Blue in the Face

["Karen E. Black" <kblack_text -at- hotmail -dot- com>]

Talking about pulling teeth...I mean, getting reviews of your documentation.

<run-on sentence>In a previous incarnation (a pre-incarnation? if I was a 
hillbilly, would it be a re-intarnation?), when I finished writing the 
implementation release notes (I reported to the QA manager, so it was easy 
to get the information), I would drift around the office dropping hard 
copies of the user/table doc and a copy of the bulletin, with the pertinent 
passages marked by highlighter or sticky-notes, on the desk or chair of each 
person who was responsible for reviewing or delegating the review.</run-on 
sentence>

Then I sent an e-mail to each of these people with a request (or an 
ultimatum, if you like) that if I did NOT hear from that person by a given 
date and time, I would assume that I had their tacit approval for the 
contents and format of the material. Sometimes I would get a "delete unread" 
notification on this message, but I usually got the modifications or 
approvals I needed before I distributed the material.

Right now, I can't get the managers I need to review a doc to pull their 
thumbs out...long enough to get to it. Problem.

What are some of the methods (since one method only just can't be relied on) 
that others use to get reviews? I am trying to build the kinds of 
relationships at this new job (and it just might be possible) that I can 
drop in unannounced and ask for 5 minutes to go over the document.

Karen E. Black
Technical Writer
www.dhltd.com
--------------------------------------------
"Higgledy Piggledy, my white hen;
She lays eggs for gentlemen.
You cannot persuade her with gun or lariat
To come across for the proletariat."
--Dorothy Parker


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