Just catching up on this thread now, so I'm gonna start fresh and throw in my thoughts on stuff w/o interthreading...
I think the documentation and cross-training issues are the same issue, or at least they have the same solution: When an issue comes up, have the person who knows the answer write down the answer, and have someone who doesn't know it do the action. Make sure the "knower" is available to answer questions from the "doer". Resist the temptation to say "this is urgent, so *this* time we'll fix it and next time we'll document it." It's always urgent, and next time you'll say the same thing. This approach gives you several things at once, along with some natural incentives: 1) The person who knows the answer is forced to write it down, at least in some form. 2) The written answer gets tested out immediately, and questions/problems can lead to immediate revisions (because it's all in a wiki where it's easy to edit and do revision control, right?). 3) The person who doesn't know the answer learns not only be reading, but by doing it. If they have questions, they get answered promptly and then they can refine the documentation. 4) If you do it as issues arise, the most common issues will get the most, best documentation. It follows the 80/20 rule nicely. 5) Over time, people will get better at writing documentation as they learn what sort of questions other people end up asking. They'll also reap the benefits of documenting stuff when folks end up not having to ask them questions. Also, use a ticketing system, and as the manager go through resolved tickets and ensure that each ticket traces back to a piece of documentation (unless, in your judgement, it's so simple or so obscure that it's not worth it). -- Christopher Manly Coordinator of Library Systems and Discovery Services Cornell University Library Information Technologies [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> 607-255-3344
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