RE: What is not mandated is forbidden

Subject: RE: What is not mandated is forbidden
From: "McLauchlan, Kevin" <Kevin -dot- McLauchlan -at- safenet-inc -dot- com>
To: Mike Starr <mike -at- writestarr -dot- com>, "techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2014 15:00:51 -0400

Starting from a history of waterfall-ish development, and after more than two years in-progress, we are in water-agile-fall(**), trying to get to agile, and one outcome of that is that EVERY new thing I add to the docs is supposed to be captured as some kind of Jira issue (story, bug, task...).

So, I never used to ask permission, and now I still don't, directly, but the indirect effect is that that's how it now works.
I have (as we say around here) a whack of issues in my backlog that aren't assigned to any sprint, that aren't supposed to be implemented unless I've got nothing to do. That doesn't happen, of course.

In reality, they'll get snuck into a DOC sprint that we writers are assigning to ourselves, packed among structural and other sanctioned stories and issues. But I thought I'd check which way the winds blow for the rest of y'all*. :-)

(*I'm not southern - I just like to say "y'all" sometimes)
(**actually, some product teams, here, are frighteningly agile, while others are still getting onboard - I'm in two that are at different places along that spectrum; if I had rhythm, you could call what I do "dancing"... but no )

-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+kevin -dot- mclauchlan=safenet-inc -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+kevin -dot- mclauchlan=safenet-inc -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf Of Mike Starr
Sent: June-20-14 6:39 PM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: What is not mandated is forbidden

I never ask permission to put something into a document that can not only help the user but help reduce support queries. If you ask permission, you're just telling them to say no. Had you just put it in there chances are good it wouldn't have been flagged as "out of spec".

Best Regards,

Mike
--
Mike Starr, Writer
Technical Writer - Online Help Developer - WordPress Websites
Graphic Designer - Desktop Publisher - Custom Microsoft Word templates
(262) 694-1028 - mike -at- writestarr -dot- com - http://www.writestarr.com
President - Working Writers of Wisconsin http://www.workingwriters.org/

On 6/19/2014 12:14 PM, McLauchlan, Kevin wrote:
> Does everyone subscribe to the notion that customer docs should contain only what is necessary?
>
> Is there a place for material that is good to know, or that might reduce customer inquiries, but is not necessarily critical to performing a task?
>
>
> The most recent example that prompted this thought was a statement in an e-mail thread (internal) where a PLM stated clearly and succinctly how 'discovered vulnerabilities' are handled for our products. I know that the question comes up, in different forms, with some regularity, so I asked if it would be good to include the two-sentence statement in the main customer docs. The answer was that it wasn't really necessary in the docs, as it was "marketing-speak to show how secure our stuff is". In a sense, that's true, but it was also a quick, clear description of the procedure we go through, and what the three possible outcomes are.
>
> I didn't push, because it wasn't terrifically important, and not every battle is worth fighting. But, as it stands, that statement exists only as guidance for techs and sales engineers to respond to customers who ask. So, by that point, there's already a call in progress. If they had seen the info in the docs, the call might never have been made.

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References:
What is not mandated is forbidden: From: McLauchlan, Kevin
Re: What is not mandated is forbidden: From: Mike Starr

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