Re: Tables inside numbered lists
6. Continue with the following:
----------------------------------------------------------
| To... | Do this... |
----------------------------------------------------------
| Some action | Some step |
----------------------------------------------------------
| Some action | 1. Step one |
| | 2. Step two |
| | 3. Step three |
----------------------------------------------------------
| Some action | Some step |
----------------------------------------------------------
7. Next step.
I have two takes on this problem, hope you can find some value in one or the other:
First of all, when I find myself adding sub-procedures like this, I usually put the whole thing under the microscope and look for signs that the procedure(s) have too much implicit logic or too many hidden steps. I might have gotten into this jam by not defining a sufficiently disciplined scope for the procedure. If I initially defined the procedure as "Administering User Accounts", I would now be re-analyzing the material and defining separate named procedures instead of trying to fit every one of the administrative tasks as numbered steps of one single superprocedure.
My other idea would be to look at the procedure as a diagram, or a decision tree. An ordinary process flow diagram shows all decision points and conditional steps. I don't want to read too much specificity into the abstract steps in your example, but in analyzing its flow, I don't understand why Step 6 has so much baggage. Are we looking at hidden conditional steps there? In other words, does the procedure require the user to make decisions about whether or not to do each or none of the actions?
Taking this diagram view of a step further, I would say that your manager is apparently looking at this as having no decision points or conditional steps. Is she right? The diagram might resolve the steps that follow each decision or condition as parallel independent branches of the procedure or (sub)procedure. If you have independent branches, numbering their steps in one continuous serial sequence would mean that they are part of the same flow, which parallel independent procedures are not. You are asking for citations supporting that, but I think it will be self-evident when viewed as a diagram of a well-digested procedure.
Good luck.
Ned Bedinger
Ed Wordsmith Technical Communications
doc -at- edwordsmith -dot- com
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Tables inside numbered lists: From: Christian.Walters
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