Re: Distributed authoring using Word and Domino?

[Susan W. Gallagher <sgallagher5 -at- cox -dot- net>]

I've come back to this post a couple of times since it landed 
in my mailbox. I guess it's time to actually write down some
of my thoughts.

First, let me restate the problem as I see it (which, of 
course, may not be the problem at all). You and your (self-
contained) team had just decided to go for AuthorIt as your
main tool. Instead, you boss wants to expand the team to
include a bunch of writers scattered over the globe and make
your main tool MS Word. You'll use Domino as a doc repository
(and I'm not familiar with Domino -- I'm assuming it'll make
the documents available company-wide). You now need to come
up with the "issues" list.

Did I get it right? or even come close? I hope so. And I'll
start my answer with a small nugget of advice -- when your
boss asks for a list of problems, give 'em the solutions as
well. Just a list of "issues" won't help -- and accompanying
the "issues" with solutions will elevate your status in your
boss' eyes -- significantly!

So, what are the issues? You won't get to play with the new
tool, and that's disappointing, but it isn't the main issue.
You probably don't much like working in Word, either, but
that really isn't an issue either. A tool is a tool is a tool
and Word really isn't the worst of them.

The real issue is in getting a multitude of writers who are
scattered across the globe to all march to the same drum 
beat. And that is not easy. And it's the main issue.

I've worked on many a distributed team -- been involved in
my share of successes and failures. But through it all, there
are three areas of focus.

1. Buy-in. All team members must buy in to the same set of
goals, the same set of styles, and the same set of formats.
Otherwise, there is no corporate identity; there is only
chaos. Getting buy-in involves communication -- sometimes
face-to-face is the only way. But all team members should 
have a say in style sheet and formatting issues and all
decisions should be revisited on a regular basis.

You can become a little lax on some of these points (like
formatting) if you decide to create a central area where all
DTP is done, but using that model creates its own set of 
problems.

2. There must be procedures in place for making changes to
documents and the original author of the material must be the
final decision-maker. Why? I remember one editor who, at the
last minute, removed the single quotes from an entry the user
was supposed to type because single quotes were not part of
the accepted company style. The were, however, necessary to
the SQL statement the user was creating in the excercise. 
(It still rankles, after 10 years!)

3. Everyone on the team must feel like a real member of the
team and the lines of communication must remain open between
team members at all times. There can be no cutting writers
out of the loop because they're in the wrong time zone. If
you expect to get the job done, then everyone needs to play
together, not just the local team or the easy to get to
members.

Some of the tools you might want to use include an instant
messenger app that all team members sign in to every time 
they sit down at their 'puters. IMO, IM is the one app that
has made working on distributed teams much easier than it
used to be.

Also, establish a central access point for tools, style 
sheets, and the like, and make sure the whole team can
connect to it. A VPN can give world-wide members access to
the company intranet, for example, so team members can 
easily get updated style sheets and templates.

Good luck with this, Geoff. If you can pull it off, it'll
be a brightly-colored and prominent feather in your 
management cap. But, honestly... the tool that you decide to
use -- even if it's Word -- will be the least of your 
worries!

HTH!
-Sue Gallagher




> 
> From: geoff -at- userdox -dot- com

> Well, I've just been given one from out of left field.  After spending a 
> considerable amount of time evaluating AuthorIT for our team, I've been asked 
> to make a list of issues associated with a distributed authoring environment 
> using Word and Domino.
> 
> I have an aversion to this system straight off the bat, but I thought I'd get 
> some more opinions.  Here's what I've thought of without too much effort: <snip>
> 



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