RE: Making them read the documentation

[Marguerite Krupp <mkrupp -at- cisco -dot- com>]

Lots of good suggestions have already been offered, many of them phrased as,
"Ask yourself...". I would suggest that instead of asking *yourself* these
questions, ask your usesrs, especially those who are in house. Could be they
find it easier just to pick up the phone and call engineering. They've
learned it works, and the engineers haven't said RTFM. The "oral tradition"
in tech doc is alive and well. We all do it!

In our company, tech support consistently refers users to the documentation,
generally to the url of a specific document, such as a tech tip or a
specific chapter. All of our stuff is online. That's where the training can
come in.

You may need to do job aids, possibly on day-glo neon paper to get their
attention, but I think that asking and listening to your users will provide
the best and least stressful resolution to many of the problems you're
experiencing.

Marguerite

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