RE: What do you do when you don't have anyone with the time to review and edit your docs

Subject: RE: What do you do when you don't have anyone with the time to review and edit your docs
From: "McLauchlan, Kevin" <Kevin -dot- McLauchlan -at- safenet-inc -dot- com>
To: Robert Lauriston <robert -at- lauriston -dot- com>, TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:12:23 -0500


Robert Lauriston suggested:

> I'd send the person I report to an email saying something like, "I
> know we may not have the budget for it, but this really should not go
> to customers without being proofread by someone other than the
> author."
>
> If I reported to someone who doesn't understand the necessity, I'd
> include an explanation of why writers can't proofread their own work.

Heh-heh-heh... never mind that. Alone it sounds like self-serving
whining.

Get hold of some correspondence FROM the person who is trashing
your work and your inability to catch your own goofs, and edit
the hell out of that person's e-mail or project document or whatever.

Preferrably, get a draft that has not been improved by any other party.

Drat the luck if you've got a boss who never makes a mistake and who
is one of those weird ducks who write exactly as Microsoft's grammar-
checker expects 'em to write. (Eek!)

Assuming the person does make mistakes in writing (even if they
hide behind an assistant who makes them look good -- hell, ESPECIALLY
if they do that), then those'll be of two kinds:

a) stuff they recognize is wrong, but were too lazy or distracted to catch

b) stuff they didn't realize was wrong and that you can explain how/why.


Either or both give you some amunition in your quest.

Of course, this could backfire and get you an additional workload
proof-reading your boss's outgoing-everything.
Ok, forget I said anything. You can't win.

:-)

- Kevin



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Follow-Ups:

References:
What do you do when you don't have anyone with the time to review and edit your docs: From: Wade Courtney
Re: What do you do when you don't have anyone with the time to review and edit your docs: From: Robert Lauriston

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