Re: About responsibility and fault

Subject: Re: About responsibility and fault
From: Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Sun, 06 Apr 2003 17:41:05 -0700


Bonnie Granat wrote:

In some companies, writers are let off the hook because management knows it
has not established documentation as a part of the product itself.
What I have trouble understanding is how many writers let themselves off the hook because somebody else doesn't blame them. I cast no aspersions on anyone else, but, if I did that, then I would not consider a mature individual.

That's not to say that writers often have to educate other people in the company. They do, and sometimes that's difficult. But they need to make the effort, all the same if they want to be held in respect.

Technical writers should not have to cajole, assert, romance, or do anything
other than perform their jobs professionally.
Yes, and I should have been born rich and should be recognized for my own merits, and my enemies should be dipped head-first into boiling rancid olive oil, too. Ideally, you shouldn't have to educate other people about your work, or build connections to do your job; realistically, you're going to have to do these things unless you can earn a living without interacting with other people.

Befriending a developer so that
a writer gets information is unprofessional.
To me, it's called being a team-player and being diplomatic. Both these things are signs of professionalism, so far as I'm concerned.

Management's job is to make sure
that everybody has what he or she needs to do his or her job.
Actually, management's job is help make money for the company.

However, it's true that this job partly requires enabling everybody else. But managers can't do that in a vacum. They need feedback about problems. If working conditions are making your job hard to accomplish, then you need to keep management informed about the problems. You can't expect managers to observe your problems magically - they have other concerns. As I said, the assumption is that professionals will produce profesional work until results prove that assumption wrong.

--
Bruce Byfield bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com 604.421.7177
http://members.axion.net/~bbyfield

"There'll be tears in the eyes of the weak,
And in the eyes of the most strong-hearted,
Tears in the eyes of the miners and wives
When these coal town days are through."
-Jez Lowe, "These Coal Town Days"



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Purchase RoboHelp X3 in April and receive a $100 mail-in rebate, plus FREE RoboScreenCapture and WebHelp Merge Module. Order here: http://www.ehelp.com/products/robohelp/


Help celebrate TECHWR-L's 10th Anniversary starting this month!
Check out the contests at http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/special/contests/
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday TECHWR-L....

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.



References:
About responsibility and fault: From: Eric J. Ray
Re: About responsibility and fault: From: Kat Nagel, MasterWork Consulting
Re: About responsibility and fault: From: Bonnie Granat
Re: About responsibility and fault: From: Bruce Byfield
Re: About responsibility and fault: From: Bonnie Granat

Previous by Author: Re: About responsibility and fault
Next by Author: Re: Principles for procedure writing
Previous by Thread: Re: About responsibility and fault
Next by Thread: Re: About responsibility and fault


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads