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This is the presentation that I did at WritersUA 2011. It focuses on creating global standards and requirements for documentation teams that span the globe.
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Session Goals
Provide a high-level description of the evolving goals of this two-year projectShare the process that has been used in this effortDiscuss on-going challenges and resolutions to some challengesShare what has worked and not workedDiscuss guidelines and requirements that have been establishedShare the outstanding guidelines and requirementsDisclose the lessons learned so far
Global Scenario
Four work sites (United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, United States)Four documentation teams with four documentation managersMyself – Manager of the US team in the smallest officeMyself – Chosen to lead the global effort and work with all three other managers
Honest Disclosure
Collaboration across continents, time zones, and cultures takes patience, a willingness to compromise (at times), and a leader who can bridge the differences between people and cultures.Four of us have spent two+ years on this effort. We have grown to have great respect for one another. That did not happen overnight.
In the beginning…
Different styles, naming conventions, and layout (14pt body text), help file typesDifferent authoring tools and publishing systemsTranslation into 7 languages besides English and no content reuse implemented anywhere
Bottom Line: Documents and help systems looked like they came from four different companies.
Two mandates
When I was given the lead role, I was given two mandates:
Get the help systems out of the dark ages of “CHM”Find a way to get gather customer help usage statistics for all eight languages
So it began…
My goals:Build trust and respect between team membersBuild a team that collaborates together regardless of culture, location, and time differencesGet together once a year to spend a week establishing goals, prioritizing them, and creating a schedule to complete those goals
Process
Bi-weekly meetings via phone or video conferencingGoal creation was collaborativeVision creation was collaborativeDecisions were collaborative and sometimes they were compromisesTasks were established, deadlines were given, and we tried to hold one another accountableAgendas were created, meeting notes completed, and decisions documented (my job)
High-Level Goals
Goal: Establish trust, buy in, commitmentLearn about the other sites, processes, procedures, standards, guidelines, and history (Large amounts of listening and learning without passing judgment)Establish a charter for the teamEstablish a user assistance vision for the company
Goal: Establish a list of achievable goals, prioritize them, and create a schedule for goal achievement
Specific Goals
Migrate one site to DITA and DITA OT (Other sites were using DITA/DITA OT)Implement use of a common style guideEstablish PDF, CHM, and webhelp layout to be used by all (Using DITA OT Builds)Save all content to the same repositoryImplement a content reuse strategyImplement a file-naming convention for all file types (8 different languages)
Specific Goals (Con’t)
Research competitors, query stakeholders (CTO, Marketing, Prod Mgmt, etc.), write a help strategy, and plan to implement itWrite a feedback strategy and fold that into the help strategy, if appropriateEstablish a way to measure the quality of each group’s contentResearch user assistance trends and recommend changes to senior management
Intangible Challenges
Time – Initiatives are secondary to software delivery milestonesCultural differences
Changes must be justified, proven by research, discussed, and then implementedCommunication must cross language barriersCountries have different standards and laws that must be adhered to
Tackling Intangible Challenges
Built a schedule and adjusted it around projects as best as could be doneTook the time to complete the necessary research and present findingsDiscussed, talked, clarified, and talked more (File naming took 4 months)Discussed standards and laws and made decisions accordingly
Tangible Challenges
Knowledge transfer to get one site migrated to DITA and DITA OTScheduling style changes within projectsGetting team agreement on layout for PDF, CHM, and webhelp, and then get approval (Marketing, Prod. Mgmt, CTO)Implementing the approved layoutImplementing content reuse to accommodate eight languages effectively
Tangible Challenges (Con’t)
Merging team ideas for the future of help with the help metrics mandateGetting customer feedback that is ‘deemed’ appropriate and acceptableAgreeing on a mechanism to measure content quality
Tackling Tangible Challenges
Scheduled learning sessions for knowledge transfer of DITA and DITA OT
This team did their own diligence as well
Scheduled style changes into projectsCompleted many discussions around layout and finally came to agreement and had one person implement in the DITA OTCompleted a help strategy that took months to research, discuss, query, and approveResearched how to measure the quality of content and presented findings
What Worked
Research, discussion, and implementation of those items that were imperative
Charter and visionCommon stylesCommon layoutDITA conversionPreliminary content re-use strategyMoving to webhelp rather than CHM
What Did Not Work
File naming conventions –Names are long and three sites did not changeContent reuse strategy – Implemented something which turned out disastrousContent quality criteria – Researched, analyzed, and discussed, but could not come to agreementHelp strategy – Worked diligently to agree only to have our developers question any work they had needed to do to assist usCustomer feedback – Queried Support forums, Beta feedback, and our own Support ticket system and there was little feedback about content
Guidelines/Requirements
Vision – More interactivity with content and more visual learningStyle Guidelines – Microsoft Manual of Style and a separate in-house style guideLayout Guidelines – DITA separates layout from authoring content so layout is defined in the DITA OT buildHelp (Webhelp) Strategy – Hosted and local help with automatic updates and usage statistics
Outstanding Guidelines
Help Strategy – Have done away with CHM files, but it took two yearsContent Reuse – Have the strategy, but the implementation has made our files a messQuality Criteria – SighCustomer Feedback – Very little received even though we have implemented avenues to receive it
Lesson Learned
Establish respect and trust by meeting in person for a week each year and get to know your peersEstablish project plans and agreed upon milestones and hold one another accountableReview where you have been and where you are going and update your goalsCelebrate progress and admit mistakesListen, listen, listenDiscuss, discuss, discuss, and discuss (beat the dead horse)Have a sense of humorFinal words…
Review of Session Goals
Provide a high-level description of the evolving goals of this two-year projectShare the process that has been used in this effortDiscuss on-going challenges and resolutions to some challengesShare what has worked and not workedDiscuss guidelines and requirements that have been establishedShare the outstanding guidelines and requirementsDisclose the lessons learned so far
