Re: Do I have a right to feel POed??

[Kevin McLauchlan <kmclauchlan -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com>]

On Thursday 22 August 2002 15:55, Tom Murrell wrote:
[...]
> The next time they need to call a meeting of the
> "Key Participants" on a project, the writers will be left
> off the list, forgotten, or ignored. It's frustrating.
> It's enough to drive a good writer to drink (often not a
> long trip, I admit). But there it is.
>
> What you have to do is deal with it anyway. 
[...]

Oo! Oo! <waving hand>  Anecdote time!

In a previous incarnation, I had that kind of experience.
I got handed a "to-do" list that clashed rather hideously 
with the rest of my schedule (and those of other people 
who were counting on me and who had enlisted my 
participation in their projects). The honcho in question 
did not react well when I told him where his requirement 
would fit into my (and my other "clients'") existing 
schedule.  [There were basically a handful of small 
project teams at the company, each developing a 
product for separate customer. We did "one-offs" and 
small numbers of custom microwave/satellite-link 
equipment.]

I was able to acquire "minutes" (well, they weren't really 
that official and organized) from the meetings his group 
had held over a period of about three months. I gathered 
them into an annotated timeline and sent them to the 
culprit -- and to half the rest of the company -- with my 
own additions.  At key points in the chronology, I inserted 
my comments like: "And this was where I told you what 
I needed to document your product and what seemed to 
be the conflicts with other project schedules, and we 
agreed that your project was simple enough that the 
product would not need documentation."

(Or words to that effect.)

There were several of those, sprinkled through the record.
At the end, I noted that they were fictional, but "were what 
I would have told you if you had consulted me, 
acknowledging the needs and priorities of other project 
leaders -- who, incidentally, kept in touch with me and 
each other to resolve any conflicts as they appeared."

Again, "words to that effect". This was about 1990.

The idea was to praise the other managers/leaders and 
to highlight how -- by maintaining contact/negotiations 
with the lone writer -- they were respecting each other 
and not presuming to hijack limited resources without 
consultation.

He certainly showed me what a mistake it was to cross 
him, though. He hired a freelancer.     ... at additional 
cost, only to get his documents late anyway, and not 
as polished as he'd have gotten from somebody who 
knew the company's products and milieu, and who 
therefore would have picked up the nuances in a fraction 
of the time.

I left to join Ericsson, not long after, so I never really 
suffered the wrath. Hope my replacement did ok. I did 
coach him.  :-)

/kevin 

-- 
** DIR-ty DEEDS, and they're DONE dirt cheap. (Sing it, 
now...)
    


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