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On 6/26/07, Mary Arrotti <mary_arrotti -at- yahoo -dot- com> wrote:
>
> This is excellent info. I'd also try to find out whether you will be
> considered part of the project team (involved in reqs & status meetings)
> and confirm that you'd have access to builds & project details.
>
I definitely want to part of the project team, and from the beginning, like
you said. I have had to justify this, but it didn't take the team long to
find that I knew what *everyone* was working on, sometimes when they didn't.
And, I take excellent notes :-) that many team members have liked access
to.
> How will I be involved during a project? Will I be involved in early
> requirement reviews and subsequent status meetings? Will I have access to
> builds, reqs, and specs?
>
Yes, very important to have access to the ongoing project materials. Again,
I offer to help with requirements and specs if the team thinks "it's too
early" for technical writer involvement. This also allows me to provide the
team with some real-world usabilty checks too (one of my hobbies) and maybe
some input for the user interface.
>
> I've encountered people who assume that you can write docs without working
> with product and/or (*couldn't resist*) that you can be involved in project
> at the last minute. Not good situations to deal with.
>
This is where I explain how I start documenting from the requirements and
specifications, and keep updates going based on team status meetings and
input. And that equals "on time" documentation that can ship with the
product.
I really like to sit with the developers too, although there are some
writers that don't care for that. I like being able to say, over the cube
wall, "your'e going to make the user do WHAT?" LOL! And that makes the candy
jar easy for the developers to get to!
PT
pro -dot- techwriter -at- gmail -dot- com
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