What you leave in your wake

16 Jul

Posted by Scott as advice, career

A while back, I was working with a small software company as its sole technical writer. When I stepped into the role, I found that documentation was a mess. Several versions of the manual were scattered across my predecessor’s hard drive. It wasn’t obvious which version was which, and files were missing or badly named. Of course, it didn’t help that (as I learned later) the previous writer left after giving just two days notice.

It took me several days to figure out what was what, and where it was. Happy wasn’t a word that could be used to describe me that particular week.

Whether you’re a full timer or a contractor, you’ll eventually part ways with an employer. Voluntarily, I mean. When you step out the door for the last time, what will you leave in your wake? A mess, or a way for your co-workers or replacement to quickly pick up where you left off?

I’d hope the latter. Here are a few tips on how.

Why should you care?

Not every parting is going to be sweet sorrow. There will be jobs and gigs that you’ll want to escape; the sooner, the better. But leaving the documentation in a state of chaos is, at worst, petty; at best, it’s just plain lazy.

Really, making things easier for your co-workers or replacement is a matter of professionalism. Remember that the technical communication community is relatively small. You don’t know who knows who. Eventually, talk of bad behviour could get back to you.

What you can do

There are a few things:

Make sure that the latest documentation files are in an easily-accessible location on the network or in a content management/version control system. Don’t leave them on your workstation.
Keep the directories organized, and make sure those folders have descriptive names. A folder named Draft 1 doesn’t help.
Ensure that the files of your documentation project(s) are descriptively named as well.
Leave a page or three of instructions, outlining where to find files, at what stage each section is in the writing process, and where to find additional information (intranet, wiki, network drive with internal and third-party information, and whatever else). Also, identify the SMEs that you’ve been working with.

All of that is simple, and fairly basic. Believe me, it goes a long way.

So, when you leave a job or gig what do you leave in your wake? Feel free to leave a comment about this.