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.
In our company, Documentation resides in the Engineering organization
and is an integral part of the development process. As such,
historically we have been recipients of project-related bonuses awarded
to the development team. As our company grows and as development
projects occur in parallel without everyone working on every project, we
need to take a look at how the bonus process is or is not working.
As you all know, this is a difficult subject. No matter what management
decides, someone will be unhappy. But, given that, I*d like to find out
if there are other successful and positive ways to handle bonuses. Can
you avoid the *expectation* of bonuses? Can you avoid the feelings of *I
worked harder than he/she did...why did he/she get more?* Have you been
able to reward a team effort in addition to recognizing individual
accomplishments? How? Have you done away with the darn things
altogether??
I would certainly appreciate your feedback on this subject. Feel free to
respond to me personally or to the list. I will communicate any trends
and discoveries back to the list.
Thank you all for your thoughts and time!
**********************************************************
Deborah Ellyn Wood
Manager of Documentation
ShareData, Santa Clara, CA
DWood -at- sharedata -dot- com