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I would take it up a level. My first question would be "what are you hoping
to gain with the information?"
The answer to that question could help you set a direction. Sometimes the
manager needs to justify the number of employees they have, or wants to
justify adding another employee or a contractor. Sometimes they need to cut
money from the budget, and eliminate overtime (if you are paid overtime).
Nowadays, this question can, sadly, be a way to justify trimming labor costs
(i.e., lay off employees or cut hours).
That's just my take on the same question being asked of me in the past.
I did see a presentation a few days ago about reusability and gains (over
time, not right away) in productivity by using methodologies like DITA.
Other gains can be achieved by single-sourcing documentation, not printing
and mailing manuals any longer (provide a PDF if needed), providing
documentation only online, using agile principles where the tech writer is
included with the dev team so the writer has current information, building
in reviews iteratively instead of at the end, and so on.
If labor hours are an issue, perhaps there are writers who would be
interesting in job sharing? Two people share the same job, and essentially
work part time. Some parents of young children would love to do this, but if
their employer does not allow it, they don't ever ask. The key to this is
providing the same benefits, but paying 1/2 the position's salary to each
person.
Others have had good suggestions as well, and this topic is certainly
timely.
PT
On Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 11:37 AM, Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca> wrote:
> Allan Ackerson wondered: <<Management here just popped us with an
> annual requirement to show "productivity gains"! I can think of some
> tweaks here and there which would make our operation leaner and
> meaner, but as far as general document production goes, nothing comes
> to mind that will meet the goals they want. Would anyone care to
> share initiatives they used in similar circumstances?>>
>
> <cues the music> "To dream, the impossible dream, ..." <g>
>
> There's no good way to do this, but there are a few less sucky ways.
> First, ask management what areas they see as problems so you can look
> for specific solutions tailored to those problems. That will give you
> maximum bang for your buck. (If they don't actually see any problems,
> it's up to you whether it would be politically astute to ask them
> "then what the frack are you trying to fix?")
>
> One really good solution that you haven't a hope in Hades of
> implementing would be the following: "If we made the interface more
> intuitive (for example, by using user-centered design combined with
> usability testing and by embedding help and affordances in the
> interface), we could reduce the amount of documentation required by
> 20%. That would have obvious implications for productivity."
>
> Other possibilities include creating a style guide that actually gets
> used* and thereby reduces the amount of rework, using onscreen editing
> to speed up and improve the quality of the review and revision
> process, and finalizing design targets for the interface before anyone
> actually begins programming. Having to repeatedly revise the
> documentation to keep up with a changing interface, or having to wait
> to the last possible instant to document the interface (once it's
> frozen) is clearly unproductive -- never mind that it's considered a
> "best practice" by development managers.
>
> * For a few thoughts:
>http://www.geoff-hart.com/articles/2000/dynamicstyle.htm
>
> --------------------------------------------------------
> Geoff Hart (www.geoff-hart.com)
> ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca / geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com
> --------------------------------------------------------
> ***Now available*** _Effective onscreen editing_
> (http://www.geoff-hart.com/books/eoe/onscreen-book.htm)
>
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