Writing at Integrity Home Care and Hospice

          My position at Integrity is that of a Business Analyst / Professional Writer. I spend half my time writing documents, and the other half crunching numbers for the company. It’s a weird combination of responsibilities, but it provides me access to authority that I would not have had otherwise. As Katz discuses in her article A Newcomer Gains Power, “I will use Kanter’s definition of power, ‘the capacity to mobilize people and resources to get things done’ (1983, p.213). Authority can be taken to mean a source of power…” (421). I write a large volume of instructional manuals based on the processes that must be completed as a business analyst. Originally, I only wrote manuals for the three people in the business analytics department and any future business analysts. Now, however, my manuals caught the attention of the vice president of the company, and now I’m creating and rewriting manuals for an entire department. Many people read these, and I must conduct a certain sense of authority. It could be easy for these older professionals to disregard a 22 year old who hardly has his degree, but I have several higher corporate members backing my name. This support gives me authority, but I need to maintain a sense of power to encourage the readers of my manual to follow them correctly.

          I have honed my skill in writing technical documentation, and I’ve found myself enjoying it quite a lot. Even though this kind of writing can get repetitive, I find it enjoyable that these manuals are being distributed and used. That’s always a morale booster. I’ve used a lot of the writing skills I’ve developed over the years, mostly in using the appropriate language and document design. All training manuals need to have a level of consistency and branding with Integrity. Most manuals that are given to me to edit have inconsistent language with each other and no consistency as far as layout. My document design skills have greatly helped me fix these inconsistencies. I thought I would be doing more with my digital and web design skills, but there is really no need for me to cover that topic as well. I am a writer, and that’s why people reach out to me. There might be a chance to help design the websites or their intranet, but now is not the time.

          I didn’t figure that I would be spending so much time in Excel, but I do. When people think document design, they most often think about either an Adobe program or Microsoft Word, but an equal amount of design can go into an Excel document as well. The previous business analysts have trained me how to compile information and report on things, but I have been able to learn how to add my own style into these documents and design information tables in a way that provides easier access. Never underestimate how your skills might be able to help improve other functions. My skill in technical writing allowed me to redesign entire Excel sheets of numbers and data, which proves the importance of a varied skill-set.