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.
Here's a somewhat amusing story about telecommuting...
In my previous job as Tech Pubs Manager for a fairly large software
company, we had only full time, onsite tech writers.
One quarter, when we were in a terrible bind, I hired a few contractors
to work on projects. They were small projects (by comparison) and the
contractors were told they could work from home (or wherever) and only
needed to come in a few times to meet with the engineers and get screen
shots.
One of the contractors lived about an hour or so away and came in to
meet with the engineers at the beginning of the project. He would then
e-mail his work in so it could be reviewed.
For some reason, it may have been a language barrier, the QA engineer he
was working with kept telling the contractor that the document was
completely wrong and he should come to the third floor (where the
engineer sat) and see the software. Of course the contractor kept
telling him he didn't work in the building and didn't have access to the
network. When he asked what was wrong, the engineering was never
specific and gave one or two minor problems.
The engineer escalated the 'problem' to his manager who called me to say
there was a problem with the contractor, he wasn't cooperating, wasn't
doing a good job, etc.
I kept explaining to them that the contractor didn't work for us, he
couldn't 'live' in the building as they wanted, but they kept insisting
that he needed to come in. Yet, they couldn't tell me what 'major'
problems existed with the document either.
Finally, we connected the tech writing contractor with the contractor
who was actually writing the code (also a telecommuter) and they were
able to work out the 'problems' together (which were really just normal,
minor draft errors).
So, what's my point? These engineers really did need to SEE the writer
on a daily basis. They couldn't deal with a writer who couldn't 'come
to the third floor' at the whim of the engineer.
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<META HTTP-EQUIV=3D"Content-Type" CONTENT=3D"text/html; =
charset=3Dus-ascii">
<META NAME=3D"Generator" CONTENT=3D"MS Exchange Server version =
5.5.1960.3">
<TITLE>RE: Telecommuting availability (was Re: US Professional =
issues)</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>Here's a somewhat amusing story about =
telecommuting...</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>In my previous job as Tech Pubs Manager for a fairly =
large software company, we had only full time, onsite tech =
writers.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>One quarter, when we were in a terrible bind, I hired =
a few contractors to work on projects. They were small projects =
(by comparison) and the contractors were told they could work from home =
(or wherever) and only needed to come in a few times to meet with the =
engineers and get screen shots.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>One of the contractors lived about an hour or so away =
and came in to meet with the engineers at the beginning of the =
project. He would then e-mail his work in so it could be =
reviewed.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>For some reason, it may have been a language barrier, =
the QA engineer he was working with kept telling the contractor that =
the document was completely wrong and he should come to the third floor =
(where the engineer sat) and see the software. Of course the =
contractor kept telling him he didn't work in the building and didn't =
have access to the network. When he asked what was wrong, the =
engineering was never specific and gave one or two minor =
problems.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>The engineer escalated the 'problem' to his manager =
who called me to say there was a problem with the contractor, he wasn't =
cooperating, wasn't doing a good job, etc.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>I kept explaining to them that the contractor didn't =
work for us, he couldn't 'live' in the building as they wanted, but =
they kept insisting that he needed to come in. Yet, they couldn't =
tell me what 'major' problems existed with the document =
either.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>Finally, we connected the tech writing contractor =
with the contractor who was actually writing the code (also a =
telecommuter) and they were able to work out the 'problems' together =
(which were really just normal, minor draft errors).</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>So, what's my point? These engineers really did =
need to SEE the writer on a daily basis. They couldn't deal with =
a writer who couldn't 'come to the third floor' at the whim of the =
engineer.</FONT></P>
