Business Planning in Technical Documentation Organizations

Business Planning is a process of deciding what an organization will do to be successful, and how it will do it. Business planning can benefit any organization that wants to control its future and to succeed. However, a literature review and some practical experience at AT&T suggests that technical documentation organizations have virtually ignored the application of business planning, both as a means of creating their futures and as a means of advancing their profession. The business planning process involves creating an organizational mission; diagnosing the organization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and risks; setting goals; developing objectives and action plans; developing a financial plan; and writing, sharing, and implementing the plan. Following these steps in the AT&T Bell Laboratories Publication Center, we have seen our budget and staff grow and our client base diversify.