Re: There here to there

["Mike O." <obie1121 -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

Roger Shuttleworth wrote:
> after months of lobbying, I gained agreement to hire a second
> writer. Only during the interviewing stage, I learned that we 
> now have a hiring freeze on. I was supposed to have been told. 
> After some loud protests, I was allowed to hire someone on a 
> 3-month contract with a view to permanency if things improve 
> financially (if they don't, of course he'll be the first to go).

It sounds like your company is fighting for its life. I'd keep quiet
for a while about building a documentation department. 

> one day soon we shall be "taking ownership" of this manual, crappy 
> or not.  It will need at least a week of work to get it into shape
> even as regards formatting, styles, etc., let alone the content.

Don't burn up your time reformatting stuff. This is exactly the kind of
work that could be contracted out, even to a remote contractor.
Techwr-lers are standing by...

>  Meanwhile, in other departments, other people also create documents

It sounds like you are developing the core product docs, while other
kinds of SMEs are fussing over dozens of minor supplementary documents.
This sounds pretty ideal. Believe me, you don't want ownership of all
the little stuff.

> At present we are towards the end of the
> development cycle, so it's time to write, write, write.

It sounds like you already know what to do... As much as you may hate
it, you probably need to spend some time in fire-fighting mode. If you
survive, you can go hunt down all the arsonists later.

Good luck

Mike O.




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