Re: More Follow-up

Subject: Re: More Follow-up
From: Bill Swallow <techcommdood -at- gmail -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Fri, 27 May 2005 10:47:46 -0400


You have issues here that are bigger than this list can solve. If
you're looking for a "yeah, I feel sorry for you" then I think you got
it. You also got a "so what are you going to do about it" group of
responses, and that is what I'm going to tackle now.

So, what are you going to do about it?

You and others you work with have identifies symptoms of a problem.
Where is the problem localized? Project Management? Engineering? CEO
down? Where?

I don't know your company culture, so I don't know how to best advise
you on approaching this, but you need to speak up as a group, not of
people, but of information development experts, and not just explain
there is a problem, but why it's a problem, who it affects (it's not
just your users), what it causes, what it costs, and have a plan ready
to put into action to change for the better. And, make sure your plan
is measurable in its improvements.

I'm not sure what you're looking for, but consider this reply a
kickstart to thinking not how crappy a position you're in, but how to
change your situation.

If there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that ANY
situation can be changed for the better. You just need to figure out
how. Usually you need to be business minded and pollitically savvy to
pull it off.

So get on that. ;-)

On 5/27/05, Anonymous Poster <techwhirlanonpost -at- yahoo -dot- com> wrote:
> I submit the document for approval, and my changes are
> disregarded. I am not begging for permission to write
> or asking someone to hold my hand. The problem is my
> changes are disregarded. I have no control over what
> is shipped with the final product or what is posted to
> the website. So, if my changes are far superior to the
> original, it doesn't matter; they don't incorporate my
> changes into the final product. My dilemma isn't
> should I make these changes or how to make these
> change; the dilemma is the changes are totally ignored
> and disregarded. When I address this issue with the
> person who approves the document, there response is,
> "We're not looking for perfection." I think the poster
> had it correct when he said the person who I have to
> submit my documentation to is probably the original
> writer of these documents and was instructed to hire a
> writer even if this is something he didn't want to do.
>
> Also, I'm not sure if I stated this, but I am a part
> of a team of writers. I'm not just a lone writer. When
> I've discussed this issue with a co-worker, she says
> she has similar problems with her project manager (all
> the writers report to different people). But, because
> we are well compensated, it doesn't bother her that
> her ideas are disregarded.

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References:
Fwd: More Follow-up: From: Anonymous Poster

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