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Subject:Re: In the Trenches, A Bit of Venting From:"Bonnie Granat" <bgranat -at- editors-writers -dot- info> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 14 Nov 2002 00:21:44 -0500
----- Original Message -----
From: <kcronin -at- daleen -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Sent: November 14, 2002 12:05 AM
Subject: Re: In the Trenches, A Bit of Venting
>
> I'm with Andrew, Bonnie.
>
> Remember, Andrew's not the guy making the MFA look like a moron. Mr. MFA
> is doing that all by himself.
>
You are assuming that he is looking like a moron. Perhaps he isn't. I don't
think that I have enough information to make a conclusion.
> The cold hard truth is that sometimes you get stuck with coworkers who
> simply aren't very good. At first you give them the benefit of the doubt,
> even try to help them. But when it becomes clear that they either cannot
> or will not do the work, you do your employer no favors by masking that
> fact. Do your gig, and let them crash and burn. Then maybe they'll hire a
> coworker that you can work with more productively.
>
Especially when you're a contractor, your first line of defense, as it were,
has to be the person to whom you report. It is inappropriate to hash things
out with a peer.
Also, *someone* has to be the decision-maker there. Who is it? I don't know
who it is, but everything hinges on that, it seems to me. There are entirely
too many open questions, though, for me to give a more definitive answer. But
fragmenting the documentation effort seems unprofessional.
> This is not advice for managers. This is advice for in-the-trenches
> writers who get saddled with coworkers who don't pull their weight.
>
The responsibility of a contractor who is having such problems is to his
agency and to the client. It is not appropriate to just hunker down and ignore
what's going on around you.
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