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.
In my opinion, you should look carefully through your company's document templates to remove any need to deal with overrides. This is often the single largest issue involved in time-wasting by tech writers...we are too often involved in the "font fiddling" of which we are accused.
Second, have a careful heart-to-heart with the writers--and ASK THEM what are their biggest time-wasters and frustrations. I know I have often been frustrated because I was unable to arouse any interest among management for streamlining processes to save time over the long term--they were simply too involved with the existing mess to step back and consider how it might be refined. You might be surprised at the good ideas that can be forthcoming from those intimately involved with the process as it stands!
For example, you may discover that the writers would do better with a flex-time program where they can have more freedom to set their own hours.
I predict, by the way, that if your department is typical a major focus will also be on how to get your SME types to do *their* bit according to project deadlines! Late base information, development time slippage--these are at the heart of much inefficiency nearly everywhere.
Third, consider the working environment in which your writers must perform. Can they be made more ergonomically efficient? For example, I tested the improvement in quality and production efficiency in my own case by moving to double 21" monitors. Having full-page views of the underlying engineering doc and the piece I was working on up at the same time (together with the various Frame subsidiary menus I normally keep open) saves me about 10-12% of my time. Constantly opening and closing windows is distracting and simply slows productivity too much!
Likewise, find out if your writer's machines have sufficient RAM memory--and if your drive space is fully adequate for the department's work. If you do not have a good system for version control and tracking documents in various states of use, then that, too, will save time in the medium- to long-term.
If your folks spend a great deal of time walking down corridors for printouts or to make copies, it might be worth an investment in departmental facilities. Although computers were always supposed to eliminate paper, everywhere I've been the paper production has always grown year by year...and getting and handling that paper is a great time waster!
While you're at it, you might also consider the work processes your department uses for its various tasks. By reducing many of them to diagram or ourline form, you can build a resource for future members to quickly get up to speed--and, in the process, discover the kinds of inefficiencies that inhibit productivity.
I hope these ideas may spur some productive planning in your organization!
RoboHelp for FrameMaker is a NEW online publishing tool for FrameMaker that
lets you easily single-source content to online Help, intranet, and Web.
The interface is designed for FrameMaker users, so there is little or no
learning curve and no macro language required! Call 800-718-4407 for
competitive pricing or download a trial at: http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l4
---
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.
