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Well, I'd hate to see you abandon the tech writer to her fate. As this list so often demonstrates, it can be extremely beneficial to have input and support from peers. If she can get that and still keep her manager happy, that's a good thing.
Product managers are concerned about the market. I'd go for the middle ground: you're working on new technologies that can benefit the product, but the writer needs to be participating with your group to bring the maximum benefit to the product. Be specific about the participation. Is it attending meetings? Is it training? What? How much time? And what specific benefit to the product? Is it going to help reach a specific set of customers that have been previously resistant to your product? Get you better press reviews because of a more mature (i.e. well-designed) product?
If you want to take the whole battlefield, you probably have to demonstrate that a) having this writer outside of the group and yet reliant on you for so much is hurting *all* the products, including the VP's baby. You'd have to *prove* it though. Lost productivity, poor quality in initial work. And you have to somehow do that without making it the individual writer's fault, or she'll not thank you for charging in and saving her. OR you have to show that the new tools/technologies require constant, focused attention of you all as a group. Perhaps you could win her back for a little while as you make the shift, or at least her time if not the reporting aspect.
Just my thoughts.
Lisa Wright
----- Original Message -----
From: <anonfwd -at- raycomm -dot- com>
To: TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2001 9:02 PM
Subject: FWD: Handling the anti-team situation
Forwarded anonymously on request. Please reply to the
list if you want the original poster to see your message. EJR
Hello all,
I am looking for collective wisdom about how to handle a work situation.
We are a small software company with three full-time writers. We hired a
fourth--a newbie to the field, but a person we felt had the potential to
be an excellent communicator.
Each writer in the department is assigned to a particular product. The
problem occurred when a new manager took over the company's newest, most
technologically advanced product. This manager is very firm about creating
a team environment within his product. To that end, he requested that the
new technical writer be removed from the technical communications
department and placed solely within his product group.
We made the arguments about the person's lack of experience as a writer
and unfamiliarity with the tools. There's also the argument that it's
counter to how the entire company is structured. I asked who would be
responsible for the quality of the writer's work, and I was told that peer
reviews, distribution formats, and ultimate document quality would be the
responsibility of the new manager.
In other words, my department has absolutely nothing to do with this
writer and that's the way the product manager wants it. The VP's neck is
riding on the success of the new product, so he will do nothing that
impedes their progress.
As expected, the new writer is having to constantly come to us to learn
what to do--what tools are needed, where archived information is, etc.
We've been friendly and helpful and done our best (from a distance) to
help her do her job.
Now the technical communications department is busy planning for the
future--new technologies, new roles--things that could really benefit this
new product. Should I continue to beat a dead horse and make a case for
returning the new writer to the department? Should I seek a middle ground
where the writer attends our planning sessions but still reports to the
other manager? Should I just let it go and do our own thing?
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