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Subject:Re: Technical Communicator Productivity Question From:Barb Miller <millerb -at- TCPLINK -dot- NREL -dot- GOV> Date:Fri, 10 Mar 1995 14:23:38 MDT
John Eldard asks
"In an 8 hour period. How productive do you think a technical writer or
editor or illustrator can be? Is it practical to think that since a
corporation is paying a technical communicator for 8 hours work that every
time the supervisor looks in on your cube you must be busily writing,
drawing, editing? How fast would you burn out at that rate?"
When I estimate projects I plan a 6-hour day of productive time. By
that I mean time actually charged to a project. I don't know how your
company works, but we have
Weekly 1-hour staff and 1/2-hour production meetings
Occasional all-hands meetings
Certain administrative duties that aren't project specific
Readings to keep up with the technologies we write about
Interruptions to discuss new concepts and projects.
You get the point. So no, I don't think you can be expected to be
writing, editing, and illustrating 8 hours a day.
Barb Miller
NREL
millerb -at- tcplink -dot- nrel -dot- gov
