TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:RE: doc'ing the docs From:KMcLauchlan -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 3 Dec 2002 13:37:19 -0500
> -----Original Message-----
> From: John Posada [mailto:JPosada -at- book -dot- com]
> Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2002 12:39 PM
> To: TECHWR-L
> Subject: RE: doc'ing the docs
>
>
>
> >Thereby also clearing up the question of who your real audience
> >is.
>
> At every gig I've ever been at, I've never thought otherwise.
Exactly. But that can sometimes be just about the *only*
thing that's clear at the outset. Thus, we have concepts
like negotiations, proposals, progress reports, reviews, etc.
Sometimes you have to tell/show the boss/audience/customer
what it is that they want, but it's always subject to
negotiation, and decades of TW experience are handily
trumped by whim ... when it's the whim of s/he who controls
the purse-strings.
Of course, when the customer is not immediately seeing
the light as you argue from your professional experience,
you should always CYAWAM. Sum up the disagreement, and
state that "this is what I believe we have agreed".
If you don't actually get a written agreement to your
sum-up, you at least have the dated memo/e-mail to
show that you had expressed your understanding of
the client's wishes, way back when, and that they
had had X days/weeks/months to correct any erronious
impressions on your part. Digital signing and encryption
may be of some use, especially if your crypto application
time-stamps messages. You can also make use of the
"Confirm Receipt" and "Confirm when read" options of
some mail systems (like Outlook/Exchange), if the
recipients are silly enough to have left those options
turned on.
Doing this stuff with a professional, "just business"
air makes it appear like the simple, professional
records-keeping that it is, and not just CYA activity.
/kevin
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Order RoboHelp X3 in December and receive $100 mail in rebate, FREE WebHelp
Merge Module and the new RoboPDF - add powerful PDF output functionality
to RoboHelp X3. Order online today at http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l
Check out SnagIt - The Screen Capture Standard!
Download a free 30-day trial from http://www.techsmith.com/rdr/txt/twr
Find out what all the other tech writers, including Dan, already know!
---
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.
