Re: MS Word 2003 - Working without a template

["Edwin Skau" <eddy -dot- skau -at- gmail -dot- com>]

*A* year? *A* template?

What the frumplin'  stiflx  went into that template?

Edwin


On Jan 13, 2008 9:50 PM, SB <sylvia -dot- braunstein -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:

> We are working with MS Word 2003.
>
> 1. I inherited documentation several years ago. Because there was always
> so
> much work, I never bothered creating a template even though a simple
> template would have been nice. In my previous company, we didn't use a
> template even though my boss always wanted to implement one. I definitely
> didn't have as much work in my previous company as I do here.
>
> 2. My colleague started developing a template a year ago or so when he
> started working here. He has been investing a lot of effort into that and
> somehow, I feel that it is a lot of work instead of focusing on the
> documentation. Again, we don't have extra time for anything at all, on the
> contrary, we are totally overloaded.
>
> We are now two full-time Technical Writers (he is a freelancer) for a
> company of 170 growing exponentially, as do the products, on a daily
> basis.
> There are many products. I can't keep up with the rhythm of the
> requirements.
>
> My colleague focuses a lot on doing things right, which is nice but we
> don't
> have the time to do it. I focus more on getting things done. So, I keep
> going and going and he keeps developing and doing things the way he thinks
> it should be done, which of course takes a lot longer.
>
> It would be nice if we could indeed do things right but we are not a large
> company.
>
> We just hired a freelancer who had worked for large companies who was in
> shock that I was not working with a template (actually, I was quite
> annoyed
> that he worked on it while we had to meet the sharp deadlines). A template
> can be a major development project and according to the hours he listed
> working on it, it was. All I had in mind was a simple template. What we
> now
> have is a rather sophisticated one, which is nice... but what about
> getting
> the work done? So I sometimes feel that I have hired him to get a template
> done and some of the documentation too.
>
> There is no doubt that we are understaffed and this year, we might also
> move
> onto different tool, like an authoring tool or a wiki, making the template
> obsolete anyway.
>
> 1. In a situation where you are continuously swamped, what is right,
> getting
> the job done or working according to the rules of the "religion" (which he
> set up since this is his template)?
> 2. How can I convince the management that we are understaffed? I am
> extremely frustrated. In October, during the budget discussions, I told
> them
> that we were in deep trouble and could not keep up with the requirements.
> I
> told them I needed two more writers.
>
> I see the company growing, R&D growing, and the technical writing team is
> remaining the way it was. A year ago, they hired the freelancer because I
> said I would quit. He was supposed to work part-time, he is working
> full-time. Then I thought that I was allowed to hire one technical writer
> but then when I found someone, they made me choose and to them, they'd
> rather have a technical writer in-house because it would be cheaper.
>
> I am there again, more frustrated than ever. I just can't handle this.
> They
> always pull the budget story, since I have been working here. However, we
> have been listed as the "fastest growing hi-tech company", and the whole
> company grows, products changes tremendously, teams are growing and I am
> spending days and nights trying to get to the deadline because my name is
> on
> the row.
>
> I am doing all the writing from scratch, documenting the User Interfaces
> with a project of about 1000 pages that is updated every six months or
> less
> and I am working on many other projects too. The freelancer mostly
> receives
> the documentation, edits and formats it. Both of us interview (that is
> when
> engineers are willing to take the time to do it because they are too busy
> developing).
>
> I would also like to know what is the writing cycle in a medium size
> company.
>
>   - Who sets the priorities?
>   - Does R&D write the documentation and the writers review it and
>   format it? R&D don't have the time to even give support because they are
>   busy developing.
>   - Who reviews the documentation? QA? They can't help because they are
>   busy with the QA cycle!
>   - I would also like to know what is expected from a writer. How many
>   pages, how many projects per writer?
>
>
> I would be happy if I could hear a couple words of advice.
>
> Frustrated.
>
> SB
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Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more.
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True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
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