RE: Do I have a right to feel POed??

["Spreadbury, David C." <David -dot- Spreadbury -at- marconi -dot- com>]

Been doing this (tech writing) a long time. What you are saying happens all
the time. You just need to keep hammering at the program manager and
engineering types until they learn that documentation really is part of the
product. It is an educational process. No need to get PO'd. Upset, yes, but
don't let it harm that upcoming delivery of yours (those on TV say that
stress can harm the little one). But if you keep letting management know
that the widget they are trying to sell won't work unless the documentation
goes with it, they won't have anything to sell. The engineer comeback of
"They don't need no stinking documentation!", which is very common, is from
the development engineer point of view. They KNOW the product. The end-user
doesn't. This needs to be explained, usually over and over, to the
engineering types until they start to wake up.

-----Original Message-----
From: Karen Gloor [mailto:karen_gloor -at- yahoo -dot- com]
Sent: Thursday, August 22, 2002 11:17 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: Do I have a right to feel POed??



Hi All-

Need opinions...

Background:

We have a big release that was scheduled to go out on
Oct. 24.  We've all been working toward that date. 
Yesterday at 4PM (I was here), the Development Manager
calls an emergency meeting, to which I was not
invited.  Testing, development and others WERE
invited.  The release is now being pushed back to Dec.
20, with several maintanance releases to be scheduled
in between.  He had prepared slides for this meeting,
so it was not impromtu.  I had to find this
information out from a friend on the testing team...no
official word yet from him to me regarding this major
change.  Of course, since I am 6 months pregnant and
will most likely NOT be here on the new delivery date,
the impact is HUGE on the documentation team.

This morning I sent a carefully worded email to him,
my manager and the program manager for this project
indicating that I probably should have been invited
since this does impact the release as a whole.  

I am Pissed.  I have worked very hard to become an
integral part of this team and I can see now that my
efforts have fallen short.  

Any advice on what in the heck I can do to make
documentation a mindset rather than an afterthought?? 
I have given presentations regarding our efforts,
provided input at every meeting, and worked very
closely with developers to let them know that I am
there for them and am trying very hard to understand
the technical aspects of this product, which seems to
be a moving target from one day to the next.  

This is a slap in the face to be left out of a major
decision in which I *thought* I was a key player.

Karen


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Check out the new release of RoboDemo, our easy-to-use tutorial software.
Plus, buy RoboHelp Office in August and save $100 with our mail-in rebate.
Get details and download free trial versions at http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l
 
TECHWR-L is supported by ads and sponsorships...and donations.
You can help maintain the TECHWR-L community with donations
at http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/abouttechwhirl/donate.html
 
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.