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Subject:Is this just the way things are? From:Catherine Scribner <cscribner -at- netscape -dot- net> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com Date:25 Nov 99 12:16:01 PST
This message has the same content as a message I sent about six hours ago, but
that may have been lost in transit. To those receiving both messages, if that
happens, I offer my apologies.
-------------------------------
I work in the documentation department of a large and successful software
company. I'm wondering if what astonishes and frustrates me about this
department is just the way things are in documentation departments.
1. Technical feasibility of a tool for Help creation is determined after a
decision to use that tool has been made.
2. Technical implementation is delegated to a person who has not been able to
produce acceptable results in more than six months.
3. The approved design of the Help system is constantly changing, depending
on
whom one speaks with.
4. In a recent release of the product, content about how to use the Help
system was incorrect and nobody seems to know who put the content in the
product.
Is this just the way things are in software companies? A colleague tells me
that the industry is too young to have been able to attract managers that
know
anything about management.
Is bad management just the price one pays for working in this industry?
Cathy Scribner
cscribner -at- netscape -dot- net
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