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Subject:Re: Is this too Offensive for a manual? From:David Neeley <dbneeley -at- oddpost -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 19 Nov 2003 20:09:55 -0800 (PST)
Keith,
First, I am aware that "laziness, incompetence, and loose morals" are not the sole province of meter readers or of any other occupation or profession--nor did I contend it was.
There are in fact *many* software applications designed to detect problems before they might become obvious to individual humans. That is, after all, a valid use of computerized data acquisition and reporting.
My point was that if this is, in fact, a salient feature of the software, then it is perfectly proper to say so in the documentation.
After all, the application is *NOT* for the meter readers themselves, but for their supervisors...and it is not a secret to the supervisors that these problems exist.
In addition, within the organizations that employ meter readers, a line supervisor would usually be either very new in management or, in fact, that individual may not have a high level of education or experience. For these reasons, it may be absolutely proper to point out in no uncertain terms what indicators there may arise that need to be followed by closer observation--because of problems such as the aforementioned peccadilloes.
If this is the case, a manual writer would be amiss in not saying so.
As for the terms being "offensive"--the software is for the supervisors, not the meter readers. Furthermore, any competent worker understands that there are others who are not--in fact, this is often a cause of much unhappiness in organizations when some workers see others as "getting by" with less performance yet making the same money.
Euphemisms and indirect terms that do not clearly indicate some of the possibilities that may be causing the software to flag particular users' performance may be doing a disservice to the software, to the supervisor using the software, and to the workers who are competent and productive...it all depends upon the context and the audience, as usual.
Apparently, you overlook the point of the actual audience of the manual...the *supervisors*.
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