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Jean Cooper has <<... just completed a draft of a 70-page technical manual
to be given to new employees who join an IT team of 10 people. My next step
is to request that the 10 team members review the manual and offer any
feedback they have. What is the best way to solicit feedback?>>
There's no one best way, since everyone has their own unique way to approach
a review. That being the case, ask each person whether they'll have time to
do the review, and if so, how they'd prefer to do it: on paper, online, or
verbally (over coffee). However you do it, make your goals very clear: to
identify omissions, unclear statements, or whatever. If each of the 10
people is an expert in a different chapter of your (say) 10 chapters, send
them only that chapter: better to spend full effort on one thing they can do
well than divide that same amount of effort over 10 chapters, only one of
which they can do well.
<<I'm reluctant to distribute an electronic copy because I don't want people
making changes to the document without checking with me first.>>
Then send it out in Acrobat format. Or teach everyone how to use revision
tracking and persuade them to use it.
<<If I pass around the hard copy, should I just ask people to write their
comments/suggestions in the margins and write
their initials as well?>>
Reader's choice: some will want to send you a 70-page Word document
containing their comments, others will jot a few strategic words here and
there every 10 pages on the hard copy, others will phone to discuss their
critiques at great length. Ask their preferences, and see if you can't
somehow reconcile those preferences with your needs for an efficient review
process.
"Technical writing... requires understanding the audience, understanding
what activities the user wants to accomplish, and translating the often
idiosyncratic and unplanned design into something that appears to make
sense."--Donald Norman, The Invisible Computer
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