This is final part of our The Life of a Project Series. Sometimes we have an attitude of "been there, done that" when it comes to projects. In almost all cases, there are unique elements of every project we tackle and yet, there usually remains a common thread or set of practices from which we can derive lessons for improvement. While we finished the project on a high note with the praise and thanks of our client, we have…
This is Part 9 of our The Life of a Project Series. It's funny that this post seems to be the hardest of the series to write. Till now, I was basically explaining what had happened or what should have happened. This post is supposed to be about the lessons that we learned and how we can be better tomorrow. The last post, which I only decided on in midstream, will be lessons I hope the client can learn.…
This is Part 8 of our The Life of a Project Series. For most technical writers, the goal is not just to deliver an end product, but to deliver one that is of a high quality. And, as we all know, sometimes we have to compromise on quality to meet a deadline. If this happens, it is important that the decision to compromise be made not by the technical writer, but by the client or, in the case of…
This is Part 7 of our The Life of a Project Series. It's great when a project goes as expected; when all the required material is given to the technical writer, all the SMEs are there to give their input and review the document in progress, and it all comes together on time. I've had many projects like that over the years. By far, the most amazing project I ever had - in all my years as a technical…