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.
Subject:RE: About responsibility and fault From:John Posada <JPosada -at- book -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 7 Apr 2003 10:07:46 -0400
>You don't manage professionals by ordering them around. Most
>professionals don't appreciate managers that meddle in their
>work and boss them around. They
You don't order them around, but you define the rules by which they do their
job.
Keep an up-to-date copy of source code in VSS
Submit a status report every Friday afternoon.
Not cannot write code in Clarion.
Be done with the coding by next Friday
See they get ordered around every day in many ways.
However, a professional technical writer shouldn't have to resort to this,
though sometimes it is necessary. I needed the CTO to express his belief
that documenting all of the processes was important to him (the CTO).
Nothing heavy handed, just let him know that the requirement was not an
insignificant issue. He also gave the developer the option of either working
with me or doing it on his own. He chose the former...it was easier.
John Posada
Senior Technical Writer
Barnes&Noble.com
jposada -at- book -dot- com
NY: 212-414-6656
Dayton: 732-438-3372
Although she lives with seven other men, she's not easy.
------ Magic Mirror
-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew Plato [mailto:gilliankitty -at- yahoo -dot- com]
Sent: Monday, April 07, 2003 1:07 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: Re: About responsibility and fault
"Bonnie Granat" wrote
> I am not calling for hand-holding. I am calling for managers to *tell*
> developers that they MUST give writers what the writers need. I am saying
that
> managers must ORDER developers to perform their jobs, which include the
> imparting of information to writers, in a way that is satisfactory to
> management.
You don't manage professionals by ordering them around. Most professionals
don't appreciate managers that meddle in their work and boss them around.
They
definitely don't like being told to wet-nurse a technical writer who is
unwilling/unable to get up to speed on a project.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Purchase RoboHelp X3 in April and receive a $100 mail-in
rebate, plus FREE RoboScreenCapture and WebHelp Merge Module.
Order here: http://www.ehelp.com/products/robohelp/
Help celebrate TECHWR-L's 10th Anniversary starting this month!
Check out the contests at http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/special/contests/
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday TECHWR-L....
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
