Re[2]: Number of Projects

[Kent Drummond <Kent_Drummond -at- CCMAIL -dot- BMC -dot- COM>]

     Bonni Graham Manual Labour bonnig -at- ix -dot- netcom -dot- com wrote:

>Point being, you can't do a good job if you're overloaded, so fair to you and
>fair to the company is often exactly the same thing. If you're feeling
>overworked
>and put-upon, and you consider yourself to be an honest and hard-working person
>regularly, you probably ARE overworked.

>Estimate how long you feel you need to complete each book, braid those
>estimates together (by weaving in work on one while you're waiting for new
>information or reviews on another to return) and come up with a set of end
>dates that allow you to do a quality job w/o working 80-hour workweeks. That's
>pretty fair, and appropriate, IMO (I'm not even going to try to CLAIM to be
>humble<g

Software companies seem to have the same problems cited by several on this
listserv. We all seem to feel responsible to get the documents out with the
products according to the schedule set by the product folks.

At our company, some of the technical writers incorporate their schedules with
the R & D developer's schedule, so there is sufficient time built into the
overall schedule for the technical writer's work. The problem, IMHO, seems to be
with managing the projects. If developers are not reporting their status
correctly each week, they are lying to their manager. If a manager allows people
to slip their schedules because of technical or personal problems, then the end
date has to shift or the developers have to work to make up the lost time. The
technical writer's deadline should be extended for every delay in the project
(with some small variations of course). What will happen if the technical writer
doesn't finish on the designated date? Will he get fired? That's doubtful, but
the manager may get attention from his boss or even the COO or CEO.

Kent Drummond -at- BMC -dot- COM
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: Number of Projects
Author:  Bonni Graham <bonnig -at- IX -dot- NETCOM -dot- COM> at unixlink
Date:    9/23/95 7:03 PM


Gordon Lundy wrote:

>The company that I am working for has me "loaded" up with 5 large >
orginal-writing projects,
<snip>
>So, maybe you could tell me what you think is appropriate or typical.  Thanks,

I think you're overworked, too.  This is where those Gantt charts we've been
discussing (some with revulsion) come into their own.

I was in a similar situation about four years ago.  I was the sole writer for
three families of software, each with five to seven modules, each with their own
development staff (except for writing), each due w/in about a week of each
 other.
One project was run by a outside "motivational" consultant (who supposedly
specialized in getting late software projects out the door), the other two by
 the
a single in-house product development manager. I went to the in-house guy,
 showed
him a set of Gantt charts (that took me about an hour to do in an old version of
TimeLine - UGH), and got one of his deadlines moved. He could do nothing about
the other; it had been promised to customers.

So I toddled over to the consultant's office to show him the stuff, since he had
what could be a movable deadline. His response?

"All of the pressure in a development cycle comes at the end, where
 documentation
usually takes place.  If you can't handle that pressure, I suggest you find
another career."

Not being one to take this kind of sh*t meekly, I flashed back, "Most of the
pressure in management comes from having to allocate your resources effectively.
If you can't handle that, maybe YOU should find another career." I went straight
to the CEO's office (it was a fairly small company), reported the conversation,
and let him know that he would be receiving my resignation that afternoon if
something didn't change. The deadline was moved (more I think because any
technical writer, even with attitude, was better than shipping the s/w to
librarians w/o doc than because I was so "powerful").

Point being, you can't do a good job if you're overloaded, so fair to you and
fair to the company is often exactly the same thing. If you're feeling
 overworked
and put-upon, and you consider yourself to be an honest and hard-working person
regularly, you probably ARE overworked.

Estimate how long you feel you need to complete each book, braid those estimates
together (by weaving in work on one while you're waiting for new information or
reviews on another to return) and come up with a set of end dates that allow you
to do a quality job w/o working 80-hour workweeks. That's pretty fair, and
appropriate, IMO (I'm not even going to try to CLAIM to be humble<g>).

Bonni Graham
Manual Labour
bonnig -at- ix -dot- netcom -dot- com