Re: Where does Documentation belong?

[Andrew Plato <gilliankitty -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

> I've talked this over with my R&D manager and he is open to change. In
> fact, he can see Docs becoming a company-wide resource. I just have doubts
> that we would have enough clout to get the resources we need.

Clout is not "given" it is earned. This is the fundamental problem with most
tech doc groups - they want authority bestowed upon them. In the corporate
world, you must work to acquire authority through demonstration of capability
and shrewd diplomacy. If you sit around waiting for somebody else to grant you
power, you will be waiting a very long time. 

Furthermore, the only way doc groups earn clout is to become masters of
information. If you focus your efforts on style guides, fonts, templates, and
other incidental stuff, I can guarantee you nobody will care. That stuff isn't
even remotely interesting to anybody (except other tech writers). You have to
focus on information, knowledge, and making things better (i.e. selling more
product). 

However, if you actually did this, most technical writers would loathe you and
be utterly incapable of working in your group. 

Good luck.

Andrew Plato 

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Finance: Get your refund fast by filing online.
http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html