RE: How to approach this task?

["Bonnie Granat" <bgranat -at- granatedit -dot- com>]

When new people come on board, 
> there is no set of 
> documentation, help screens, written procedures for them -- 
> they have to learn 
> from the existing staff.
> 
> How do you go about mining and organizing such material?
> 

Write a user manual for new people who come on board. Tell them
what they need to know just like you told your other audiences what
they need to know.

If the information is in heads only, what I would do is create as
much of an outline of the whole picture as I could in a week and
then sit down with the heads, one by one, asking for verification
of what you have concluded and for the details. Or you could ask
for verification of what you have done and then tell the heads you
will formulate a set of questions or arrange a conversation with
them, whichever they prefer.


Bonnie Granat | www.GranatEdit.com
bgranat -at- granatedit -dot- com
Cambridge, Massachusetts, US



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

WEBWORKS FINALDRAFT - EDIT AND REVIEW, REDEFINED
Accelerate the document lifecycle with full online discussions and unique feedback-management capabilities. Unlimited, efficient reviews for Word
and FrameMaker authors. Live, online demo:
http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l

Technical Communication Certificate online - Malaspina-University College, Canada. Online training in technical writing, software (FrameMaker, RoboHelp, Dreamweaver, Acrobat), document & web design, writing manuals, job search. www.pr.mala.bc.ca/tech_comm.htm for details.

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