TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Sanity Check From:Stuart Burnfield <slb -at- FS -dot- COM -dot- AU> Date:Fri, 15 Mar 1996 11:13:09 +0800
It sounds like Janet's employers stepped out of the pages of a Kafka
novel. Remember the character in 'The Trial' who was arrested on a very
serious charge, but was never allowed to find out what he was charged with?
To put it in terms of JoAnn Hackos's documentation methodology, they want
a a Project Plan without having an Information Plan -- not possible.
Janet, if your employers want to expand your job to include proposal
writing INCLUDING the information gathering part, I think you'll have to
negotiate with them so they know what you need in order to do an effective
job.
George Hayhoe gave some good advice on what has to happen:
>You should have been involved in the proposal effort from the get-go, att-
>ending the meetings and participating in the discussions (AFTER all of you
>on the team had read and analyzed the RFP in advance). You would have been
>able to help them identify the questions they needed to ask the prospective
>client to obtain the information needed to respond adequately to the RFP.
Regards
---
Stuart Burnfield (slb -at- fs -dot- com -dot- au) Live wrong and prosper
Functional Software
PO Box 192
Leederville, Western Australia, 6903