Fwd: Follow-up: Acceptance of Mediocre Documentation

Subject: Fwd: Follow-up: Acceptance of Mediocre Documentation
From: Anonymous Poster <techwhirlanonpost -at- yahoo -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 12:19:33 -0700 (PDT)


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Many thanks!

Thanks to all the comments and suggestions that were
provided on how to deal with an environment that
accepts mediocre documentation. I just want to provide
some clarity or answers to some of the points that
were made.

I did a thorough review of my existing job?s
documentation department before accepting the
position. In the interview, I reviewed one of the
existing training manuals (they also allowed me to
take it home for review). It was explained to me that
it was written by a non-writer and it was not at the
level they knew the clients needed/wanted. Therefore,
that prompted them to create the position I currently
hold. I know I?ve only been here a month, but I
thought they would embrace my ideas and
recommendations, since they already saw a need for
improvements to the documentation. However, once I
started making the recommendations, I was met with
comments such as, ?We don?t want to be super formal?
or ?What we have written is good enough.? As I stated,
I wasn?t challenging trivial items such as font type
or point size. I was challenging disorganized content,
grammatical errors, and weak sentence structure. I
used sources to back up my recommendations so my
points would appear more credible. Also my
recommendations were not costly (it could be
accomplished with current software) nor did it involve
anyone doing any additional work, but me.

I think we will all have varying opinions on what is
mediocre documentation, but as a professional writers,
I think that we would (or should) all agree that
disorganized content and grammatical errors are
unacceptable, especially if fixing them is not going
to incur any additional costs or jeopardize meeting
deadlines. I agree with the posters who said the
documentation is probably not viewed as important.
But, I?m discouraged because this has happened
repeatedly and in various settings (both large and
small companies; companies where I?m the only tech
writer or a large tech communication department).

In regards to the comments of take up a hobby or just
Google all day, this solution is not for me. I don?t
leave my family and drive over an hour to surf the
Internet all day; I think it?s inappropriate and adds
to my frustration.

In the interim, I will revise some of the existing
documents (I?ve done this already, but will try again)
and explain in great detail my changes, why I made
these changes (supported by source material), and also
try to lend editing/writing services to other
departments. I?m not sure how well this will go over
since I?m new to the company and our time is logged
against particular projects that we are assigned to
work on. However, I?ve concluded that in the long run,
consulting is the way for me to go. I think I will
personally be more fulfilled.

Thanks again for all your comments and suggestions.



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