TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: A salutary lesson From:Sharon Burton-Hardin <sharonburton -at- EMAIL -dot- MSN -dot- COM> Date:Sat, 13 Feb 1999 10:32:58 -0800
Interestingly enough, I am giving a talk at the Inland Empire STC meeting
this Thursday on exactly this subject. How do you do an estimate? Page
count? Doc plan? Project plan? What to consider? What are dependencies? How
to manage timelines? It should be useful for freelancers and captives.
If you are local to so Cal, think about coming. I hope it is a useful talk!
See www.iestc.org for more info. Click the This Month button. There is still
time to make reservations!
sharon
Sharon Burton-Hardin
President of the Inland Empire chapter of the STC
www.iestc.org
Anthrobytes Consulting
Home of RoboNEWS(tm), the unofficial RoboHELP newsletter
www.anthrobytes.com
Check out www.WinHelp.net!
See www.sharonburton.com!
-----Original Message-----
>
>What I sometimes advise people is to provide an estimate, but to also
>include a PROVISO. This would say something to the effect that you are
>providing this estimate to the best of your knowledge of the product TODAY,
>and PROVIDED THAT nothing new comes up, provided that you start working
>within a day or two (and not in two weeks...), provided that when you hand
>something in to be reviewed for feedback, you get it back within agreed
>deadlines, etc., etc., etc., then your estimate holds. If not, then the
>estimate will need to be revised.
>
>Anything else you can think of can come under this "CYA" Proviso. In site
of
>this, things WILL creep up once in a while, but at least you protect
>yourself a little. And you will come across as a real professional...
>
