Re: Necessity of Doc Plans for a Single Chapter or Section

[Elna Tymes <Etymes -at- LTS -dot- com>]

Andrew Plato wrote:

> My work is much different than a full-time employee. Yes, we always do a
> project assessment report before beginning a documentation project. It
> includes such things as what the document will cover, timeline,
> requirements, etc. But this is for a consulting arrangement, and it is a
> discernable amount of work, and we are competing to win that work.
> Moreover, it isn't about planning the entire document, its planning the
> project. Our projects often include a lot more than just writing a
> document. While we may do a doc plan of sorts once the project us
> underway, this usually consists of an email exchange between the lead
> writer and our client contact.

I almost can't believe it, but for once I agree with Andrew.  When you enter a
project with a client, you really need an outline of your agreement. Andrew calls
it a "project assessment report."  We call it something like a "project outline,"
but in either case the document contains a general outline of what we're going to
do, the 7-step doc process, the audience (for each document, if a multi-document
project), the predicted schedule, the milestones, and the deliverables.  It also
contains the agreements about who's going to supply which source material and when,
what's expected of various people in terms of reviews, what the customer will
supply in terms of access and resources, and some language that describes what
happens if the resources aren't available or the reviews don't get returned on
time.  The importance of this "outline" is that it sets up agreements between us
and the client, agreements that are, in fact, contract terms.  In most cases, it
helps settle arguments about the scope of the project or the schedule.  In a
current case, it serves as the basis for a lawsuit against a client who hasn't paid
us.

Doc plans don't have to include detailed outlines of what you're going to write.
In some cases, they can't because the source material hasn't yet been invented.  In
other cases, project management knows that certain things are likely to change, and
they need your flexibility in handling those changes.  The point is that it tells
management in a general way 'this is what we're going to do and how we're going to
do it and when." And that's usually enough to allow the pointy-headed budget people
to sign off and get the money flowing.

Elna Tymes
Los Trancos Systems


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