RE: When to leave?

["technical writing plus" <doc-x -at- earthlink -dot- net>]

Communication. I am a big one on communication. It seems that the company
did not communicate well, but you can and should positively address the
discrepancy. 

You should 'Be proactive' and find out exactly who ought to know about the
incompleted projects. Then tell those specific people about the issues that
remain and about the incompleted stuff. 

You might even be able to work in a 'and these things are going to need this
stuff too' kind of thing thereby informing them that you will still be
available. 

But be entirely clear and obvious when you intimate this information and do
it to more than one responsible party there -- until the company starts
taking clear and unambiguous responsibility for the stuff. Then you of
course should migrate to the one person who is in charge of it all.

Jim Jones	  zxlat.translatorscafe.com

Chinese | German | Spanish to English 

Technical Communication Services (editing, illustration, other)

-----Original Message-----
... I was laid off in a mass layoff a few
weeks back, and they are treating us as employees until the first of the
year when the severance package will start, so I will be paid my regular
wages until Jan 2. We were told that we could leave when we finished our
work, and most everyone has turned in their computer and badge and gone.

As the sole tech writer, there is no one for me to turn my projects over
to, and there is, of course, no definitive moment when I would be
"finished" with my work. Most of my projects were always done for other
departments (not the one I report to) and there is no one who has an
overview of my work.

I would still like to complete a how to guide for the customer manuals  
and
for the custom and standard online help, and there is one group that  
badly
needs help with a customer guide that I agreed to work on with the
understanding that my time was short. I can turn over a partial guide  
that
will need updated screenshots and procedures, or I can hang around to  
make
a guide that is nearly completed. There is also a chance that I can
continue to work as a contractor for a different department (same
projects) after the first of the year.

When do I leave, and when do I become a "stalker?" By staying longer,  
will
I be earning brownie points, or will I make everyone even more
uncomfortable (post layoff stress syndrome)?..

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