RE: Employee experience dilemma....

["Locke, David" <dlocke -at- bindview -dot- com>]

The real problem as I see it is that the problem is not a problem for
Atticus or his co-worker. Where do they get off? If the manager intended for
these people to teach Lisa how to do her job, then they wouldn't be
wondering what to do. The brief from management would be clear--train her,
mentor her, peer edit her work--whatever. Since there is no brief, I would
say butt out. 

Lisa's potential failure does not warrant preemption. The company I work for
is performance-based. If you don't do your job, you are gone. The other
people in the department will still be there. So Atticus has nothing,
absolutely nothing, to lose, and as a consequence nothing to say about the
matter. 

The real problem is a lack of leadership and management by the person in
charge. When Lisa, not a TW, was hired, someone should have been given a
clear brief. Management certainly understood that she was inexperienced.
And, leadership should have created an environment of camaraderie rather
than hostility. We do have one person who writes in an academic manner, and
has a contrary demeanor. I won't do peer edits with him, because he wants to
make everything long. And, I make all of his stuff short. We had a war over
it. We don't peer edit each other's work anymore. It's just a waste of time.
What gray areas are being fought over here?

We have inexperienced people in my department. Nobody fails. We, as
individuals, make sure of that. We get a clear brief that gets muddier as a
deadline approaches, and our own work reduces oversight efforts. The hardest
problem we  have isn't with wording, writing, or tools. We have processes,
editors, and experts for that. The hardest problem is teaching new people
not only how to write manuals, but how to be a lead, to know that beta means
draft rather than perfection, to know the degree to which a schedule will
slip, and to know when to descope a project. We don't need anyone burning
out from working nights and weekends, because of some imaginary ship date
that is six months too early.

Atticus, before you commit political suicide, go back to your office and
realize that it isn't your problem. Relax. 

David W. Locke