RE: How Much Knowledge Transfer is Necessary?

["Ashaki K. Hamlett" <ashaki -at- altair -dot- com>]

Cassandra,

I was in the exact same situation a few months ago. I was contracted to
create an online help system. Near the end of my contract, I was offered and
accepted a permanent position. Upon giving my notice, I was asked to teach
my boss RoboHELP so she would be able to make future updates. With my boss
being a non-writer and no exposure to any help authoring tool, this was
quite a challenge. I wrote up a document that explained the structure of the
system (where files where located on the network) and how to perform basic
RoboHELP tasks (launching the application, opening a file, creating a new
topic, saving a file, previewing the help system, and closing the
application.) I sent her this document a few days before I left, asked her
to read it, and submit any questions that she may have regarding the
document. Then, I sent an e-mail with a list of RoboHelp related websites
and a brief description of the type of information that she could find on
each site. Since most of these sites were in my Favorites and the
instructions for the tasks were pretty basic, this effort took less than 1/2
a day.

She had few questions on the document and seemed grateful for the
references. I learned later that they brought in a tech writer for
maintenance of the online help system. My assumption is that she realized
what they needed should be performed by someone who was experienced with
help authoring.

So, to answer your questions...I would deliver basic information (see above)
and I'd point him/her in the direction of reference material. I'm not sure
when you start your new assignment, but even if it's a month from now, I
don't think it's your responsibility to teach her all you know about a tool
nor is it practical. When you ask are you being unprofessional, do you mean
if you refuse to give her any information? If so, then you should anticipate
not to contract with that company again or at least not for that manager. 

HTH,
Ashaki

Cassandra asks: 
How much information should I deliver to her (aside from knowledge transfer
strictly for where files are and so on)? 

Should I teach her RoboHELP, and if so, wouldn't that hurt chances for
another Technical Writer to come in? 

Am I ethically obligated to teach her as much as necessary to perform the
tasks I have been performing for the last year?  

Am I being unprofessional, or would this be considered "looking out for my
own?"

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