Dysfunctional Documents

Foreword

About this guide

Audience

Purpose

Organization

Hitting bottom

Failed collaboration

Failed oversight

Failed guidelines

Learning from failure

Step 1. Acknowledge problems

Identify acute problems

Identify chronic problems

Step 2. Define edit types

Classic edit types

Stand-alone edit types

Modular edit types

Step 3. Define edit levels

Classic edit levels

Stand-alone edit levels

Modular edit levels

Step 4. Edit documents

Identify problems by type

Identify global problems

Identify specific problems

Step 5. Write edit reports

Suggest global solutions

Suggest specific solutions

Step 6. Evaluate edit reports

Evaluate all suggestions

Implement good suggestions

Identify best practices

Step 7. Propose guidelines

Compile proposals

Distribute proposals

Step 8. Evaluate guidelines

Establish a review process

Review individual proposals

Verify proposal decisions

Step 9. Publish guidelines

Compile approved guidelines

Distribute approved guidelines

Step 10. Enforce guidelines

Cite guidelines in edits

Demonstrate guidelines

Step 11. Update guidelines

Implement practical guidelines

Appeal or revise impractical guidelines

Propose new guidelines

Add new guidelines

Change existing guidelines

Establish guideline exceptions

Step 12. Automate guidelines

Identify solutions for automation

Approve automation solutions

Set up a cross-functional team

Build guidelines into tools

Build boilerplate documents

Appendix A. The Levels of Edit

Appendix B. Edit request forms

Quantify expectations

Answer questions

Formalize processes

Sample forms

Appendix C. Writing guidelines

Abbreviations

Capitalization

Headings

Indexes

Person

Sentences

Tense

Voice

Appendix D. Roles and responsibilities

Collaboration roles

Oversight roles

Treatment roles

Prevention roles

References

Index