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Subject:RE: Time estimates and getting credit From:Kat Nagel <kat_nagel -at- rte -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Sat, 3 Mar 2001 12:26:58 -0500
You say the letter has already been sent. There isn't much you can do about
that. Would your team lead be willing to write a note (on company
letterhead) saying that you were responsible for the proposal and estimate?
You could add that to your portfolio package.
/K@ Kat Nagel, kat_nagel -at- rte -dot- com
"Technical fiction:
This term refers to user manuals written according to technical
specifications or programmer assurances about how a system is
going to turn out, in the absence of a working prototype."
(M. David Orr, Orr & Associates Corporation)
-----Original Message-----
From: anonfwd -at- raycomm -dot- com [mailto:anonfwd -at- raycomm -dot- com]
Sent: Friday, March 02, 2001 7:15 AM
Subject: FWD: Time estimates and getting credit
Forwarded anonymously on request:
I recently put together a proposal for a project that included time
estimates for how long it would take me to complete the project. I am the
only technical writer and work under a team lead. We had a meeting with my
manager who then added to my proposal. She also wrote a cover letter for
it. In the cover letter, she gives my team lead and I equal credit, but
really, I was the one who put the numbers together and did the research.
There are
paragraphs like this in the cover letter:
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
<>
[Anon] has created a plan for [for this project], including the estimated
time frames and current status. The plan has been reviewed to determine
which items, if any, could be put on hold until after the initial release.
The hours are minimal. [team lead name] and [Anon] have taken a very
proactive approach as to how we might accomplish our goal by our
designated completion date. I am in full agreement with them that we need
additional
assistance based on the following summary.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
<>
This cover letter has already been sent to the VP of Internal
Operations. If she changed the sentence above to simply say, "[Anon] has
taken a very proactive approach as to how we might accomplish our goal by
our
designated completion date" would the meaning change all that much?
Additionally, am I just being an attention-seeker for wanting full credit
for this proposal? Would a sentence like the above make a potential
interviewer think I didn't have as much to do with the proposal as I
did? I want to include this cover letter and accompanying proposal in my
portfolio.
My team lead even mentioned that she didn't know why my manager was giving
her partial credit for putting it together. Her comment was, "You put this
together, not me."
I have a really good relationship with my manager to the level that if I
asked her to change it, I think she would, but I don't want to be giving
her that I am trying to take away from my team lead. The truth of the
situation is that I did the work.
Your thoughts?
--
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IPCC 01, the IEEE International Professional Communication Conference,
October 24-27, 2001 at historic La Fonda in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA.
CALL FOR PAPERS OPEN UNTIL MARCH 15. http://ieeepcs.org/2001/
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