Re: Dividing the Tech writer job

[Melissa Conniff <mconniff -at- CSC -dot- COM>]

See my comments below:


Oy! I was worried when reading this that you were going to be a
guy...which would have gotten you flamed, most likely. The use of "girls"
so often in here is quite un-PC, at least in American circles. Of course,
if you were refering to under-18-year-old helper staff, it wouldn't have
been a problem.

Yeouch folks!  Documentation girls is basically what their title is.  shrug.
I certainly didn't start calling them that!  In fact, they call themselves
Word Processors.

Anyway, it sounds like you've got quite a task cut out for you! How many
writers are there on staff (*REAL* writers, like you). How long have you
been working here? How has it been determined what tasks were assigned to
you (and the other real writers), and what was assigned to the typists?

I just joined the group in April.  I was assigned to a small and specific group,
so as of this week, I am now the only writer for two completely different
software products. They have not seen a tech writer for over ten years since
the software was originally created in Australia.  After it moved here, they
hired people (p.c. enough?!) to basically type.  None of the docs have seen
a tech writer's hand in all that time.
How important is your boss, on the management level? Is this a person
who, when heard, is going to be listened to? If not, is there someone
else, higher up in the management team, who truly cares about having good
documentation?

My new boss is a V.P. and his boss is the V.P. over both software products.
They understand that we have out grown the current processes.  We want to
wipe the slate clean and start over from scratch.  So I have complete
backing by the uppers.
Are they planning to hire more senior writers, or are you likely going to
be dealing with junior/intern level writers? What is the timeline for
getting the new writers in?
Yes, we plan to hire more tech writers.  But first I'm gathering a list
of all docs that need to be written/updated/ect.  so that we can get an
accurate idea of how many senior writers we will need.  Hopefully with in
this month we will have somemore on board.

Do you have influence over the whole flow of documentation? That is, once
individual positions are defined, is it likely that you'll have the power
to enforce the definitions of the roles?

Yes.  In fact, my boss and I are defining the procedures on when the techwriters
will become involved in the creation process.  i.e. I'll be involved in the
beginning and not as an after thought.
If you can give some more information like this, we might be able to give
you more pointed information. With only the information you've provided, I
don't know enough to give you any opinion/information likely to be helpful.
-David Castro
 techwrtr -at- crl -dot- com

On Mon, 10 Aug 1998, Melissa Conniff wrote:
> My department just got reorganized--in this case it's a good thing!  We are
> creating a documenation department from the ground up.  Currently, in this group
> there is me, the tech writer, and two Documentation girls who do not have any
tech
> writing background.

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