TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:User feedback? (was 5 users in a room), Take III From:Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca> To:TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>, Jonathan West <jwest -at- mvps -dot- org>, CGiordano -at- EvergreenInvestments -dot- com Date:Tue, 14 Nov 2006 11:39:49 -0500
Jonathan West noted: <<That reminds me of a great story I heard some
years ago while working at a telecomms company in the UK. Somebody at
the company's factory in South Wales had to prepare a monthly report
of some kind for HQ in London. He never got any kind of response, and
so one month, apart from the covers, he wrote the entire report in
Welsh. Still no response, at which point he very sensibly decided
that he didn't need to produce the report any more :-)>>
Indeed, I've done something very similar at a former employer who
asked for monthly status reports that I was confident were never
being read... so this isn't just an urban legend. In my case, I
inserted a few "please check on this and tell me the status"
messages, and when I never got any replies, I simply stopped
submitting the reports. Predictably, nobody ever noticed. <g>
One important caution, though: If you try this, you want to be really
sure that you can generate the desired report in 5-10 minutes. That
way, if someone suddenly decides the report really is crucial and
asks where it is, you can provide it with minimal delay. I was always
careful to keep my records up to date so that when a program manager
called with a question, I could answer them immediately.
That satisfied their needs quite well: they didn't actually need the
monthly report, but did need to know the status of their projects. As
in so many of the things we do as technical communicators,
understanding the needs of the audience tells us what we need to do--
which is often not what we were asked to do!
Connie Giordano noted: <<I scheduled meetings with every manager
possible, discussed their priorities for the following year and set
expectations for what we could provide given limited resources. It
not only went a long way towards relationship building, but also
started planted seeds for such things as standards, need for
inclusion in planning and schedules, and long-term goals.>>
Excellent points. A key phrase in Connie's response is "their
priorities". Make an effort to help someone else meet their deadlines
and achieve their own priorities and you become an ally and an asset
and someone they want to work with; in contrast, you become a
liability and obstacle and someone to avoid if all you do is dump yet
another responsibility on their desks, leaving them no clear idea of
why your priority is important to them.
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
Easily create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to any popular Help file format or printed documentation. Learn more at http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
