RE: suggestions or support

[Jennifer Maitland <jlm -at- kwi -dot- com>]

Hey Cayenne, 

one guy (top guy) says he knows what he wants but what I've done isn't it.
one doc he wrote sounds just like what they want from me, when I asked
what's the difference he said he wanted 'more technical'

>>If he knows what he wants then he's got to accurately communicate that to
you, otherwise how will you be able to write this document? Before a
document is written writers usually go through a requirements gathering
process, where you basically run around talking to your developers, project
managers, even a few a clients if you can get in touch with them. From this
you put together a document plan, or a spec if you like. Compare it to the
process of gathering business requirements or technical specifications. When
you've completed this, you run it by your top guy and ask him what he likes
and what he doesn't, amending it on this basis. Eventually you have an
accurate document plan that can be signed off. 

now he's a phd in biology (it's bioinformatics, genomics) and extremely IT
literate on the server and all the rest of the very complicated stuff we do,
so it's not likely I'll write something more technical than what he's done.

>>Well what have you been asked to do? If he's already written something
really technical then maybe they are looking for a user guide instead. And
don't assume that you won't get up to a really technical level - you got
this far didn't you? They obviously felt you could do the job when they
hired you, and they're likely not asking you to do anything you don't have
the skills to do. Be firm and get some answers from them, and don't be
afraid to tell your boss that you're not getting the answers that will allow
you to do your job.  

I'm having trouble picking out the bits that are important, as it's all
really complicated and relatively new to me (certainly the genomics). also
the basic structure, as I know great detail from developers about the bits,
but not so much about how they're related, and the overall heirarchy of the
thing.

>>I think this is pretty normal and I'm going through the same thing. At my
organisation there are about forty modules and I have to write a user guide
that encompasses them all. Each developer seems to know about one or two
modules, but no one knows the whole system. I spent the first day here
enquiring about a system map that showed all the location and was met with
the fact that we simply don't have one. Guess who endeavoured to take on
making one? It's a difficult feat and I'm no where near done, but committing
to it has helped me gain knowledge of not only the modules, but how they
work together and the workflow between them. It's also earned me a hell of a
lot of respect amongst the developers, who are now using my half finished
system map for their own understanding. Maybe you could do something like
this?


nobody talks to me, which I'm used to, but this is more so than usual.

>>They didn't talk to me for about the first three weeks. I don't know if
it's because I'm foreign, or because I'm a woman and they're all men, or
because they basically didn't know what my purpose was, but it did get
better over time. Attend meetings and make an effort to be social - there's
nothing like getting to know your workmates over a few (or several beers). 

It may be largely due to the fact that it's so early on, and they're working
hard to get things to work at the moment.

>>It's taken over a month to finally begin to feel comfortable here and
adjust to their working environment. It'll happen for you too, don't worry. 

anyway, thanks all - the suggestions of creating docs to show them is good,
but I am doing that, so any others, or moral support, welcome!!

Good luck to you!


cheers,
Jennifer




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