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Subject:Maintaining consistency in multi-person projects From:geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA Date:Mon, 28 Jul 1997 12:30:13 -0500
If I've quoted the thread right, 'twas Chris Hamilton who
wrote <<Aside from style guides and convention
descriptions, how do you maintain consistency among all
that's written? How do you make sure that you've covered
all the remifications of a change when the big picture is
distributed over two brains?>>
As always, consider getting a good editor. Not just someone
who will check the text against the style guide, but who
will make the two or more independent voices sound like
they're the same person, and who will explore the logical
consequences of each decision. You can also involve the
editor in managing the workflow so that at least that one
person is aware of all changes and can try to account for
their ramifications. If you don't have resources for an
editor, then it falls to either the project manager or one
of the writers to take on this role... the key thing is
that it's got to be one person. See your next point:
You also noted that problems arise when the big picture is
distributed over more than one brain, and that suggests the
solution: create a single design document that encapsulates
the big picture, and make sure that everyone has "read
only" access to that picture. Only let one person change
the design document, and make sure that this person
understands very clearly how to explore the ramifications
of proposed changes and communicate these to everyone else
who's using the design document.
--Geoff Hart @8^{)} geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Disclaimer: Speaking for myself, not FERIC.
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