So what am I? Chopped liver? Gene's not the only one with the experience of starting doc groups from scratch, you know ...
Having worked for both very large and very small companies and doc groups, and having started four or five myself, here's my take on things. Many big company writers wouldn't survive in a small company. There are few if any support services, and you have to do just about everything yourself on a small group. There's no editorial, there's no graphics group, there's no standards group, and there may not even be a legal reviewer. In fact, sometimes you're lucky if the QA person reads the doc. So, you have to be able to do it all by yourself. The expectations are a little lower in a small company. No one expects everything to be perfect. That doesn't mean you let your standards slip, but it does mean that there are things that you just have to realize will not get done. And there are things that won't have a lot of attention paid to them because other things are more important, so a quick and dirty jib just has to do. But it also means that the first draft you do may have to stand on its own so you'd better do a darn good job first time. The time frames are much shorted in a small company. There's a lot going on in "Internet time" and a huge amount gets accomplished in very small calendar time, so you have to move fast just to stay in place. There are lots of things going on at the same time, so you need to be in touch with all of them and capture the most important bits and get them written down while they;re still fresh in everyone's mind because they may well forget about it later. I got more done in 3 months in a startup than I did in a couple of years at some bigger companies ... the pace is just that much faster. What you do makes a difference. In the last small company I joined, I remember telling one of my co-workers that the two of us represented 10% of the company (there were 20 of us at the time). Think about it. You alone could be 5% of the total company manpower. What you do matters. Now, so far I haven't addressed the direct question of how to start a doc group, but a lot of it requires the understanding of the points presented above. You don't "start a doc group" exactly. What happens is you start as the sole writer and eventually even you cannot deliver all the stuff that's necessary let alone what's being requested and you ask for help. Eventually you'll get a req and in between working like a banshee you'll have to review resumes and interview people. I always look for people who have worked in startups before (see above for reasons why). I look for the second person in the group to complement the skills I have, and who has other skills that I don't necessarily have bu that we need or will need shortly. Maybe it's someone with more technical chops, or someone with in-depth marketing writing experience, or a master toolsmith ... there's always something that someone could do better than you and you ought to find someone who has it. And things go along OK for a while until you need a third person .. then a fourth ... Then your needs and approaches have to change because now you're doing much more coordination, and probably reading what everyone else is writing, and so on ... you get the picture. In short, it's not an orderly process. It's evolution. A lot depends on the people you hire and how well they work out. Mistakes are often made, and if they are, they need to be corrected instantaneously before they can propagate bad genes. And I must second the recommendation of Peter Hartman's book. I have a spare copy if you can't find one. Peter was a very dear friend (he passed away not long ago) and his book is superb. If you really are thinking of getting into a position where you'll grow a doc group, get a copy and read it. Commit it to memory even. My 2ยข, John Garison James Barrow wrote: > So, Gene, since you are the resident expert, what are your pointers for > starting a tech pubs group? The obvious, I suppose, would be detailed doc > plans, meetings, delegation, etc., but you is the guru :^) > > > ______________________________________________ Are you a Help Authoring Trainer or Consultant? Let clients find you at www.HAT.Matrix.com, the searchable HAT database based on Char James-Tanny's HAT Comparison Matrix. Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] for details. Interested in Interactive 3D Documentation? Get the scoop at http://www.doc-u-motion.com -- your 3D documentation community. _______________________________________________ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
