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On Thu, 06 Jul 2000 07:31:37 Alex Silbajoris wrote:
>If some SME is dissatisfied with the literature you've produced, on the eve
>of the deadline, you should be able to show a history of attempts to get
>them to review and approve the material in a timely manner.
What do you do when the SME in question took a month-long vacation and came back a week before the project release, so that he had a week to review the entire manual, instead of the month that everyone else had? What do you do when you point this fact out to him, after he complains he wasn't given enough time to review, and he laughs and replies that if the manual goes out the door with errors, it's my fault?
>When everyone starts pointing fingers of blame, the visiting contractor
>makes a convenient target. You can be made into the scapegoat; that is,
>loaded with the sins of the community and cast out. And that may not always
>be a bad thing. You get an opportunity to leave those incompetents behind
>you and go on to a more professional outfit.
>
Luckily, I had an interview with my boss about this yesterday. He is a really great boss. He stood by me and agreed this SME was a jerk. I have support there, but I think the best thing to do for me is to make sure everyone knows why the release was held up, and also institute a better plan. This cannot be a black and white thing, because you almost have to tailor the plan according to the SME. If it's a good SME who gets reviews in on time, then less strict of a review plan can be used. But with this guy, clearly I have to use all sorts of methods, like freeze dates.
