Technical writing done by programmers instead of writers.

[inachu]

So trying to make heads and tails of these sets of instructions written by a programmer.

He mentions to follow the instructions exactly. But when I do then it does not work.

Would be better to test those instructions before making it available company wide. Or better yet. Hire a real technical writer.

Another dept. wonder why something has not been done yet and it is due to his faulty instructions.


Anyone elses IT dept have silly issues like this? I would edit the instructions and send the corrections via email but they already treat the V1.0 instruction as the gold standard and needs no revisioning.

18 years ago I had a boss that did something like that and mentioned that if I made changes to the document that I would be fired. LOL!

Funny people.

 

[uclabachelor]

Follow the instructions until you get to the step you're stuck at then bubble it up the chain until you get a revised doc to work with.

 

[silicon]

So trying to make heads and tails of these sets of instructions written by a programmer.

He mentions to follow the instructions exactly. But when I do then it does not work.

Would be better to test those instructions before making it available company wide. Or better yet. Hire a real technical writer.

Another dept. wonder why something has not been done yet and it is due to his faulty instructions.


Anyone elses IT dept have silly issues like this? I would edit the instructions and send the corrections via email but they already treat the V1.0 instruction as the gold standard and needs no revisioning.

18 years ago I had a boss that did something like that and mentioned that if I made changes to the document that I would be fired. LOL!

Funny people.

My take on instructions that are difficult to follow or contradictory in nature is he/she needs to revise them to be more clear. What often happens is these "instructions are never vetted" and become, as you say, the gold standard. Clear and concise is difficult to achieve as most people write like they talk. Or outdated instructions no one has bothered to correct.

 

[dkozloski]

Instructions should be written by geniuses to be executed by idiots. Before writing first ask yourself, "How would I do this if I were a fool?".