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Subject:Thank You (Was Ruffled Feathers) From:"John Fleming" <johnf -at- ecn -dot- ab -dot- ca> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 8 Mar 2001 00:42:04 -0700
I want to start by thanking those who responded to my request for
advice. I appreciate it.
Here is the approach I took.
At the beginning of the meeting with the person in charge, I brought
up the subject, explained what was intended (just as I did here), and
offered an apology.
She was only too ready to admit to having made similar faux pas in her
days as a consultant. It looks like she's quite ready to let it be a
bygone.
In this respect, Tom Murrell's, David Brown's, Bonnie Granat's, Bill
Swallow's, and Dick Margulis' advice has produced the desired
result--smoothing out the working relationship with the person who
pays my invoices.
Jim Purcell made the suggestion that I " should take pains to find out
while he is apologizing for his misdemeanour, is why this
bureaucratic-seeming process exists in the first place." While I
haven't gone quite that far, I have seen a few documents there
produced by "writers who didn't survive" (including a few I've been
asked to rewrite) that suggest they have had some bad experiences with
other contract writers in the past.
Hence, the process of submitting a first draft to the document
administrator would be a quality control measure designed to ensure
that documents meet a minimum standard at the first draft stage.
My faux pas aside, the person in charge seems very happy with the work
I am doing for them, which should give me some very useful manoeuvring
room. Add to that, the SME I sent a copy of the pre-first draft to is
also happy with what she's seen.
If I keep producing a top notch product for them, they may be a bit
more willing to forgive a few minor transgressions on my part. And if
truth be told, having this company in my client list is worth going
the extra mile.
--
John Fleming
Technical Writer
Edmonton, Alberta
email: johnf -at- ecn -dot- ab -dot- ca
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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