Re: anyone else inthe same boat?

[Peter <pnewman1 -at- home -dot- com>]

bash wrote:
 
> Andrew Plato wrote:
 
> > 3. Read all the existing documents.
> 
> Depending on that number, eventually read all the documents. You don't
> want to
> look
> like a work-shirking twit, do you?

Read them on your own time, even if you are not paid for doing so. You
are a professional who needs to be quickly brought up to speed. The time
you spend now will pay dividends later. Never let the boss see you just
sitting around just reading. Always look like you are writing. 

> 
> > 4. Start with a small, simple project first.  Make sure everybody
> knows what
> > your responsibility is at the company. "I am the person writing all
> the
> docs."
> 
> Start with what is the most pressing need - in many cases, if you're a
> lone
> wolf,
> this is the establishment of conventions, standards and all those other
> terrible
> things found in plans and style guides.
> 

Radical Idea! The most pressing need is to get the product out the door
so there is money to pay you next year.


> > 6. Be humble, be respectful, and accept criticism.  Do not fall in
> love with
> > your words. Do not throw a tantrum when the engineers reject your
> first work.
> > You have to please them as much as you have to please the readers.
> 
> Respectfully push back at your engineers if THEY are diminishing the
> value of
> the
> document for the intended audience. Cooperation and humbleness are
> great, as
> long
> as they don't make you a doormat and cause you to ignore the reason
> you're
> putting
> in all the effort.

> > 1. DO NOT Waste time with documentation plans, project plans, style
> guides,
> and
> > other one-off work.  This is a tremendous waste of time and energy.
> You need
> > to prove your value to the rest of the team right away.  Spending time

 
> The main reason THIS lone writer was hired was to make consistent the
> writing
> at
> our site.
> My managers WANT me to make plans, and I just finished our style guide.
> They'll
> be
> using this
> as a measure of my future progress.

No wonder few folks RTFM

> > 2. DO NOT show up loaded for a battle. You must be accommodating to
> the other
> > team members. You are here to help them, not the other way around.

 
> You are there to help each other, or you're just not a TEAM.

The new kid on the block syndrome can be an advantage if used wisely.
Ask if this is what they are looking for, before things go too far.
 
> > Find a way
> > to work inside existing patterns first.  Showing up and demanding
> everybody
> > start conforming to some arbitrary documentation process is a great
> way to get  yourself ignored and shoved in a corner (and possibly fired).


> Many writers are hired to establish the process, and will be "possibly"
> fired if they don't.

First you see what they are doing. Then roll up your sleeves and dive
in. The paper and computer will tell you what to write as you do it. 


> Capability in our shop is measured by how well the standard developed
> serves the company's needs. They won't be MY standards - they'll be what the
> company needs

We are all in favor of motherhood.

> > Tech writers are judged by the outside world on their ability to
> *produce*
> > insightful, useful, and technically accurate documents.

 
> Which requires planning and consistency.

Planning does not have to be a career. It is instinctive.

 
> Anyone else here glad they don't work for Andrew?
 
I would enjoy working with him. He has my kind of practicality.

-- 
Peter

There are few situations in life that cannot be resolved
promptly, and to the satisfaction of all concerned, 
by either suicide, a bag of gold, 
or thrusting a despised antagonist over a precipice on a dark night. 
Ernest Bramah (Kai Lung stories)

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