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Counterpoint: when the product manager attempts to revise history about what was specified for a certain feature at a certain point in time, I'm often able to s

by n4r9 1y ago

Counterpoint: when the product manager attempts to revise history about what was specified for a certain feature at a certain point in time, I'm often able to search my emails for a copy of a powerpoint they'd sent round with wording to the opposite effect. Yes, version history is a thing on collaborative docs, and our documentation processes should be a lot better, but timestamped copies are a sometimes the best way to track what happened with a piece of dev work 10 years ago.

ClaraForm 1y ago
Bingo! A file sent out creates a specific paper trail and accountability for all parties. If I want to make sure there’s a record of me sending documentation to someone, I’m not relying on giving them write permission to the critical piece of text… this isn’t even about distrust but about clarity for all parties in the file transfer.
- edent 1y ago
  Access logs do the same thing. You can see when access was granted, a notification sent, and when/if they accessed it
  - ClaraForm 1y ago
    Access logs + maintaining backups + version control + relying on the hope that no one’s cat runs on their backspace key during the session where access control says they logged in … that’s the stack you’re recommending vs sharing a file in an email and saying “have a nice day”.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
PaulKeeble 1y ago
I have in the past taken to saving a copy of a web page or document and just keep it in my downloads directory for this very purpose, files aren't big or problematic to use usually. There is a lot more space on a local machine than is usually allocated in enterprise drives and email its a much better place to keep most things, all be it you have to do another backup solution if they matter. One organisation I worked for published the bonus scheme as a web page and I saved it and a year later when they were paying those bonuses they had changed the page silently without any notice it had changed. They refused to admit it changed when people called it out, until I provided the copy that matched everyone’s memory exposing management as liars. I was the only person that saved it, the workers were being short changed for £100,000s.
JohnFen 1y ago
> Counterpoint: when the product manager attempts to revise history about what was specified for a certain feature at a certain point in time, I'm often able to search my emails for a copy Hit the nail on the head. I even send emails summarizing hallway conversations I've had, just so there's a record of what understanding I came out of the conversation with. In part because ephemeral conversations (be they in person or over some IM system) often leads to misunderstanding and a summary can surface those misunderstandings, and in part to cover my ass when someone revised history.
- piva00 1y ago
  Similarly I tend to overdocument everything, everywhere: emails with summaries from in-person chats; messages confirming something decided/agreed upon during a meeting; commit messages with details about why and how something non-obvious was decided and implemented; code comments linking to documents when some product decision was made that I objected to; comments on tickets about decisions/discussions; PR descriptions referencing documents related to the task. It's not only to cover my ass but also to leave as many breadcrumbs in the trail to anyone that needs to read this in the future to understand what happened (including, most times, myself). It's saved my ass many times and it's just a natural part of my workflow.

by n4r9 1y ago

ClaraForm 1y ago

Bingo! A file sent out creates a specific paper trail and accountability for all parties. If I want to make sure there’s a record of me sending documentation to someone, I’m not relying on giving them write permission to the critical piece of text… this isn’t even about distrust but about clarity for all parties in the file transfer.

edent 1y ago
Access logs do the same thing. You can see when access was granted, a notification sent, and when/if they accessed it
- ClaraForm 1y ago
  Access logs + maintaining backups + version control + relying on the hope that no one’s cat runs on their backspace key during the session where access control says they logged in … that’s the stack you’re recommending vs sharing a file in an email and saying “have a nice day”.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]

PaulKeeble 1y ago

I have in the past taken to saving a copy of a web page or document and just keep it in my downloads directory for this very purpose, files aren't big or problematic to use usually. There is a lot more space on a local machine than is usually allocated in enterprise drives and email its a much better place to keep most things, all be it you have to do another backup solution if they matter. One organisation I worked for published the bonus scheme as a web page and I saved it and a year later when they were paying those bonuses they had changed the page silently without any notice it had changed. They refused to admit it changed when people called it out, until I provided the copy that matched everyone’s memory exposing management as liars. I was the only person that saved it, the workers were being short changed for £100,000s.

JohnFen 1y ago

> Counterpoint: when the product manager attempts to revise history about what was specified for a certain feature at a certain point in time, I'm often able to search my emails for a copy Hit the nail on the head. I even send emails summarizing hallway conversations I've had, just so there's a record of what understanding I came out of the conversation with. In part because ephemeral conversations (be they in person or over some IM system) often leads to misunderstanding and a summary can surface those misunderstandings, and in part to cover my ass when someone revised history.

piva00 1y ago
Similarly I tend to overdocument everything, everywhere: emails with summaries from in-person chats; messages confirming something decided/agreed upon during a meeting; commit messages with details about why and how something non-obvious was decided and implemented; code comments linking to documents when some product decision was made that I objected to; comments on tickets about decisions/discussions; PR descriptions referencing documents related to the task. It's not only to cover my ass but also to leave as many breadcrumbs in the trail to anyone that needs to read this in the future to understand what happened (including, most times, myself). It's saved my ass many times and it's just a natural part of my workflow.