Reply to: What would we do without document templates?

[cojak]

Clients need style manuals more than templates (or at least the templates should be in the style manual appendix).

A previous client had an anal senior manager who edited every document put in front of him. If they'd had a style manual following his idea of written English (correct but old-fashioned) then people would not have wasted time correcting how many spaces to put after full stops or whether to use semicolons when using lists.

[Mich the Tester]

I have started on this:

Current WIP:

QS0001 - Are you cut out to be a contractor?
QS0002 - Have you bled the radiators?
QS0003 - Its the Wail
QS0004 - Would Mitch?

Its a sort of FAQ with options to extend.

any other suggestions?

QS0002 can't possibly fulfill the CMMI Level 2 requirements without including a reference to servicing the boiler.

Once you've corrected that, gladiators and chutney spoons might keep you busy for a while.

[eek]

The benefit is a template forces you to put the information in a specific order and style.

We have DR & support templates for thousands of sites and you can find the right bit of information in each one in seconds. One day it will be automated!

What happens when the DR documentation system is one of the systems down?

[vetran]

I have started on this:

Current WIP:

QS0001 - Are you cut out to be a contractor?
QS0002 - Have you bled the radiators?
QS0003 - Its the Wail
QS0004 - Would Mitch?

Its a sort of FAQ with options to extend.

any other suggestions?

[d000hg]

Can someone generate templates for CUK?

[vetran]

A short checklist/cheatsheet could do that.

The benefit is a template forces you to put the information in a specific order and style.

We have DR & support templates for thousands of sites and you can find the right bit of information in each one in seconds. One day it will be automated!

[Mich the Tester]

Templates also act as reminders to included specific items – this I would say is the primary function of a template as opposed to uniform appearance.

A short checklist/cheatsheet could do that.

[Halo Jones]

Indeed, but these problems are surely rooted in employing the wrong people; is it really such a good idea to inhibit the creativity of, and waste the time of good people?

But these people can be very good at the practical aspect of their job (building stuff) so that a weakness in literacy (not that uncommon) is accommodated.

Templates also act as reminders to included specific items – this I would say is the primary function of a template as opposed to uniform appearance.

[Dallas]

You would be surprised. I think many people turn their brain off at the door.

Yep, I got a report this morning that a permie styled themselves: black text on a navy blue background

he needs a template

[CheeseSlice]

templates for structured and complex documents - Yes, this is a sensible way to stick to agreed standards or just to produce consistent quality documents. If you're really good with them you can make the top level heading numbers and titles consistent between similar documents so its easier for the reader to find stuff quickly.

templates for e-mails - sounds like somebody has run out of work to do and is trying to avoid early termination of contract

[vetran]

Templates have their place, I use many of them – admittedly these tend to be contractual & actual contracts, but for emails & the like I want to say over kill & decry the nanny state but having seen some of the emails sent from site I can see a need, as ever its working to the lowest common denominator

yes senior people using graph paper etc stationary

[Mich the Tester]

You would be surprised. I think many people turn their brain off at the door.

Templates have their place, I use many of them – admittedly these tend to be contractual & actual contracts, but for emails & the like I want to say over kill & decry the nanny state but having seen some of the emails sent from site I can see a need, as ever its working to the lowest common denominator

Indeed, but these problems are surely rooted in employing the wrong people; is it really such a good idea to inhibit the creativity of, and waste the time of good people?

[doodab]

do you consider yourself capable of writing documents from scratch?

Yes, and sometimes they are so good I get asked to turn them into templates. This has resulted in me trying less hard.

[DirtyDog]

If the client follows a methodology, then you would expect the documentation to be in a common format.

Nearly all the clients I've worked with have followed Oracle's AIM standard - and even those that use their own formats still refer to the documents with the same names.

[Halo Jones]

Templates have their place, I use many of them – admittedly these tend to be contractual & actual contracts, but for emails & the like I want to say over kill & decry the nanny state but having seen some of the emails sent from site I can see a need, as ever its working to the lowest common denominator