Summary of the Sole Writers SIG Meeting

Held March 2, 1998 Meeting 6: Techniques for Organizing Projects

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On March 2, 1998, the SIG met to discuss Techniques for Organizing Projects. They began by discussing specific organizational tips, repeats of Tufte themes, and an eclectic array of esoterica.

Next, the group defined "success" in the workplace. The definition framed the purpose and results of the organizational techniques. If you missed the meeting, you missed great bantering and humor among the participants. And you missed the provocative details of the following tips:

• Be assertive (the principle of competent ignorance)
• Be decisive (any decision is better than no decision)
• Be professional (manufacturing of an image)
• Be an artist (using negative space)
• Learn to juggle (learn which balls are in which court)
• Be an artist II (be like M.C.Escher)
• Brainstorm occasionally through-out a project

The SIG took a break and defined a "technical communicator" as a pragmatically knowledgeable person who employs an efficient infrastructure to provide useful information to others. More tips:

• Use a dayplanner (macro planning)
• Use readme files (micro planning)
• Use parallel construction for your infrastructure (eclectic esoterica)
• Be inventive with yourself (eclectic esoterica)

The tip that received most comment was the concept of a "readme" file. This is not a file for users, it's a file for writers. A readme file is associated with a component of your information package. Examples of components are individual books or self-contained help modules.