Re: What do you do when you don't have anyone with the time to review andedit your docs

["Gene Kim-Eng" <techwr -at- genek -dot- com>]

It's not clear to me whether your issue is a copy/proof review. a tech review or 
both, but here are a few things I have done for one or the other.  Most of them 
work best if done while docs are being worked on rather than after they've 
reached the nearly-finished state, so they may not help in your current 
situation.

1.  Cultivate relationships with possible reviewers in QA and Marketing in 
addition to the developers.  Both groups have a vested interest in the docs 
being accurate and reading well enough to prevent your company from appearing to 
be run by a bunch of Neanderthals.

2.  Repeatedly compare what you are writing or being given by the developers 
with the actual product under development (could be tough if you're documenting 
nuclear reactors or rocket launchers).  If there are any inconsistencies, file 
issue/bug reports against the product.  Most companies that aren't run by a 
bunch of Neanderthals require all the issue/bug reports to be resolved before 
product release, which improves the odds that a flaw in either the product or 
your docs will be identified.

3.  If all else fails, a MS Word grammar/spell check is slightly better than no 
proofing at all.

4.  Plaster "Preliminary" or "Unverified" watermarks on the pages of the docs 
you circulate for review to help ensure that someone doesn't just stuff the 
latest review copy into the release package while you're still trying to verify 
it.

5.  Make sure someone with some corporate gravitas issues any command decisions 
to release unverified documents, and if such a person doesn't do it in writing, 
send out emails with lots of cc's warning that the docs haven't been reviewed. 
This won't necessarily CYA, but it'll enable you to hold your head up high and 
tell yourself that you did everything you could to prevent the disaster while 
you're cleaning out your desk.

Gene Kim-Eng


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Wade Courtney" <wade -dot- courtney -at- gmail -dot- com>
> I've just recently finished a user guide. I've sent it out for review, and I
> have reviewed and edited it many times myself, but I am at a point where I
> can no longer spot my mistakes. What do you do when there is no one to read
> your stuff, and they still want to push out the docs anyway without a proper
> review.
>
> I feel (sorry David) that they are going to come back to me and nail me for
> mistakes, even though they know that there wasn't a proper review. I have
> worked for employers in the past that expected perfection. I realize that
> this concept is not realistic, but it's still very prominent.
>
> Am I making sense? Does anyone have any advice?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Are you looking for one documentation tool that does it all? Author, 
build, test, and publish your Help files with just one easy-to-use tool.
Try the latest Doc-To-Help 2009 v3 risk-free for 30-days at:
http://www.doctohelp.com/ 

Explore CAREER options and paths related to Technical Writing,
learn to create SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS documents, and
get tips on FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATION best practices. Free at:
http://www.ModernAnalyst.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info. 

Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:
http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat