Technical writing in the development process?

[Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>]

Gene Kim-Eng noted: <<I think that for most of us things are somewhere 
in between, and that's not necessarily "bad" or "better.">>

It's certainly true that the situation can be... um... dynamic. I've 
had both very good and very bad experiences over the years. In one 
case, I had both: a good relationship with the developers that I 
developed under their former manager, followed by something of a 
disaster with a subsequent manager who was (how to say this nicely...) 
an ignorant, passive-aggressive control junky who knew next to nothing 
about software design.

This is the guy who once came to ask me why the documentation wasn't 
ready yet, and was annoyed when I reminded him that I'd been trying for 
several weeks to actually get the software installed, and keeping him 
informed of this problem with regular status updates. During this time, 
I'd given him two choices: Either unlock my computer so I can install 
it myself, or get your (overworked and incompetent) IT* drone to do the 
install for me. (No, I couldn't kick the developers off their computers 
and play with their version. Deadline!) I can't document what I can't 
see, but somehow that didn't seem to make sense to him.

* A colleague who replaced me at that company noted that nowhere else 
had he so clearly seen the IT acronym mean "in trouble". This is the 
guy who decided to install a new version of Windows on a colleague's 
laptop and formatted her hard drive without giving her a chance to 
backup any of her files, and who felt obliged to reinstall my whole 
hard drive (taking 2 weeks to do so) because I'd reorganized the 
shortcuts under the Start menu and thus, crippled my computer. The same 
guy who, when given a contractor to help him with a network upgrade, 
had the contractor storm into the manager's office and insist that this 
guy be fired. Uh huh. <g>

<<What matters is that you and the company are in synch as to what role 
you want to play and what role they want you to play, and that you 
receive the clear direction and support from your management that you 
need to be successful in that role.>>

Indeed, but in some cases (such as the one noted above), you have to 
keep your eyes open and your wits about you. Some people will simply 
never admit that something is their fault, and no matter how well you 
cover your ass, they'll still find a way to blame you for their 
incompetence. You need to be aware of this possibility and plan 
accordingly, and it can be excruciatingly difficult to find a sane 
middle ground.

<<There is no particular reason why you as a tech writer must or must 
not be involved in the development process to any particular extent, so 
long as the extent to which you are involved satisfies your job 
performance and satisfaction needs.>>

Very true, and nicely said. In terms of satisfaction, I promptly fired 
the abovementioned manager as a client once I went freelance. (And 
referred him to a competent colleague with a higher tolerance for 
stupidity so that no bridges would be burned.) There's a lovely quote I 
encountered (I believe from the Babylon 5 TV show) that applies to this 
situation: "Ahh, arrogance and stupidity, all in a single package -- 
how efficient of you."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --
Geoff Hart   ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca
(try geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com if you don't get a reply)
www.geoff-hart.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word features support for every major Help
format plus PDF, HTML and more. Flexible, precise, and efficient content 
delivery. Try it today!. http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l 

Doc-To-Help includes a one-click RoboHelp project converter. It's that easy.  Watch the demo at http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- infoinfocus -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40infoinfocus.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to lisa -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.