How do I respond to this engineer.....??

[n51_w114 -at- hotmail -dot- com]

I am the only technical writer in an engineering department of about 25
people. The department generates mostly internal documents, aimed at
furthering our development and support functions within the company as a
whole, which has around 200 people.

One of the engineering group leaders was tasked with coming up a system
for organizing these documents.

The problem is that we have been unable to establish an integrated process
for handling documentation within the department at all.... They are not
centrally maintained... there is no such thing as document numbers, and so
on. Finding documents (and then deciding whether it is the latest version)
can be a huge headache.

Several factors have contributed to the current situation:
 -documentation was poorly understood when the company was set up several
years ago, and the corporate work habits have become well entrenched
 -these folks are significantly overworked and just want to ?get their job
done? ? which means not having to worry about documents until after the
fact, if at all
 -each group within the department is strongly defined, and organizes
documents differently (one group does not even allow read access to its
documents)
 -as 'the writer' I do not have the authority to implement a system
unilaterally, and finding consensus on anything is amazingly difficult

The engineer charged with cleaning things up sent out the following email,
in which he makes some good points (some of them based on my suggestions).
However, he seems to want all of the convenience of a documentation system
without many of the intrinsic responsibilities that come with it. At least
that is my take. For example, right off the top, he is strongly critical
of my earlier suggestion (not shown here) that we have a process for
handling documents. I even went so far as to suggest that it could be an
ISO process, since we have our 9001 registration. My thinking was that it
would give some accountability to ensure proper maintenance of documents
-- to which he reacts fairly strongly.

How do i respond to this memo?.? How do i get all of them to understand
that they need to begin creating a culture that views documentation as an
investment worth protecting?? I am not specifically aware of ROI arguments
to present as a push back to this mentality.

Am I missing something here?? I know you are all busy... however I am
interested to hear how you might respond to this memo if you were in my
position.

Thanks... Bruce H.


His email is as follows:

Engineering Team Leaders:

During the Engineering offsite meetings, I offered to prepare a plan and
seek consensus for document control for Engineering.  I would like to get
your thoughts on the appropriate scope of this effort and how we should
proceed.  My opinion is that we start small, gain insight into which
aspects we find most valuable, then add features over time---as opposed to
bringing in a document database and expecting everyone to learn it, enter
their documents, and use and maintain it.  Simply put, we need assistance
with producing and maintaining technical documentation; something that
leverages our time, as opposed to an administrative process that wastes
our time and efforts.
 
I suggest that the primary motivation for document control is not to
satisfy ISO requirements, but to make our jobs easier by helping to
collect technical information and to make it accessible to the Engineering
staff to support development, maintenance, and repair efforts.  As such,
we should judge the success of document control by how well it helps with
making our documents:
1)  easy to find,
2)  accurate,
3)  easy to understand (well written, well organized, and no jargon).  

The initial document control system (DCS) needs two things:
1)  A champion (let?s call him the Document Control Coordinator (DCC), for
now), who?s mantra is ?How can I help you with documentation,? (not ?Thou
shalt conform to this process for documentation.?).
2)  A central repository for all core/critical documents.

The responsibilities of the DCC include:
1)  Collect current versions of all core documents.
2)  Sort the documents into suitable directories, based on, say, the
system/product to which they apply.
3)  Prepare a document index, with information including version number
and responsible technical content owner.
4)  Commit new documents to the repository as they are released.
5)  Coordinate the resolution of error and omission reports.
6)  Coordinate document updates.
 
The DCC could also be responsible for:
1) Providing technical writing assistance (with the level of assistance
determined on a case-by-case basis).
2) Preparing and maintaining a set of document templates.
3) Preparing and maintaining a ?Writing Standards? document.

Please send me your thoughts and suggestions.  Also, let me know whether
you think we should meet as a group for a brainstorming session.  I will
collect your comments and send out an update within the next two weeks.
Sincerely,
A.

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