The Question posed on LinkedIn:

“I have been working with an academic team of global R & D partners on TECH DOC, Product Support, Training, and Learning/Development solutions. One item on the hot list is the ability to manage the release of the software/device exactly with the support mechanisms such as the KB, the release notes, and the manual/quick start guide. Across several sectors, this issue seems to exist. How do I save the most time, yet not overwork the team, and remain as precise as possible without creating confusion for the internal teams/external teams? Any product manager, project managers, or other TECH DOC specialists care to share how to provide precision across the different LOBs in a global environment where time zones matter?“

My reply was this:

“Hi CT.

You need to have a desired outcome. That will allow appropriate resouce allocation.

When you are updating your software/devices, part of the process is to document your changes. This will allow you to concurrently update all your documentation. If you are talking about online documentation, you should be able to schedule page updates so everthing will appear to be updated at once.

Your change control process should identify the scope of your training. I’d typically roll out training internally in the week after updates. This serves two-three purposes. It allows your staff to become familiar with the changes so they can effectively perform their jobs. If you are providing customer support for your software, the training also will allow your employees to competently support the software. If you are providing external training, conducting internal training will allow you to fine tune it before presenting it to the public.”