Project Manager Problems - Need Advice Please

[Anthony <anthony_colello -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for the advice many of you gave me a few months
ago.  I'm running into a bit of trouble again and need
to get a little more advice.  In case you don't
remember our past conversations I have copied part of
it below for reference.

It was my original intent to give them a set of
milestones like I usually do; however, I got bogged
down in a smaller brochure project that had a very
short timeline.  So I ended up doing milestones just
for it.  As a result, the larger Internet Architecture
Manual project lagged behind a bit.  They're fine with
that, but have no grasp of milestones and such on the
larger scale of the Architecture project.

In time I have learned that this environment is a
chaotic one.  I am used to a structured environment
where you have milestones and specific due dates for
drafts with specific expectations and the like.  At
this company they just check in on you with no warning
and expect you to cough up this rough draft no matter
how horrible looking it is.  Usually about every two
weeks.  It is driving me crazy!

I talked with the manager a few minutes ago and told
her about my wishes for a more normalized schedule at
least something regular I could shoot for so I didn't
waste a lot of precious time constantly repolishing
drafts to be turned in.  She understood where I was
coming from, but had no suggestions.  She asked me to
think about it and give her a suggested schedule by
Wednesday morning with the next set of architectural
diagrams and an outline.  Back to last minute
polishing.  :(

Overall, I feel like they are content with the results
so far.  I am not getting any negative vibes from them
in that regard.  What I am seeing is that they really
need the manual, like my work, but have no idea what
they should expect even though I have given them an
initial outline, a vision, and an expanded diagram on
the internet architecture.  They're experience with
technical writing is a staff writer who works with the
development team along the way.  So her work is on
display constantly and that represents their comfort
zone to me.  As a result of all this they are
uncomfortable with my passive approach of not
constantly walking over with new drawings and such.

Since I am working independently of the group for the
most part it probably makes them nervous where a
documentation manager would be more comfortable with
the situation.

My fear is that if these checkups are too frequent
they will not be pleased with my output given that one
can spend many hours in a week researching individual
details and this will not show up as writing or
diagraming in the draft necessarily.  I've already
tried to handle the problem by documenting my time in
detail and filing a separate weekly progress report
every Friday.  They still seem to be wanting more.

Can anyone give me some advice on how to properly
handle
them?

I am at the point in the project now where I have my
SMEs, resource material, etc. organized and have good
diagrams of the internet architecture.  So I am ready
to continue the interviewing phase of this project and
really starting digging deeply.  Many of you gave me
some great ideas of the kinds of questions to ask and
they have been invaluble, but I could use some
more...especially the more technical types of
questions...

What are some good questions or types of questions I
should be asking?

Does anyone know of a good book of such questions?

What kinds of technical personnel should I be talking
to?

Finally, do you know of any books, websites, and/or
resources that have a comprehensive list and outlines
the types of diagrams programmers use, their
characteristics, how to construct one, etc.?

I know many types and have used them for years, but I
keep stumbling across some I have never heard of while
talking with the technical folks here about what they
would like to see in the manual.  I nod and smile, but
I need to find a resource I can tap into to get a
better idea of how to make really high quality flows
that they will like.  A comprehensive list would be
wonderful so I could pick the ones I want to use,
insert their intended use in the outline, and have a
better idea of what I need to do to finish this
project.

I feel like I am constantly on the edge of running out
of ideas of where to go next.

Can anyone help me?

- Anthony

OLD MESSAGE:

Hello Everyone,

I took a job for a large insurance provider about two
weeks ago and the primary focus of the job is
documenting what they refer to as their "Internet
Architecture."

What they want is a technical reference manual for
programmers and developers which documents their
system of servers, mainframes, routers, ATM switches,
applications, etc.  Further they want this manual to
be documented down to the "file level" of detail and
have a variety of diagrams and tables in addition to
the usual narrative content.  The system is used
primarily for quoting, managing, and underwriting
insurance policies.

The clincher is that they have little more than
diagrams to start the project with.  Most of the
information is supposed to be garnished by
interviewing the programmers and developers.  To make
it even more interesting almost all of them are
located out of state.  They also have no standards,
style sheets, or document repository in place to track
any changes which might occur while I am documenting
this.

In my nine years of doing technical writing I must say
I have never seen anything as daunting as this. 
Although I have done projects with nothing but the
application to be documented, this is much much
bigger.

What I need now are some ideas of how to attack this
project, flesh out a game plan, and figure out what
kinds of questions to ask the programmers and
developers.  They've given me a "contact person" to
funnel questions and requests through.

Can anyone help me with ideas of how to attack this
monster?

Any suggestions of books to reference on a good
approach to take?

What kinds of questions should I ask?

Thanks for all the help.

-  Anthony

 


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