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...and maybe get a few words of wisdom from my fellow writers?
I manage a tiny writing group affiliated with a QA team. Historically, I
have written user guides and the like for the applications the team tests.
Lately, however, budget-consciousness has overtaken the project managers,
and not everyone is willing to pay for writers. Add to that a reorg that
will take a huge chunk of development work (and, hence, testing and writing
work) away from our office and into another city. I am trying to scare up
billable projects left and "write" to keep us employed.
A nice, juicy documentation project presented itself recently.
Unfortunately, no one budgeted for writers, although some kind of
documentation is clearly needed for this high-profile application. My boss
told me the application was high-profile enough that HIS boss was willing to
pay for docs out of the testing budget, and to go ahead and do it. At the
same time, someone on the business side hired a contractor (from a different
"budget-pot" apparently) to write a Quick Reference Guide. I emailed her
yesterday to clarify what she was doing. She told me her QRG is going to be
short and visual because "these folks (the users) don't have time to read."
I'm frustrated, a little fearful for my job, and not sure what, if anything,
to do next. My boss talks a good game, but is, in the end, a
non-confrontational wimp. I've asked him if I should go ahead with my guide
anyway, but I haven't heard from him yet. I can see the need for a QRG and a
longer How-To, but I'm not sure anyone else will. :(
Thanks for listening...
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