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:Re: Measuring Productivity From:Romay Jean Sitze <rositze -at- NMSU -dot- EDU> Date:Fri, 11 Nov 1994 08:59:21 -0700
On Wed, 9 Nov 1994, Marilynne Smith wrote:
> >> Communicators (the creative types that we are) don't like being
> >> linked to productivity.
> I certainly agree with that. Are engineers tracked for productivity?
> Programmers? When part of your job is creating something or solving
> problems, the productivity measurements fall flat.
> Was I wrong? Did you ever have to count pages?
While I have not had to count pages, I do have to keep track of the time I
spend on any giving project. I understand the rationale--we do contract
work and it is important to keep track of the billing. What bugs me,
however, is the problem of accounting for the accounting time spent. I
spend time each week updating records for keeping track of the document
flow, updating lists, making backups of current work, etc. While all of
this is necessary work, I sometimes feel that most of it could be assigned
to someone who isn't supposed to be a writer!
****************************************
* RoMay Sitze rositze -at- nmsu -dot- edu *
****************************************
* Results! Why, man, I have gotten *
* a lot of results. I know several *
* thousand things that won't work. *
* Thomas A. Edison *
***************************************