Re: What then is the SME/TW functional relationship? (was Re: Theory vs. Practice (was: What's a TW etc...)
My comment: Of what use are Subject Matter Experts, then?In one word: consultation. On most projects, developers have specific responsibilities. When what they're doing overlaps with another developer's work, they consult. They need to be sure that there's uniformity, that everyone knows what is necessary to know, and that everyone knows what's not written down. Sometimes, they debug each other's work.
It's no different for writers. Writers need to know the overall design of the project, but are unlikely to know the specifics of any single part of the project. They need to know what's changed, and what's likely to change. Sometimes, they need somebody to check their work.
Consultation, by the way, is very different from dependency. When you consult, you're looking for confirmation, or for additional information to round off what you already know. By contrast, when you're dependent on the information you receive, there can't be any exchange. Consultation is a relation between equals or near-equals, while dependency quickly suggests a subordinate position.
If the TW has no requirement to submit the product for review by the SME,To write the code? Some companies - and even more SMEs - don't consider the documentation the SME's responsibility. Even at better companies, SMEs don't always have the time to focus on documentation. As a result, the answers from SMEs are frequently inaccurate or incomplete. This isn't an ideal situation, but it's very common. The more that writers can work independently, and the better that they can judge the answers they get, the easier writing tends to be.
then why is the SME on the project / development team in the first place?
The answers to these questions depend on the situation and your relations with developers, so they can't really be commented on generally.
Does the TW just check in with the SME if there are a few *minor* (who gets
to judge what is minor? The TW? The SME?) questions?
--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com
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References:
Re: Theory vs. Practice (was: What's a TW etc...): From: MichaelHuggins
Re: Theory vs. Practice (was: What's a TW etc...): From: Bruce Byfield
What then is the SME/TW functional relationship? (was Re: Theory vs. Practice (was: What's a TW etc...): From: Melody Akins
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