Re: Artfully is dragging

[Dan Glovier <dan -at- COYOTE -dot- TSH -dot- COM>]

The Gods overheard Jane Bergen state:

>Does anyone else have some ideas how
>to solve the problem of getting someone to proofread drafts? I'm the
>only tech writer for 9 engineers and they are pumping  out programs
>faster than I can write....they say they don't have time. Our products
>are very complex and technical computer telephony programs.

Well, it looks like this attitude needs some straightening out.
I would talk to management. Point out what is needed, how this
is not being met, and how, through some *front end* effort, you can
save tons of problems on the *back end* (support  calls). They
like to hear how they will reduce the number of calls to their help
desk/tech support.

Actually, we just instituted a new field for our support calls. If
the support tech believes that a call could have been avoided via
a change/inclusion/whatever of the documentation, they are strongly
encouraged (by management) to note this. This is accomplished via
the following field on the support screen:

Doc change required? _

The default for this field is N, as we knew it would be :).
We can then run a report to sort by those calls that have a Y
in this field. So far, we have received a couple of decent
suggestions in the 3 months it has been in service.

All in all, unless management buys in and supports your efforts,
it is going to be a long and hard struggle.

I'm going home now, I'm very tired and I've rambled long enough.

-Dan Glovier
dglovier -at- tsh -dot- com