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Subject:Re: Editorial and technical reviews From:Sella Rush <SellaR -at- APPTECHSYS -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 29 Jan 1997 12:45:00 -0800
Sue, It sounds to me like you need to put off the "review" until later.
If the group is used to having lots of input on everything, and you
don't see any way to change their habit of commenting on anything and
everything that strikes them, work with that instead of trying to force
drastic changes on them. After all, if you end up having knockdown
dragouts every time you don't incorporate their changes, do you really
want to go through this process twice?
Re your boss, it doesn't sound like you're going to convince him/her.
But maybe the boss would go for delaying the review process.
Now what you need is to get some feedback on specific ways of presenting
information. Can't you figure out a way to do this without a "review"?
What about some short memos or talks with the programmers on the issues
you're concerned about. I do this all the time, because--like you
probably--I got tired of spending days on something only to be told my
basic premise was all wet.
Often I'll take an idea to someone--to "verify I'm on the right track."
Invariably I get to hear at great length that I'm totally wrong and why.
But in the course of the monolog, I pick up some much needed knowledge
and some good suggestions on how to revise what I've done. In fact, a
pretty good technical review. Its tough, because you have to work with
busy people and you have to listen really good and not get confused by
all the stuff they're throwing at you. I try to make a point of
reiterating what I think they're trying to tell me in the context of the
document I'm writing: "So, if I understand you right, the section
should be focussing on..."
Too bad you have to work with a bunch of know-it-alls. I'm pretty
lucky, my group leaves that editorial stuff to me--most of the time.
Good luck!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sella Rush
Applied Technical Systems, Inc. (ATS)
Bremerton, Washington USA
Developers of the CCM Database
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