Alligators everywhere?

["Hart, Geoff" <Geoff-H -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>]

Martin Soderstrom reports: <<I'm the sole tech writer for 3 product
managers, handling about 90 internal and external documents.  On top of
this, previous tech writers have created a mish-mash of formats, styles,
processes, etc., which
make no sense in the known physical universe... although my title is "Senior
Technical Writer" I'm actually performing a management role, even if I'm the
only member of the Tech pubs dept.  What I need help with is how to smack
these alligators into a manageable, well-behaved line.>>

First things first: you seriously need to do triage. Start by identifying:
- which projects must be done immediately (e.g., the product would ship with
no documentation or with completely unusable documentation),
- which ones can be deferred but must still be done once the immediates are
done (e.g., the documentation is truly painful to use, but users can still
figure out what to do), and
- which stuff would be great to do but simply has to wait (e.g., the writing
style differs from everyone else's style but is still tolerable; it's not an
award-winning document, but it'll do for now).

Don't spend too long working on these lists, but do talk to the product
managers to be sure that your perceptions are realistic; priorities are
bound to change once you're actually laboring in the trenches, so accept the
fact that your first cut at the priorities won't be perfect. Start working
on the immediate priorities first, but leave a bit of time each morning to
do a quick reality check to be sure your priorities remain valid. For
example, check your list of priorities against any _known_ deadlines. To
avoid surprises, talk to the product managers at least weekly so you can
learn of any _new_ priorities or changes in the old priorities--and don't
forget to use these conversations as opportunities to begin building those
crucial working relationships with the managers that will get you through
the hard times that may lie ahead. Among other things, you'll need to be
able to balance priorities between managers, and talking to them is the best
way to make them aware of everything else that's going on. Perform triage
within each document too: some things absolutely must be fixed, others
should be fixed after these major problems, and some stuff can simply wait
until the next release.

Next, see if you can't figure out a way to nibble away at the backlog while
you're putting out the current batch of fires. For example, ask for a budget
you can use to hire a freelance editor who can come in and start cleaning up
the category III stuff (e.g., to make sure everything reads reasonably well
and that it's all more or less stylistically consistent). That way, you know
that at least some progress is being made towards cleaning up the backlog,
and once you have time to start work on those backlog files, you will have
much less work to do. I wouldn't suggest creating a formal style guide at
this point, but if you can identify one of your 90 documents that you
consider well-written, you can spend an hour with this editor explaining why
you feel that way so the editor knows how you want the other documents
edited.

Last but not least, keep an eye on your workload. This sounds like a lot of
documents for one writer to manage, though without knowing how long they
are, how frequently they must be updated, and how complex each update will
be, it's hard to say whether this is really a problem. If you start thinking
that you need more resources, consider asking for a second writer or even an
editor to help out. You can only juggle alligators for so long before one of
them sneaks up and bites you.

--Geoff Hart, FERIC, Pointe-Claire, Quebec
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca 
"User's advocate" online monthly at
www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/usersadvocate.html

Tarzan's rule of data processing: Never let go of
one vine until you have a solid hold of the next.--Anon.

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