RE: meaning & practice of a "doc freeze"

["Cheyne, Andrew" <Andrew -dot- Cheyne -at- vicorp -dot- com>]

I've implemented procedures that included a documentation freeze. You're
right: it's inevitable that the document is still subject to change after
the freeze because there must be a review cycle (which in my case involved
the SMEs - I doubt that this would be unusual) after this point. But
formally implementing a documentation freeze highlights the distinction
between new subject matter and corrections. In my situation, it was possible
to lift a documentation freeze if new information was deemed necessary, but
the formality of the procedure - having to go back to the earlier stages of
the documentation process - helped to make it easier to negotiate the
additional time and resources that would be needed. A formal documentation
freeze serves to make SMEs aware of the consequences and the impact on
timescales of late information and changes to the subject matter.

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