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Subject:Re: Why'd that take so long? From:"Martin R. Soderstrom" <scribbler1382 -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 25 Jul 2002 13:56:59 -0400
Wow. First off, thanks to everyone for taking the time to respond. It's
really appreciated.
>From a common thread running through several of the responses, let me just
clarify that this is not just a formatting problem. I chose that specific
example as it was the most recent and biggest occurrence of this issue.
Content is also an issue. Probably moreso.
Another common reaction seems to be to just "justify" the work. (i.e. this
is how long it will take, deal with it). That's not an option. The people
who've agreed that this is a multi-person job are the product managers and
my direct manager (as well as others), but that's neither here nor there.
We had layoffs about six months ago and the bottom line is, there won't be
anymore people. No matter how slick a presentation is proffered.
What I really need (and I guess in my rushed post I wasn't particularly
clear about this) is how to explain to them why they can't have what they're
asking for. Think of the time, resource and tool parameters as constants.
Changing them would sure make things easier, but it ain't going to happen.
No way. No how.
I should also mention that my direct manager has already stepped up for me
by explaining the time involved is similar to the time involved when
development is asked for a "simple" change or addition and it ends up taking
6 months. He's on my side and is only looking for this info to appease the
PM's so I can do my job unharrassed.
One thing that has been mentioned in a few posts which has piqued my
interest is the idea of a "module" approach to writing. Does anyone have
any articles/whitepapers/resources on that approach? I'm mostly interested
in source storage and how best to have a collection of modules assembled
into a book so it flows like a book.
Cheers and thanks again,
-- Martin
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