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Re: Seeking counsel - yet another difficult work situation (extremely long)
Subject:Re: Seeking counsel - yet another difficult work situation (extremely long) From:TechComm Dood <techcommdood -at- gmail -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Fri, 17 Dec 2004 13:02:53 -0500
> Documentation always falls through the cracks when NOBODY cares. The
> person who should care is YOU.
Ah, so much can be said by that very short and accurate statement.
I wouldn't say that NOBODY cares in most cases, but they EXPECT that
YOU as the technical writer will care and see to it that the work is
done well. If you're the only person tasked with creating
documentation, then unless your environment is significantly
anti-documentation (in which case, why'd they hire you?) they are
looking to YOU to define process and procedure and enact those
processes in the workplace.
Of course, you need to do your homework to see how much AUTHORITY you
have to get the job done, else find out who DOES have the authority to
back you processes.
And do heed my advice about reason for process... it's for the good of
the company, and NOT for the good of YOU. If you benefit, then it's a
win-win. But the company needs to benefit from your process. If that
means you have additional work in some aspect, then so be it (and
perhaps that justifies opening a position for an additional writer...
perhaps).
But I agree with Diane. This is the stuff I love, and what gives me
satisfaction when all's said and done. I get significantly more
satisfaction in knowing I navigated a difficult situation to achieve
some results than I do from working within a darn good pre-defined
process to create what everyone thinks is a perfect document.
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