How particular are your clients? 5

[photoengineer]

I do consulting where I inspect something and then write a report on it covering the results of my inspection.

Originally, the client was rather accepting of my reports and did not have any changes to make. Recently, they hired someone that reviews all of the reports that they receive, and he is rather particular, and about 75% of the ones that I do are kicked back for changes.

The changes in mine aren't in the content, just in the format, sentence structure, or organization.

I don't mind making the changes - but don't want to get a reputation as one whose reports always need fixing.

How particular are your clients? How often do they request changes to your report?

 

[Ron]

I've gathered from your posts that you are a single practitioner, doing this part-time. If I'm correct, you have little or no opportunity to interface with others who could review your reports before they go to the client.

Engineers are not always great at writing...or even communication in general, so having a review process by others is often helpful.

Those of us who "grew up" writing reports under the tutelage of more senior engineers typically got some good advice on format, grammar and structure of the reports. Keep in mind that grammatical advice from engineers is not always great!

I would suggest that if the changes they are making actually improve the readibility, clarity and presentation of your report, that you learn from their changes and take them as constructive criticism. You'll get the hang of what they want after a few of them and the changes will be less frequent. I suspect they will see the change and consider that they have achieved their goal.

If, on the other hand, the changes are those that might be made by an editorial egotist who must simply have his/her "stamp" on the finished product, then you might consider charging for the extra time/effort in making such changes and to "push back" when changes make no positive contribution to your report.

This reminds me of a common sign, often seen in auto repair shops:

Hourly Rates:
Certified Mechanic......$ 80.00/hr
If you watch............$ 90.00/hr
If you help.............$110.00/hr

 

[IRstuff]

Likely, it's a bit of both. How does someone, like this reviewer, demonstrate that they're providing value for their clients' money? Clearly, then, they have to find "something" that needs correcting. If there's nothing to correct, then why have a reviewer, right?

Nonetheless, you should evaluate each change independently and with no bias. Take those changes that improve the quality of the report to heart and learn from them, but know that there's a portion of corrections that are probably irrelevant to the overall quality.

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[beej67]

Those of us who "grew up" writing reports under the tutelage of more senior engineers typically got some good advice on format, grammar and structure of the reports. Keep in mind that grammatical advice from engineers is not always great!

To emphasize this -

I had not only technical writing in undergrad, but a very detailed technical communication class in grad school as well, taught by the civil engineering department, by a very fantastic and very knowledgeable professor who knew quite a bit about effective and appropriate technical communication, and style.

First job out of grad school, I used her lessons on style heavily in my reports, particularly regarding the active voice, and was forced to change them back to passive voice by my boss. Effectively, he took what would have been "A" grade work in graduate technical communications and forced be to revise it to "C" work. But he was the boss, and it was his stamp, so I did them however he wanted.

In the end, if someone's paying you for a report, and they want the words arranged one way instead of another way, your only professional obligation is to make sure the report is still accurate while giving them what they want. Who cares, they're just words anyway.

Hydrology, Drainage Analysis, Flood Studies, and Complex Stormwater Litigation for Atlanta and the South East -

http://www.campbellcivil.com

 

[hokie66]

If this is happening all the time with this particular client, I would suggest issuing all reports in draft form, with the understanding that review comments will be given due consideration, but that the final report will your work.

 

[Ron]

hokie66...well put. I was trying to rationalize, but you cut through the crap.

 

[hokie66]

Thanks, Ron. I'm good with crap.

 

[msquared48]

I always ask the client if he has some particular subject, or some particular wording he is interested in finding in the report, and, if so, to furnish me a copy of what he needs, be it legal jargon, government or insurance wording, etc. etc. Changes in addition to that once the report is finished are extra services. I never furnish a draft, only the original, unless it is for legal purposes for a lawyer.

As for the format, an old engineer that had done structural inspections and reports for many years taught me the accepted layout and structure. Never had any complaints as he did a LOT of insurance work.

As for the english, I correct my own work and am generally 99% correct. The remainder proves that I am human and not alien. I am out of this world, but not alien.

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Motto: KISS
Motivation: Don't ask

 

[eyec]

do not let someone puts "words in your mouth" so to speak.

you can support/defend what you have written when called to task/question. if someone re-writes your report and uses different words then their report becomes theirs not yours.

if this is done with your knowledge then insist that the new author reference your original report as a source for their report. if you agree that the re-write is better than your original, take the lesson and improve your report writing skills.

report writing should be very objective and straight forward given the details and your experience.

 

[MacGyverS2000]

LPS to Ron... and then further reading required an LPS for hokie. That's my view...

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[Ron]

I used her lessons

.....

Admit it Beej....she looked good and you didn't hear a word she said the whole semester!!

 

[csd72]

I think IRstuff hit the nail on the head, as a reviewer there is an unwritten pressure to find something to critisize just to prove that you have checked it. The difficult thing is to differentiate between personal preference and important communication changes.

Personnally, as long as it doesnt compromise the integrity of the report, it is always easier to just make the changes.

 

[cry22]

CSD/IRStuff

A good reviewer should be able to identify not just what is BAD, but also what is GOOD about a design and his cover letter should say so. The review should not be full cosmetic comments.

When I review a project that is well designed, I tell the client that he has hired a good team, that his project is in good expert hands and that his designer should be commanded for a job well done.

Then I name all the good design features, this tells my client that I actually reviewed the job, and that I am equally qualified.
You see, some people say it's a great job in their review without doing any review - they just cash the check - seen this in a lot of GSA peer reviews.

 

[IRstuff]

"A good reviewer should be able to ..."

Well, that's the key, isn't it? How can you tell whether you have a good reviewer, then? Maybe hire a reviewer to review the reviewer's report? That could go on ad naseum... At the end of the day, unless the customer has sufficient knowledge to make a judgement on the quality of the people they hire, they'll just get what they get, and that's often the output of the lowest bidder.

You have to bear in mind that in any group of engineers, or reviewers, or even just people, 50% of them are BELOW average, aren't they?

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[vthomidis]

IRstuff a star for you for your last sentence " you have to bear....etc...etc..".

How very very true !!

 

[KENAT]

Depends whether you're talking mean, median or mode doesn't it?

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