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.
If nothing else, all this contrivances could help Al keep from getting
totally frustrated and freaked before he finds another job. I'm
beginning to think it's much kinder just to have HR at the desk asking
me to clean out my desk. OTOH, you'll get practice working through a
situation, Al (do you need it :-). For me, I guess it would depend on
how dearly I needed/wanted any job, and liked the current one (I tend
to hang on to the bitter end, even though I've been told I'm not the
optimistic type).
Best of luck
Kathleen
(sorry for the double-post, Kevin, gmail is supposed to reflect the TO: address)
On Tue, Jul 29, 2008 at 10:23 AM, McLauchlan, Kevin
<Kevin -dot- McLauchlan -at- safenet-inc -dot- com> wrote:
>
>
> Al Geist added:
>>
>> The first thing I did was to generate an email to the engineering
> managers
>> and engineers who would be affected by the video idea and ask for
> their
>> input...pros/cons and any thing else they could think of. Only two
> have
>> been
>> positive about the video taping. One is an engineer who would not be
>> affected and the other helped write the old manuals (in two weeks)
> that
>> were
>> so bad nobody (especially Field Service and training) is able to use
> them.
>> The remaining individuals are 100% against the idea because it would
>> increase their already unbelievable workload.
>
> Have you tried to get support from Field Service and Training? Or do
> they look at bad docs from your group as job insurance for their people?
>
> As for the videoing, I would make ONE suggestion (incorporating what
> some other people have said on the list), and arrange for that e-mail to
> land in the in-box of your boss' boss. Don't bypass hierarchy yourself.
> Get a sympathetic engineer or Tech Support manager or Training manager
> or somebody else to forward it, saying they thought it an interesting
> approach that addresses the problem.
>
> "The instruction was to video engineers performing the complex setup
> procedures, and to use the tapes as the basis for documentation. My
> proposal, to the video useful for documentation, and for our training
> and support people, and for our customers, is that two engineers will
> take part in each video-taping.
> One will have no familiarity with the system/subsystem being configured.
> He will be the hands that perform the tasks as though he were a customer
> technician/engineer. He will be coached, before starting, to ask all the
> questions that occur to him about all parts of the procedure, especially
> any areas that are ambiguous or that involve recovering from a mistake
> or omission or non-standard sequence of actions.
> The other engineer will be source of knowledge. His hands will be tied
> and he will be allowed to speak only when asked a question by the
> hands-on engineer who is acting as a customer."
>
> Ok, some variant of the above. :-)
>
>
> - Kevin
> The information contained in this electronic mail transmission
> may be privileged and confidential, and therefore, protected
> from disclosure. If you have received this communication in
> error, please notify us immediately by replying to this
> message and deleting it from your computer without copying
> or disclosing it.
>
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> ComponentOne Doc-To-Help gives you everything you need to author and
> publish quality Help, Web, and print content. Perfect for technical
> authors, developers, and policy writers. Download a FREE trial.
>http://www.componentone.com/DocToHelp/
>
> True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
> Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
> documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com
>
> ---
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as kathleen -at- writefortheuser -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/kathleen%40writefortheuser.com
>
>
> To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
>http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.
>
>
>
ComponentOne Doc-To-Help gives you everything you need to author and
publish quality Help, Web, and print content. Perfect for technical
authors, developers, and policy writers. Download a FREE trial. http://www.componentone.com/DocToHelp/
True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
