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Subject:Re: The Agile / Xtreme TW From:Tara Charter <chartertmc -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:CL T <straylightsghost -at- gmail -dot- com> Date:Sun, 8 Feb 2009 09:27:09 -0800 (PST)
Totally agree. I don't know how many communication tools I have to keep open in my Taskbar but it's usually quite a few: Pidgin (chat universally with MSN, Google Talk, Yahoo, AIM accts), Skype, Gmail, the wiki, twitter - - and then when I'm away from my laptop - - using my cell phone to IM. There are also the invaluable in-person methods for staying in the loop: co-locate with the developers, go to lunch when/where the team goes, attend code reviews, hallway conversations, golf (if that's where they go), don't miss a stand-up, etc.
--- On Sun, 2/8/09, CL T <straylightsghost -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:
From: CL T <straylightsghost -at- gmail -dot- com>
Subject: Re: The Agile / Xtreme TW
To: "Tara Charter" <chartertmc -at- yahoo -dot- com>
Cc: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Date: Sunday, February 8, 2009, 11:04 AM
It's difficult to find any organization that does a 100% buy-in for the whole Agile/XP process. You'll find many that adapt what they need to fit their methods and do it fairly well. I've worked in A/XP houses for several years as a TW and some of the best advice I can give is this.
Plant your foot firmly in all the doors you can as early as possible. Sure, there is risk in documenting too much, too early (e.g. a lot of re-writes) but the greater your understanding of the code, the process, the project and the product the better off you'll be with everyone. Developers and Engineers will be easier to work with, PMs and Managers will be a bit more realistic and actually listen (they even ask for advice!) and those doors will stay open.
Tara Charter wrote:
> Fellow Agile / Xtreme TWs:
> Am interested to know your experiences with Agile software development and if you've observed what happens when the idea is "purchased" but not put into practice fully.
> Also, if you listen to Scott Ambler at all, you'll notice that he initially seems to be shrugging off "documentation", then later on in his presentation, as he is going through his slides - and the slides start showing how "documentation" is still important, although perhaps less formal, - he says, "there, SEE, look, these graphs prove that we are still doing documentation...
> Tara Charter
> Sr. Technical Writer / BA
>
>
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ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2009 is your all-in-one authoring and publishing
solution. Author in Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor, Microsoft Word or
HTML and publish to the Web, Help systems or printed manuals. http://www.doctohelp.com
Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/
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You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as straylightsghost -at- gmail -dot- com -dot-
ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2009 is your all-in-one authoring and publishing
solution. Author in Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor, Microsoft Word or
HTML and publish to the Web, Help systems or printed manuals. http://www.doctohelp.com
Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/
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