Re: Doc. Plans and Proj. Management

Subject: Re: Doc. Plans and Proj. Management
From: Len Olszewski <saslpo -at- UNX -dot- SAS -dot- COM>
Date: Fri, 3 Dec 1993 13:28:52 -0500

LaVonna Funkhouser encourages me:


> A related subject is project management. I'd like to read not only how you
> (other writers) plan projects, but the tips you have for sticking with your
> plans.


Ok.

I may not be the best project manager in the world, or the most
experienced, but I've seen a couple of my books come back from the
printer on time...

This is long. It's all my own experience. I'm sharing here. Kill it now
if my stuff has annoyed you in the past. The rest of you take it with a
grain of salt - situations are different in different places, as you
know. You won't find this stuff in textbooks ("There's a reason for that,
Len..."8^).

Len's tips for prospective project managers, in no particular order:

Work from a plan.
You all know what goes into my plans from my previous post.

Get everybody to be on your team.
As the manager of a doc project (and possibly a writer on it too, like
me), you need as much help as anyone can give you. Elicit that help from
anyone willing to give it in whatever capacity. Always say yes if
someone offers, always ask even if you think people will turn you down,
always ask again after they do turn you down.

Keep everything.
Never throw anything away, electronic, paper or virtual. I am a horrible
filer, myself, but in a pinch I can find anything related to any project
I ever worked on or managed. And I've needed it, too. If you can
organize your stuff, so much the better, but you have to keep it all
first. I'm serious.

Write down what you do.
You need to be organized in keeping a list of milestones you want to
accomplish and the things that you do on a daily basis to reach each
one. You need to keep your hours, too, for every specific task - you
will find this invaluable the next time you have to estimate a similar
project. Or defend your performance on this one.

Document all conversations.
I do this by sending email to myself. I also have an elaborate foldering
system to keep electronic correspondence and project files, so this fits
right into that scheme. I have a tendency to forget the particulars of
conversations unless I write them down. This may sound a little too
"CYA", but consider sending summaries of conversations to people with
whom you've had them, thereby establishing what's been said and at the
same time inviting correction if there is any inaccuracy.

Yell help as soon as you need it.
Don't wait to admit a miscalculation, or underestimate the impact of an
unforeseen event. Ask for help loudly and persistently at the first sign
that you need more resources to finish on time, and loudly explain that
the project will slip - providing liberal estimates of the amount of
slippage everyone can expect - without more resources.

Your timeline is the most important thing.
Always be aware of what your milestones are, what needs to be done to
accomplish each one in order, and how the project stands with regard to
the next one. Meet your milestones one at a time. If you miss one, they
all fall like dominoes. And you are buried under them. Not good.

Learn how to snoop.
Insinuate yourself into every meeting, conversation, forum, newgroup,
listserv, and conference call that has anything remotely to do with your
project. Swap and trade your information like a used-car dealer. Always
provide accurate information, always indicate when rumor is rumor,
always come back to people to whom you've told things to find out if
they have anything to offer, always keep confidence when asked, always
let people talk about themselves as long as they want no matter how
bored you get. Ask for clarification for anything you don't understand
*on the spot*. Pursue topics you don't understand until you do understand
them.

Let people do what they do best.
This sounds so obvious, but if nobody ever told you this, you maybe
would never know. You've got to fit the resources you have with the
tasks you need to accomplish. Never put people where they do not have a
good opportunity to succeed. Always try to let people who are good at
specific things work on those things. Let people do extra things if they
want to do so, and (again obvious) let them know they are welcome to do
so.

Always go into any meeting prepared.
This includes meetings you run, meetings with developers, with SME's,
with your boss, with your sysadmin, anybody. Have a clear idea of what
you want before you enter, take the steps to get what you want during
the meeting, take notes while you are there, write down what happened
and email it to yourself 8-). Always, always, always prepare an agenda
for any meeting you call and run. If you don't have enough agenda items
to meet, don't meet. If you attend meetings run by others with no
agenda, prepare one for yourself, and at least follow that. You should
anticipate what others will ask you, and have answers for every
potential question ready.

Work smart, work by a schedule.
You should know *every day* what you need to accomplish to meet your
next milestone. You should have some "pad" time built in if things go
haywire. You should accomplish what you *need* to accomplish *first*, then
do other stuff afterwards.

Never surprise your client/boss.
Always keep your superiors informed. Always.


Enough? Ok, I hope this helps somebody. It sure shot my lunch hour to
hell. Guess what I'm going to do now? Revise a doc plan...

|Len Olszewski, Technical Writer |"Lady, I was TALKING to the duck.." |
|saslpo -at- unx -dot- sas -dot- com|Cary, NC, USA| - Old Punchline |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Opinions this ludicrous are mine. Reasonable opinions will cost you.|


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