RE: Style guides - doc standards vs. processes

["Nora Merhar" <nmerhar -at- charlesindustries -dot- com>]

We can argue forever about the relative merits of ISO, TL9000, whatever. If
your company is required (by their customers) to have one of these
certifications, you are going to have to do it or risk losing sales.

We went through a TL9000 audit in July. For months before the audit, I
participated in a great deal of preparation (determining processes, writing
procedures and work instructions). What use would it have been to me to or
to the company to argue about whether this was a good idea or not? Our
customers REQUIRED it, and I wanted to do all I could to make it happen. And
no, I am not a happy little corporate slave.

I have heard all the arguments against ISO a thousand times (mostly on this
list, which I have subscribed to, on and off, for the past 7 years or so),
and they all seem academic to me. Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta
do.

For the record, I thought it was a useful process to go through. It made us
actually THINK about how we do things, and in some cases, streamline our
processes.

Nora
Senior Technical Writer, Charles Industries
nmerhar -at- charlesindustries -dot- com


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