Re: Information gathering.....

["Tom Johnson" <tomjohnson1492 -at- gmail -dot- com>]

I once ran into a business analyst who said he implemented a technique like
this at his former company and it worked extremely well. I blogged briefly
about the idea here: http://tinyurl.com/5e4v88.

Tom




On Mon, Jul 28, 2008 at 2:32 PM, Al Geist <al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com>wrote:

> HI all,
>
>
>
> I'm in a typical situation..my writing staff has been reduced by half, the
> project load has grown and the deadlines are shrinking. (Sound familiar?)
> My
> department head has decided that the problems with us falling behind is
> because our information gathering is inefficient. (He has never worked as a
> technical writer and views technical publications as a necessary evil
> rather
> than a valued component of the company's products.)  The department head is
> pushing for us to incorporate video taping into the information gathering
> process. His idea is to have the engineers videotape the setup/alignment
> process so we won't have to bother them with questions. Those same
> engineers
> would discuss the various components making up the systems. (These systems
> use pneumatics, hydraulics, and electronics to align and bond silicon
> wafers
> and are extremely precise.) We would take the tapes and write the books.
> Reviews would be accomplished by training as they train the field service
> staff. (How they would know what is correct or what is and error was not
> part of his proposal.)
>
>
>
> Prior to my arrival at this company, the "lone technical writer" worked
> part-time and did litter more than stuff material written by the engineers
> into a Word template and shoved it out the door. There was no review of the
> material. The result was garbage. I have worked hard to move the
> publications beyond those dark days to a professional level and do not want
> to go backwards. (I should add that our company is going through a change
> in
> management and board of directors. It is a subsidiary of a German
> corporation. We have a new CFO who is in cost cutting mode and is only
> looking at bottom line. My Department Head is a long-time employee, but in
> a
> new position. He wants to look good.)
>
>
>
> Has anyone had experience incorporating video in the information gathering
> process for technical publications? How did it work for you (or did it
> work)? Did it vastly improve efficiency, or was the development time about
> the same? If you used video, what did you have to do to ensure the
> information you got was worthwhile?
>
>
>
> Any and all help/information on this subject will be gladly accepted.
>
>
>
> That bottle of Rare Vos is looking pretty good right about now.
>
>
> Thanks,
>
>
>
> Al Geist
>
> Technical Communicator, Help, Web Design, Video, Photography
>
> Office/Msg: 802-872-9190
>
> Cell: 802-578-3964
>
> Website: www.geistassociates.com
>
> See Also:
>
> Fine Art Photography
>
> Website: www.geistimages.com
>
>
>
> "...I walked to work, quit my job, and kept walking. Better to be a pilgrim
> without a destination, I figured, than to cross the wrong threshold each
> day." (Sy Safransky)
>
>
>
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