RE: Too weird a request? (Sample doc group budgets)

["Nancy Allison" <maker -at- verizon -dot- net>]

You know, John, you're giving me an idea. How about if I create a mock
budget and people critique it? I would just take average figures -- the
point wouldn't be to ask people for their group's exact salaries, etc., data
which is always Top Secret anyway. The purpose of the exercise would mainly
be for me to get a grasp of the basics. Watch this space!

-----Original Message-----
From: John Garison [mailto:john -at- garisons -dot- com] 
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 12:19 PM
To: Nancy Allison
Cc: 'TECHWR-L'
Subject: Re: Too weird a request? (Sample doc group budgets)

I don't think it's a weird request, just one that's hard to respond to. 
Companies tend to be pretty close-mouthed about budgets and such, so real
numbers are almost impossible to pass along.

In my experience, doc budgets are usually comprised primarily of the
salaries of the writers, with extra funds for travel, training, equipment,
software, etc. I have never in 20+ years been given a budget based on that
of the group my team supported. Raises - if any - were generally a
percentage of the salaries of the writers and it was up to me to disperse it
equitably.

I don't know what else to say. I could work up hypothetical numbers, but
then, so could anyone based on the scenario as outlined above.


My 2¢,

John Garison





Nancy Allison wrote:
> I'm not seeing everyone clamoring at once to tell me about sample doc
> department budgets. Can anyone think of any way I could see a few, or is
> that just too strange a request? (I'm a contractor, currently looking for
> work, so I don't have a boss I can simply ask!)
>  
> --Nancy


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