Re: where do docs fit in the development process?
OK -- so how am I supposed to be finished documenting at the exact time they
are finished working on the SDK?
Could you be wanting everything too perfect? Perfectionism can be a sign of a good writer who cares about the job, but it also has to be tempered with reality. In this case, the reality may be that the documentation will never be as good as you want it to be. I don't blame you for being uncomfortable with that - I would be myself - but that happens often enough, especially with small companies. In the end, you either learn to endure it, or find another job.
No
one tells me about changes, and when I'm juggling 3+ products, I don't
always have time to approach every single engineer to ask them what has
changed.
Isn't there some sort of change log that the engineers themselves use? A regular meeting in which they mention what they're doing? However independently they work, surely they communicate among themselves about the changes. Find out how they do it, then get yourself included.
I'm not asking for a rigid process -- just something to make things a little
easier. So you think the last-minute "hey, can you have this done by 2pm"
approach is fine at 1pm? Sorry, but I have a million things on the go at
any given time, and I think there *must* be a better way of doing things.
Andrew's simply being realistic. Of course, the last minute approach isn't ideal. However, a surprisingly number of companies work that way. You can make changes, but you have to think in terms of a campaign lasting weeks or months - or even years.
Sadly, the manager are rarely available for meetings about docs
You might get better results by using e-mail, a single question per e-mail. This technique is useful because people are more likely to answer a single question than a series of them. Also, by restricting yourself to one question per e-mail, you ensure that your name appears frequently in their inbox. After a while, even the dullest should start to understand that you need a lot of input.
=============
I have a good relationship with the developers, but I don't have the time to
sit with them through the reviews. If I've got 3 documents (different
products) 200 pages each, being reviewed by 6 developers, and I'm working on
3 new documents, where do I find the time? So please, enlighten me, how do
YOU develop special relationships with the developers?
It sounds to me as though you have a good social relation with the developers. However, if they're not doing reviews, then the working relation could improve.
However, a few ideas come to mind:
- six reviewers is usually far more than is useful or effective. Can you possibly reduce that to the key people?
- consider not sending the entire document to one person. Reviewing 200 pages is a formidable task, so it's not surprising that people are reluctant to undertake it.
- does the document have to be complete when it is reviewed? Why not send out sections or chapters as they're done?
When do YOU schedule
reviews? How are they done? Are you present? Do you give them donuts?
You'll need to try a variety of techniques to find out which ones work at your company. Different companies - in fact, different departments and different people - have different approaches. Because most people are not focused on writing, you generally have to accomodate yourself to them, not the other way around.
That said, I've never cared for bringing in food as a bribe. That's being too accomodating, and setting yourself to being taken advantage of. Besides, you may not respect people that you placate that way, and that won't help your working relation, either.
[snip] I'm not worried about earning their
respect.
Your concern shouldn't be their respect for you, but their respect for documentation. Whatever they think of you, it sounds as if they don't respect your job.
--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com
"It is our will
That thus enchains us to permitted ill.
We might be otherwise, we might be all
We dream of happy, high, majestical."
- Percy Shelley, "Julian and Maddalo"
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