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Re: Do Technical Writers Deserve Their Own Office?
Subject:Re: Do Technical Writers Deserve Their Own Office? From:"Joseph McRoy (Roy) Anderson" <royanderson -at- IBM -dot- NET> Date:Thu, 16 Apr 1998 22:49:59 -0400
Debra Mazo wrote:
>
> Our Documentation Group is having a hard time justifying private offices
> for technical writers to Product Development. We need some strong
> reasons to justify that we are different than developers and work more
> productively in a quiet working space, especially when we performing
> editing duties.
>
While developing SAP online help in a pressure-filled environment where
35 subject matter experts were inclined to suddenly scream at the top
of their lungs, or throw bowling balls at others, or pound the floor with
their fists--and where 40+ phones rang constantly--I nearly cracked. Can you
say "Who can concentrate in a madhouse?" My client's solution was permit
me to use a Sony portable CD player to "drown out the noise." Didn't work.
The environment became my ticket to telecommuting. The office has since
moved 700 miles south and I'm still telecommuting. It's a great life! No
dress code, no noise, no manager standing over my shoulder, and my
productivity and morale skyrocketed. Ask your manager to allow you to
telecommute a few days a week. I get all needed input via phone, fax,
email, and FTP download. If possible, I'll never work in an office again.
