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> Be relaxed and friendly. If it's a bad time, reschedule. If they want
> to talk about fishing, listen. And always say thank you. Many times.
> Say specific things, like "You always explain things so clearly. /This
> is really going to improve the book. /The users are going to like
> this." At the end of the last project, I brought in a chocolate cake
> and invited everyone who had contributed to come have a piece. This
> was very popular!
>
At the Region 7 STC conference (October 1997), the presenter
discussing technical reviews for documentation asked for sure-fire
methods of getting cooperation from SMEs. The answer: chocolate. (Hard
wired into engineering brains, they thought.) I've started keeping a
candy jar of chocolate almonds on my desk. Whoever has to wander in for
a Q&A session gets offered a handful. Of course, all the other
techniques work well, too, but there's something so ... primal about
food.
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Wendy Putman, Technical Writer
Castleton Network Systems, Burnaby, BC
Tel: (604) 293-0039 / Internal: 722-5432
Email: wputman -at- castleton -dot- com
