Re: Weaning Strategies

[Sheila Marshall <sheila -at- STK -dot- COM>]

Michael asked:
So we need another attack plan. I want to "wean" these folks off of my
help, but we still have quality issues to tackle. How can I provide
useful support without simply becoming a crutch?

I saw two suggestions about this (one from Richard, one from Brian), who
whole-heartedly suggested charging more than the dept is willing to pay and
charging all work to a department. Is it me, or is this an "over the wall"
attitude? During my company's growth phase, I did many strange tasks that
weren't in my job description --including editing other people's stuff. If
someone started using me as a personal assistant, I just informed them that
I could no longer continue to help them because it was affecting the
deliverable schedule. I did try to provide another solution,  if possible.
But I didn't just keep raising rates until someone could no longer afford
me. If you don't tell the person on the other end what the problem is, how
is he/she going to know enough to change perspectives?

Also, why is this a departmental thing? Isn't everyone at work to get it
right for the customer, whoever that may be? Maybe it's the fact that I
work for a company that started at 38 people and is now up to 160 in only 3
years. We don't have job descriptions because it might cause that whole
"it's not my job" syndrome. And we all are (hopefully) working toward the
same goal: customer satisfaction. If we have a problem, it's not a
departmental problem, it's a company problem. Whoever needs to be involved
to solve the problem is involved regardless of department. Making a
department pay for your resources may be fair but it may also send out the
wrong message --that you aren't a team player. It also doesn't address the
issue--your company wants to improve the quality of all writing done there.
That's a great thing!

OK, sorry. I just went off there for a moment. I'm back to the real issue
now. Michael, have you considered generating a list of grammar rules,
possibly a company style guide? You could give a lunchtime seminar about
good writing skills, hand out some guidelines, then start easing yourself
out of the process. I think a proofreader may be a good bet -- perhaps the
new person could also help you out and branch into other areas such as
formatting presentations. And, this is a great way for someone with no
experience to get his/her foot in the door.

Sheila
(Reply off-list -- I get the digest)