Re: On Office Politics and Being the New Kid

Subject: Re: On Office Politics and Being the New Kid
From: Jenn Wilson <jenn -at- mylar -dot- outflux -dot- net>
To: Lori Olcott <lori_olcott -at- yahoo -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2006 11:42:50 -0800 (PST)


Hello, Lori --

Others have already covered the "office politics" side of this very well, and the advice is excellent. I'll add a few blips:

You mention that these writeups are for internal procedures, and it sounds like the documents are (sorta) training materials for new and existing employees. My main question is one of context: are they meant to supplement a broader program? Or is there a big focus on self-directed learning, in terms of more than just the writeups? What additional resources are available to new employees? What is the intranet administrator's role in all of this -- is she openly responsible for training as a whole, or just the documentation that supports the aim?

In any case, geez, it's counterproductive of her to dictate the way other people "should" learn. Good resources should support a range of learning styles.

If I were in your shoes, once I felt comfortable overall with the interpersonal risk, I'd invite some kind of dialogue about the broader scope of training and internal resources. As a new user, your perspective on the learning curve should carry some solid weight. You've got a great opportunity to show that you understand how documentation (a variety of types!) can fit into a grander scheme... and to remind this administrator that, yes, of course you're all on the same side here.

I'd probably stay away from supporting your point with adult learning theory, statistics, etc., at least early on. My guess is that these folks might not have the context or perspective to appreciate it. However, I'll bet they relate well to concerns about productivity, and also to helping new users learn more efficiently and thus start adding value to the organization even sooner.

It sounds like the existing materials could work well as reminders or checklists for users who are already fluent in the basics, but need an occasional reminder. In other words, maybe there's a way around flat-out replacing the original docs altogether, which could ease the friction! A lot of companies issue "Quick Start" guides as well as more granular documentation, and that can let _the users themselves_ choose what they need at any point in time.

Oh, and when I've followed in the proverbial footsteps of those who wrote before me, I've usually found that statements like "I'm not a writer! Please let me know what's missing!" often mean "Make sure you lead with a couple of compliments, because I already feel a little insecure about this work." :)

Whether or not it's appropriate or professional to do so, we all invest in our projects in different ways. On a purely personal level, I'm sure she'd appreciate some kudos -- after all, whether she volunteered to write this stuff up or was assigned the project, she did venture outside her comfort zone. And she might not have received much feedback on it from your (her? any?) manager. I'm sure many of us have been there at some point or another...

Good luck with all of this!


-j


On Mon, 6 Feb 2006, Lori Olcott wrote:

Hi Y'all -

I've been settling into my new job for a little over a month now. It's
not a titled tech writing position (Data Management), but the interview
team was very excited about my writing background. "We don't have much
documentation. This will be great!" Since being hired, I've been
learning the systems and writing up how-to's for what I've learned so far.
There is some documentation available, but it's very high level - not
something a new person would be able to use very effectively.

I've been getting extremely mixed messages from the lady who maintains the
group's intranet site and who wrote much of the documentation that is out
there already. She is quick to say that she's not a writer, and has asked
me to let her know if there are any holes that need to be filled.
However, when I gave her what I'd written, she said she didn't want any
"personal notes" on the site. She also said that she doesn't like
documentation that tells someone exactly what to do to run the system.
She wants to force people to learn the system and feels that step-by-step
instructions are a crutch. While I can understand her not wanting team
members to be fully dependent on guides, I disagree with her disdain for
step-by-step manuals. When a person is new on a system, they need the
basic procedures to make the system work. Ideally, those procedures will
also include overviews and "this is what is going on behind these
commands" information to help develop an understanding of the bigger
picture. But to outright deny access to basic documentation seems very
counter-productive to the group.

I also suspect that some of this is a territorial reaction. I'm
encroaching on what has been her area. And since my title isn't
"Technical Writer" or "Documentation Specialist", she's not as obligated
to accept my input (even though it was one of the things I was hired for).
This lady's been very nice in other office interactions, so I'm not
writing her off as a hopeless personality conflict. Nor do I want to step
on her toes. But I do want to ensure we have good documentation that will
allow an inexperienced person to quickly grasp the basics of a system and
successfully run the more routine tasks. I haven't discussed this issue
with our manager yet. I'm hoping to figure out what it is that she really
wants. If I can give her that (or reassure her on what's worrying her),
then I might be able to get my goal accomplished.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!
Lori

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On Office Politics and Being the New Kid: From: Lori Olcott

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