How would you handle this?

[Tech Writer <tech-writer -at- ROCKETMAIL -dot- COM>]

Please excuse the pseodonymous posting, but in these days of web
searching by present and future employers, I'd like to keep myself
hidden, at least for this post.

Background: I've survived a couple of reorganizations at this company;

while programmers have been let go, they keep me around as the only
tech writer, leaving me to figure that they must know they need me,
but
they're not sure why.  After the first reorg, development projects
were
dumped, replaced by a "buy, not build" philosophy.  After the second
recent reorg, incredibly, another layer of management was introduced,
composed of some new people who don't know what they've gotten
themselves into, leaving me in the odd position of needing to tell my
management what they should be telling me to do.

("Why don't you take the afternoon off?" is a suggestion that commonly

comes to mind these days.)

Now before you tell me to quit, that's not an option for me?tech
writer
jobs are scarce in my area and that would require a move to another
city, possibly another state.

So determined to stay, I sense there could be an opportunity here.  My

duty since the last reorg has been to "document the system" (for
internal use).  System is a 4GL order processing system that handles
incoming orders for the company's client's customers.  Orders are
processed through some 130+ tables in various order and inventory
databases running on UNIX boxes.  So far, I have overview and
configuration documents, and some schema.

The programmers are generally an inexperienced bunch with little
appreciation of the need to accurately document the system and keep it

updated. There's potentially 30 or 40 of them I could deal with to get

information, but they're often overworked from excessive pager duty,
and management hasn't made it clear to them how important it is to
cooperate with me and have a well-documented system.  And they haven't

generally informed the bunch what a tech writer is and does.  They
leave that to me, and of course the programmers don't view me as
someone they should be answerable to, so information flows in at a
trickle.

So, assuming it's worth the bother, how do I educate middle and upper
management on how to adjust this culture so effective documentation
can
be produced? Or, put another way, if you were offered a princely sum
(say, 2x or 3x your present salary, or whatever it might take), how
would you introduce documentation management into this organization?
While I have the tech writer skills to do documentation, my management

skills are minimal?I'm willing to learn what I can, but to me, it's a
question of, well, I can either do the job, or manage the situation,
but it's hard to do both.

I know there are comic elements to this situation, and I do appreciate

you wisecrackers on this list, but I appreciate your serious
suggestions as well!

tech-writer -at- rocketmail -dot- com






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