The slideshow for the presentation Enhancing Collaboration Through the Documentation Process as given at Rochester Spectrum 2014. Thank you for your attention and feedback!

1. Enhancing Collaboration
Through a Documentation
Process
Kim Chmielewicz
Rochester Chapter

2. Why discuss collaboration
via documentation?
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 Very often, team members are focused on completing their own
individual tasks, and organization-wide documentation is
truncated except when immediate needs require it (audits . . .)
 Technical writers’ unique perspectives in overseeing operational,
service, project, and proof of concept functions allows us to
discern hidden collaboration channels
 Appropriate collaboration drives successful documentation
processes, better operational and service management, and
permits more robust support with less effort – value!

3. IT Tools Need To Focus On
Service Information
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 IT = information technology; most of us focus on the technology,
but it is only as valuable as the information communicated
 All companies provide services in some form
 Service may be entirely self-supporting, in collaboration with
other departments, in collaboration with other locations, and/or
in collaboration with third-party providers
 With so many combinations of service providers possible, a clear
understanding of service responsibilities is essential to ensure
effective service delivery

4. But Service By Any Other Name
Would Not Smell As Sweet . . .
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 Service name: Sounds elementary, but a glossary may be helpful
if your organization uses a lot of specified terminology
 Service inclusions: What do we provide as part of the service?
 Service exclusions: What don’t we provide?
 Service duration: How long will the service be provided for?
 Service roles: Who is responsible for what functions
 Service documentation/communication: When, how, where, and
by whom descriptions of the service, its provisions, and other
associated knowledge are maintained
 Service cost: If your service scope is adequately defined, it
assists greatly in deciding what price(s) will be charged

5. Anyone Can Put Stuff In A Table,
But What’s In The Report?
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 All businesses transfer information to help provide service
 Similar to service provision, information may be shared internally
(only within your team), in collaboration with other departments,
in collaboration with other locations, and/or in collaboration with
third-party providers
 The importance of conveying information correctly cannot be
underestimated in the context of service provision
 Despite all of the advances made in the means of storing, sorting,
and maintaining data, basic information transfer still relies on the
research, organization and writing skills of at least one (and
preferably, more) people within an organization

6. So Why Should I Care?
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 We still rely on human effort as no automated tool exists that will
break down a process or procedure into its component tasks or
parts
 But because of the ease of producing documentation, two factors
that underlie information sharing are made much simpler:
1) Document production (can be done via text editor); and
2) Document distribution (can be done via email).
 The result: No excuses exist for putting off collaborative
documentation anymore - you already have all the tools you
need!

7. Collaborative Documents
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1) Goal log
2) Policies
3) Procedures
4) Approval/dependency tree
5) Action/agreement log

8. Goal Log
4/17/2014 8How To Write Well (Enough)
IDEAL: Smaller goal listing within service provision
 Creates specific goals to permit better understanding of the chain
of events that complete service delivery
 Makes goals more visible to team members completing service
tasks
 Translates abstract wishes into specific actions

9. Policies/Procedures
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IDEAL: Align all service tasks with decreed standards/outcomes
 Policies: Governance/requirements specific to an industry,
company, or accreditation agency overseeing business practices
 Procedures: The individual and/or interconnected processes
used to conduct business and fulfill delivery requirements

10. Approval/Dependency Tree
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IDEAL: The approval tree is a helpful tool for reminding team
members of their obligations to complete service tasks in a
timely fashion
 A dependency tree tracks tasks that can be streamlined and
completed simultaneously
 Therefore, by tracking approvals and dependencies separately,
you will increase the efficiency of service work by identifying
places where there are lags, which may simplify product/service
delivery processes

11. Action/Agreement Logs
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IDEAL: Action/agreement logs are streamlined records of actions
taken and by whom
 The logs create a single reference point and can be referenced
easily
 Action logs are helpful to use for services in which many small,
simultaneous tasks must be completed and tracked
 Agreement logs also assist in keeping track of agreed-upon
solutions
 List dates, a simple description of the action or agreement, and
who will implement tasks

12. 4/17/2014 Kim Chmielewicz 12
Action Log Sample: SGML to HTML manual conversion
Service Stage Action Name Description Actors Action(s)
taken
Initial manual
review
Brief initial
review
Quick check
to update
components,
edit, clarify
Kim
Jan
Resaved
source files
Created new
graphics
Word to
SGML
conversion
Realign tables Tables have
dangling
misaligned
cells
Kim
Betty
Retagged
tables
Edited DTD
script
SGML to
HTML
conversion
Post-
conversion
review
Recheck
HTML file
against Word
file
Kim
Sharon
Distributed
latest copies
Marked new
edits
HTML
delivery
File delivery Submit file to
online library
for use
Kim Set chapters,
zipped files,
downloaded
NOTE: This action log reflects a set procedure for manual conversion, so dates
could be added to reflect when work is actually completed for each manual.
Listings with dates can be added in for unplanned steps as they are completed.

13. Who Should Be Involved?
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1) Everyone: If you have specific functions or tasks that only you
do, they should be recorded somewhere; all team members
should have a personal wiki space or individual hard drive for
their self-documentation
2) Operational groups: If your team has certain functional
divisions, have someone from within each group coordinate
that function’s documentation
3) Service groups: Similar to operational groups, but organized
around service provision
4) Project/proof of concept teams: Similar to both (2) and (3);
have the additional caveat that projects or POCs that birth new
products/services will need to have documentation
incorporated into operational and service groups

14. Takeaways
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 Spend extra time developing documentation templates to convey
clear work expectations and make management easier
 Updating action and agreement logs require little time as they
permit quick entries without format wrestling
 Simple Word documents and Excel spreadsheets work just fine for
most purposes
 Plan and consider what information is most relevant to record
when setting up documentation
 Updating and sharing documentation consistently is the key to
collaborative success

15. References
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 My email is Mhcmik@aim.com if you have additional questions on
this presentation or about how to create collaborative
documentation
 For more information on document management, I recommend
taking a look at the website for the Society for Technical
Communication at www.stc.org. Much of the content is open for
viewing by non-members, and includes seminar recordings as well
as interesting articles – check it out!
 Thank you for your attention – hopefully I’ve given you some
ideas for how to develop a documentation process for
collaboration. Happy shared writing!