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"Paul" acts like he's scared, it seems to me. When he asked you to review
his work, he may have expected to hear from you what he's been hearing from
the company, that his documentation is good. He may fear that your critical
response will expose his weaknesses.
You seem to be taking the right steps, talking to him personally at first.
In the short term, you could say that perhaps you'd misinterpreted what kind
of review he was looking for and that you'll make sure to discuss that first
next time.
However, this sounds like a management problem to me. The probation is an
excellent time to bring issues like this up. It is your responsibility to
contribute to a congenial working environment, but not to determine what
your and "Paul's" duties and professional relationship will be. Ask your
manager what your professional relationship is supposed to be with fellow
tech writers? Will you be reviewing each other's work, working on the same
projects, working separately, or etc.? Is there a style or standards guide
-- if not, perhaps volunteer to begin developing one. Another thing I'd find
out is whether "Paul" has any input in deciding if you've "passed" your
probation period.
My advice is biased to how I've operated in American companies; I don't know
the cultural work rules in Holland.
On your larger problem, you may indeed be asked to fix his documentation,
but I don't see what's wrong with that. Fixing old documentation can be a
big, messy job, but when I do it, I just think of it as bringing old
documentation in line with new standards. Besides, by that time, the product
may have changed significantly, requiring a new set of documentation anyway.
P Dodd
Technical Publications
Tripwire, Inc.
These are my opinions only, not those of the management of Tripwire, Inc.
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