Productivity

[Sherrill Fink <sfink -at- RELAY -dot- NSWC -dot- NAVY -dot- MIL>]

Michael Uhl said:

    1. Productivity is measured across projects, comparing one project
       against another. You should not attempt to measure it within a
       project. The goal in measuring productivity is to improve
       output while holding or improving quality. This means improving
       the skills of the people or improving the processes.

I respectfully disagree. I believe almost exactly the opposite.  I believe
comparing projects is the old apples to oranges problem.  One project was
a long technical report; another was a pamphlet.  One project involved
extensive rewriting; one was merely copyediting and was full of formulas
and little text (and not being expected to check the formulas).  One author
was responsive to queries; one was impossible to contact or was belligerent/
defensive/????.  I believe productivity can only be measured within a
project and according to these questions:

Michael Uhl also said:

    2. Management should judge your performance based on what you agreed
       to at the beginning. Did you meet the deadline? Is the quality at
       the level agreed upon? If not, why? Did the communicator choose
       an inappropriate process? Did they underestimate the work? Was there
       some unanticipated event (mitigating circumstances)?

I agree with this almost totally!  These questions determine the writer's
productivity, IMHO.  Was the customer satisfied?  If so, why?  Was the
customer alienated and PO'ed?  Why?  However, sometimes the customer is
unsatisfiable (is that a word?)!  How does that impact the judgment of the
writer's productivity?

Again, IMHO, the questions Michael uses in #2 show me that one cannot
judge across projects as indicated in #1.  Please, Michael, I am not flaming
you, but rather, your arguments have been thought provoking.  I appreciate
sincere disagreement; I can only hope I am coming across that way.

So, what do other techwhirlers think?

Sherrill Fink
Technical Writer/Editor
Safety & Environmental Office
Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division

P.S. I also agree with Michael's assertion that one electronic publishing
program is right for all projects and that we must be flexible enough to use
the tools that are right for *each* project regardless of our favorite tool.