RE: wording for training materials

["Susan W. Gallagher" <sgallagher5 -at- cox -dot- net>]

I've worked with good editors and bad editors and no
editors at all, and as department manager, I've also
put in my time as consistency police.

In general, a good editor offers suggestions for
improving the docs without being dictatorial. That
said, the larger the team and the more tightly
integrated the doc set, the more the rules need to
be enforced. If the writer were producing a chapter
in a manual or a book in a doc set and refused to
conform to using second person or continued to write
"click on the OK button" while the rest of the team
used "click OK", I'd see real problems here.

However, a PowerPoint presentation to the tech support
team is a stand-alone piece that should not be subjected
to the same editorial control as a chapter in a book
would be.

And that is, of course, only my opinion. Much in the
described situation depends on the relationship between
the writer and the manager and the manager's intent in
editing the work. If the manager/editor intended that every
edit be made, that should have been made clear to the employee
and the manager/editor should have had final sign-off on
the presentation before it was released. Such a procedure
would have eliminated any misunderstanding.

What I really don't understand is how this issue became a
matter for the whole team. IMO, if the manager had a problem
with the employee's behavior that problem should have been
communicated to the employee behind closed doors. If the
team noticed the style discrepancy and complained to the
manager? Well, I would have made it clear that the matter
was not up for public debate, but that's me.

Just my two cents...
-Sue Gallagher
 



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