Re: The mushroom syndrome

["Benson, Tasha" <Tbenson -at- UNIFI -dot- COM>]

I agree with John.  I've gotten the entire development and Product
Operations groups to work with the writers by having them do the meeting
minutes.  Not only do we have a good starting point for are manuals but we
are usually aware of software/development changes.  We include in our
meeting minutes distribution not only the engineers that attended the
meeting but also all engineering managers, marketing, and Product
Operations.  This has helped cut back on the number of last minute changes
because all of the involved parties know what is going on (well, when they
actually choose to read the meeting minutes).  As the engineers have seen
how we cut back on the number of "fixes" they have to make to their code
because of misunderstandings and they don't have to hold prod ops hands as
much they have gotten much more proactive at inviting us to all meetings.
-tasha

Tasha Benson                    Phone: 978-551-7417
UNIFI Communications, Inc.      Fax: 978-551-7988
900 Chelmsford Street
Lowell, MA 01851                        <mailto:tbenson -at- unifi -dot- com>

"After all, when you come right down to it, how many people speak the same
language even when they speak the same language?"   Russell Hoban


<<Snip from John Gilger:  Most engineers and programmers I have met are
happy to have a writer on
the team even if you just start out <tc-heresy> taking the meeting notes
</tc-heresy>. Actually, taking the notes of the meetings gives you a
good start on developing your manuals because you get to record why the
decisions were made.  Unfortunately, they don't usually remember to ask
for a writer on their team.  Be proactive.>>


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