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Re: Questions - Going from Hourly to Per Project Basis
Subject:Re: Questions - Going from Hourly to Per Project Basis From:Andrew Plato <gilliankitty -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 1 Oct 2003 12:24:50 -0700 (PDT)
"Mike O." wrote...
> Fixed bids are a way to transfer risk away from management and down to the
> individual resources. So if you are one of the resources and you depend on
> some other resource, you now have risk without recourse. Because the project
> manager, not you, is the only one in a position to coordinate the activities
> of all the interdependent resources.
>
> Technical writing is, in my opinion, especially susceptible to this kind of
> risk... at least the kind of development/writing work that is heavy on
> analysis and discovery, rather than publishing.
Good point, Mike. Which is why as a technical writer bidding on fixed bid
contracts, you should do everything in your power to *not* become dependent on
external resources...such as SMEs who neither have the time or interest to
educate writers on basic technical issues.
This is the reason why knowing the subject matter to a very high level of
expertise is valuable. You can more accurately estimate projects. Its also why
some writers just seem to have a knack for hitting their estimates and some
constantly miss their estimates. The more dependencies you have, the greater
the chance that you'll miss the estimate.
Consider these example:
WRITER 1: Is content ignorant. Estimates project at 200 hours. But loses 100
hours to chasing down SMEs to learn about stuff. Blows the estimate. Suffers
the loss. Is this the SME's fault? Next time, the writer has to estimate the
same project for 300 hours, to accommodate for chasing down SMEs.
WRITER 2: Is content experienced. Estimates project at 200 hours. Only needs 10
hours of SME time, because writer understood material. Finishes under budget.
Pockets the difference. Next project can be reduced by 40 hours. Now the
ignorant writer is bidding at 300 while the content-experienced writer is
bidding at 160.
This is also why organizations are generally more interested in contracting
writers who already have extensive subject matter expertise. Although such
people cost more per hour. They are also considerably more efficient. A writer
who knows the subject matter does not need to burn up as much time learning how
things work. As such, they can produce better material, quicker. Content-based
writers are also more apt to meet estimates and live well off fixed bid
projects.
Andrew Plato
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