Re: Professional Respect

[SIANNON -at- VISUS -dot- JNJ -dot- com]

There are several things I've found that can contribute to turning around a 
disrespectful environment[1]:
-- Redefine the customer base as a strength:  When just starting one 
position, I was viewed as a glorified spellchecker by the guys on the team. 
Then I showed them how they, too were customers. I've proofed XML pages for 
one developer who was going blind trying to do so on his tiny laptop. I've 
developed simplified overviews of the system to help them negotiate with 
the internal customers of the system. I've suggested ways in which to 
improve the visibility of the work they are doing through team-focused 
documentation of the workflow, in order to improve how the team's workload 
and response time is perceived by both management and customers (it's 
amazing how often people forget INTERNAL marketing).
-- Use 'em if you got 'em:  Displaying other skills not always perceived as 
"tech writing" skills by the SMEs can improve your standing.  My value in 
one programmer's eyes went up considerably when he realized I could read 
enough SQL and VB to prevent him from having to spend hours explaining 
things to me -- he could just hand me a chunk of code if he was in a real 
hurry.  His treatment of me thereafter demonstrated greater respect, since 
he had redefined me in his mind as "someone who knows code".
-- Expand your role: My team has no dedicated QA person.  I therefore adopt 
a QA "hat" occasionally, because it helps prevent the guys from being 
embarrassed by bugs they may not see due to their close proximity, or being 
sideswiped by regulations they don't wish to spend the time to read, etc. 
It also has the added benefit of enhanced snooping -- you are _expected_ to 
be poking around everywhere, therefore you can find out more of what's 
going on without resentment.
-- Present the consequences: Every now and then, a good dose of 
consequences can underline your importance.  It's even better if it's 
reinforced by an internal auditor or regulatory type, but if you find a 
documentation issue that can cause the team problems, don't be timid about 
letting them know how badly they can be hit if you don't get the info. you 
need. Don't be threatening about it, of course, but if there are 
consequences from on high, it helps to use them to balance the "carrot" of 
quality representation you offer them.


[1] If these don't work, evaluate what effect the stress of being subjected 
to such disrespect is having on your ability to accomplish your work, on 
your health and on your job satisfaction, and decide whether a change of 
job might be more productive for you.


Oh, and a small note on the word "system": my memory is a bit fuzzed, but 
IIRC, R. Buckminster Fuller defined the smallest system (in a 3-dimensional 
context) as that which has an outside, an inside, and boundaries.  In a 
non-physical system, this can be portrayed as that which has content, 
forces/influences that affect it, and structure.

One of the first steps in documentation of a system involves defining the 
structure/boundaries that identify the system as discrete from its 
surroundings. The tech writer, in effect, defines what a system is in the 
course of documenting it.



Just my observations,
Shauna Iannone
-----------{-  -}------------

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

*** Deva(tm) Tools for Dreamweaver and Deva(tm) Search ***
Build Contents, Indexes, and Search for Web Sites and Help Systems
Available now at http://www.devahelp.com or info -at- devahelp -dot- com

A landmark hotel, one of America's most beautiful cities, and 
three and a half days of immersion in the state of the art:
IPCC 01, Oct. 24-27 in Santa Fe.  http://ieeepcs.org/2001/

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit 
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.