2 or 3 person team is assigned. For launch, they follow a four-week set of basic milestones in which they assess the client’s current web presence, compare it to the web presences of the client’s competitors, and develop a set of objectives and a strategy to get there. After the client approves the objectives and strategy, they go into maintenance mode: the SEO specialists work as “ lone wolves ” to improve SEO and to continue setting goals. But here ’ s the thing. In this industry, things literally change every day. Search engines tweak their ranking algorithms, other sites attract links, news items can change the results. And SEO specialists don ’ t get a formal education. There ’ s no college degree in SEO.
What’s more, it turns out that these SEO specialists write an astonishing amount of text.
Semoptco’s SEO specialists were integrated writers. In fact, they wrote an incredible amount: Up to 10-12 complex 20-page monthly reports in the first ten business days of each month. That works out to approximately 200-240 pages in 10 days. In addition, they also presented to clients monthly, corresponded with clients, corresponded internally, built links, and engaged in many other forms of writing. But none saw themselves as “writers.” Really, they just wrote to maintain the process.
The process looked something like this. See all the writing these non-writers do? [discuss] And it changes all the time. That’s because the landscape of SEO changes all the time. It’s always in flux.
So let’s take a look at this flux – and how Semoptco remained flexible enough to respond to it.
SEO is a customized service within a fast-changing space. Each customer has specific, customized needs. Writing about Internet businesses, Manuel Castells emphasizes these characteristics of innovation, customization, and fast-paced production. And so does Stacy, the account manager quoted here.
But beyond the customization aspect, SEO involves a lot of other contingencies. Search engines change their algorithms. Breaking news items can push down results. Competitors are also optimizing pages. New technologies, such as new SEO tools, might change how specialists do things. New SEO techniques might emerge. It’s too much change for any one person to absorb. So Semoptco had to organize adhocratic teams to execute flexibly, to customize, and to innovate. It did that with loosely organized teams - lots of them.
Project teams, consisting of an account manager and 1-2 specialists.
Apprenticeship teams, in which more experienced people mentored less experienced ones within their departments. These were not about commanding or assigning, these were about showing people the ropes. Halfway through my study, SEO apprenticeship teams were replaced by ...
Support teams, which focused on formally coordinating the work of SEO specialists. A senior specialist would coordinate with and mentor junior specialists - but coordination didn ’ t mean control, because the senior specialist did not function as a manager.
Then we have Functional teams: all people within each department. Departments maintained contact and shared general knowledge, such as new techniques, challenges, and tools they discovered. They told each other how the landscape of SEO changed.
Values teams were teams drawn across all departments to enact three general values of the company. They pulled people out of their specialties and put their general qualities to work on different company-wide challenges.
Finally, the Taco club: Otherwise unassociated people from different departments met on Wednesdays to eat breakfast tacos together - and to get to know each other.
These many teams or networks formed an aggregate network in which everyone knew everyone else and a little about their specialties or capabilities. They functioned in a nonsupervisory context, overlaying the existing department-based supervisory hierarchy. By enabling workers to form new associations on the fly, the aggregate networks allowed for flexible structures and loose organizations within the company. It ’ s like an incubator for adhocracies.
But wait, there ’ s more. Since specialists had to constantly customize their customers ’ websites for different searches, they sometimes had to draw on resources outside the company to generate the best solution. For instance, Daria was working with a team that was trying to optimize a medical site aimed at doctors. What keywords would this kind of customer search for? Daria didn ’ t know, but she knew how to find out: By probing her personal networks OUTSIDE the organization. Similarly, she was always trying to figure out the terminology that customers might know. Carl also looked for specialized search terms – in this case, by examining search analytics originating in England.
That brings us to integrated writing, in which products are automated, then customized to create specific value for a given customer. Semoptco’s search specialists had to make sure this happened during their process – and during their innovation cycle.
Castells draws a distinction between self-programmable and generic labor. [explain] But self-programmable labor is often turned into generic labor. Once you solve a problem – especially a textual problem – you can often routinize it, then either automate or outsource it. Think in terms of creating a form or survey to gather information that you used to interview people for. It turns out that Semoptco’s specialists turned self-programmable labor into generic labor – constantly.
Let’s look at just a few examples. The texts in the left column involve considerable operational discretion: Specialists determine how to construct them and what they involve. They ’ re not rigidly formalized. The ones in the right column are: they ’ re automated, involving no operational discretion after setup. Predictable inputs yield predictable outputs.
(Read quote) This is the sort of thing an SEO specialist does when developing a new comparison table or formulating unique recommendations. These operations can ’ t be - or haven ’ t yet been - automated or formalized.
In comparison, (read quote). These are tasks that can be formalized and therefore outsourced or automated. Think of the entirely automated report cards - or for that matter, the unskilled interns who were typically tasked with social bookmarking.
Semoptco’s specialists worked constantly to make their self-programmable labor generic. They searched for new SEO tools. They developed new tricks and techniques. They developed templates and standards. They innovated constantly – and their innovation was focused on making their work more generic so that they could automate or offload it, and thus open up more time for other hard problems they had to solve. Remember, they were handling 20 clients each! So the reports they wrote were generated through a complex set of generic processes, but then customized to yield unique value.
As I mentioned earlier, this is a snapshot of the process, but the process changes constantly. They pile on more innovations, make more work generic, and in doing so, build more capability into the integrated writing that they do. So how do these all fit together?
Like this. [read] In Semoptco ’ s contingent, rapidly changing environment, idiosyncratic solutions quickly spread across the specialists ’ networks, becoming shared resources – instantiated in templates and previous reports, programmed into the BRILLIANCE system, worked into the social bookmarking and tools that people use. As we examine professional writing in increasingly automated environments, I expect that we’ll see more and more examples of integrated writers and writing. That is, we’ll see more examples of how “non-writers” write, and more examples of how writing is both automatically generated and customized.