Hmmm... policy... guidance... really, I may seem paranoid, but they don't spark a clear distinction in my head.
Guideance to me is not a word that I would take to mean that something is a set of rules. It definitely sparks a very clear distinction for me.
I want to see a single document, not more. Just one. Call it Process, call it Policy, call it Rules, but just one.
I think we are both agreeing here? I want one normative document and everything else is non-normative. Currently I've called that the policy document.
The process document (or whatever we are going to call it) is guideance, howto - whaever you want to call it - but in particular it is *non-normative*. I called it Process_Description because that's what it is - it describes the process, not because I wanted two normative documents.
I've tried to draw a very clear distinction in all my e-mails that there is one main document (that I've been calling normative, or the policy) only. Everything else (such as the process document or roles and responibilities) is purely as an aid to end users. Nothing more.
Proposal:
- add a HOWTO section - rename Process_Description to Incubation_HOWTO - make a HOWTO doc from each paragraph of ROLES_AND_RESPONSIBILITIES
Why an I so keen on "HOWTO"? Because HOWTOS are well known to be non-normative.
I must admit, I'm not so keen on making everything a HOWTO - mainly because that implies a certain kind of document.
If we want to make sure something is non-normative, it's very simple (and appropriate) to put a rider paragraph in it stating that where it conflicts with the policy, the policy over-rides. That's a common approach and gets over having to worry too much about what names we use.
In particular, I like calling the process description a "Process Description" because that is exactly what it is.
However - I have absolutely no wish to drag this out. Given (I think) we have a general understanding that there is only one normative document, for the rest, whatever the general agreement is in terms of names, I'll run with it.
And as a final thought - I *hate* e-mail for these kinds of things. Give me a face-to-face meeting or a teleconference anyday.
Cheers,
Berin
--------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
