TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
The main thing that I would add to Dan's suggestions is that you reply to
this request with a very professional request of your own for PRIORITY
ACCESS to the SMEs both for the information-gathering meetings Dan suggests
AND for content review of the document-in-progress during the next two
weeks. Copy your boss, since the request came from "his protege." Point out
that in order to produce a manual within their timeframe, and have the
content as accurate as possible, you will be handing off small pieces of the
document for review as they're written (such as on the daily basis Dan
suggested) and will need them returned to you very quickly.
Also, stock your workspace with whatever makes it most pleasant for you
(music, munchies, whatever) because you're going to be spending a lot of
time there for the next couple of weeks. (I hope you're hourly & not
salaried!)
Finally, if possible, take a day off after the manual is completed &
shipped.
An ultra-short document timetable isn't a pleasant task, but it is possible
if you just stay focused on the task at hand. And if they've already set the
product shipping date, you're not likely to have much luck negotiating a
more realistic timeframe for this project -- although if you keep decent
records of the nightmare this will cause both you and the SMEs to churn out
the manual, you may be able to discuss more reasonable timelines (and the
resulting increase in quality that would create) for future projects, but
not until after this one is finished.
best of luck!
Lyn
-----Original Message-----
From: Mike O.
Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 2004 1:19 PM
...<snip>...
1. Start TODAY on the manual. Make an outline that includes at least the
Top Ten most important topics. If you don't know something, put in a
placholder that says "DEVELOPMENT TEAM WILL PROVIDE INFO HERE."
Especially if there is a long reference list or appendix, generate all
the terms and put in placeholders for the definitions.
2. Then tomorrow, or asap, circulate the ugly thing for review. Meet
with everybody you can to fill in the placeholders.
Repeat Steps 1 and 2 every day for the next two weeks... Stick to your
scope; don't be afraid to say no, even to VIPs, for new time-consuming
topics. Offload pieces of work whenever you can.
During the day you will be meeting with engineers and accessing the
hardware/software where appropriate. At night you will be drawing
diagrams, reformatting, and writing up your notes from the day.
SEE THE ALL NEW ROBOHELP X5 IN ACTION: RoboHelp X5 is a giant leap forward
in Help authoring technology, featuring Word 2003 support, Content
Management, Multi-Author support, PDF and XML support and much more! http://www.macromedia.com/go/techwrldemo
>From a single set of Word documents, create online Help and printed
documentation with ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 7 Professional, a new yearly
subscription service offering free updates and upgrades, support, and more. http://www.doctohelp.com
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -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.
