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Chris Hamilton wrote,
>... managing a large multiple-person project. Aside from style
guides and convention descriptions, how do you maintain consistency
among all that's written? How do you make sure that you've covered all
the remifications of a change when the big picture is distributed over
two brains? The answers to these questions are more or less obvious, but
its not the _what_ I'm looking for, it's the _how_. <
I have been involved in several large, multi-writer projects (2 is easy --
try 5 or 6, all of whom telecommute and several of whom work part time).
Here are my main suggestions:
1) Talk with each other a lot, either in person or by email. Make lists
of what has changed in the product and what parts of the docs you
change. Use some sort of database for tracking changes.
2) For updates, if more than 1 person marks up the existing docs to
show where changes are needed, have each person track specific
changes, even if the fix-up work is done by document rather than
by change. Consider dividing up with work by change rather than
by book. Consider using an editor's services (see point 3).
3) For new materials, I'd strongly recommend using the
services of an experienced technical editor, who can see the
overall picture (the forest) while you writers are working carefully
with the details (the trees). The editor need not be full-time. or a
staff member, or even on site, but she does need to have enough
background and experience to be able to question things
intelligently, test things for herself, etc.
When I'm wearing my editor's hat, I do this all the time.
As a manager or writer, I always try to get an editor on the team.
The right person more than pays for herself in added value
and time saved for the writers. I'm talking about something other
than copy-editing here, you understand.
More on the role of the editor in these situations is available on
request. (Probably more than you ever wanted to know.)
Jean Weber
jean_weber -at- compuserve -dot- com
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