Problem #1. The team is unfamiliar with the documentation.
The team can be unfamiliar with your documentation for a couple of reasons.
- You have created your documentation from scratch. (Even so, chances are the team has seen your documentation plan and, therefore, has an idea of what topics are covered.)
- Your team has some new members, or perhaps the team itself is new.
In these cases, give the team an overview of what the documentation is, why it matters, and why their feedback matters.
Problem #2. The team has not reviewed the documentation.
The team might not have reviewed the documentation for these reasons.
First, you did not give the team enough time in advance to review the documentation. Acasim to circulate your draft no less than 24 hours before your review meeting.
Second, you did not specify what the team needed to review; must people read for specific issues, or must they examine everything? Obviously, it would be better if people read the entire document for accuracy, clarity, inconsistency. At the same time, you might have a document needing only a few fixes, and those fixes deserve primary attention. In cases where only a few fixes are at issue, highlight those issues both in your cover note and in the document itself.
Another reason is the most obvious: people just weren’t inclined to read the documentation. How to work around that situation requires tact, such as asking people again, and politely, to provide their input. Or, if necessary, it may require getting someone else (say, a supervisor) to solicit that input.
Problem #3. You cannot have a face-to-face meeting.
One reason why you cannot have a face-to-face meeting with your team might be that not all of your reviewers can meet at the same time due to schedule conflicts. To address this situation, circulate the draft using the guidance provided above, where you say what issues must be addressed, and by when.
Another reason why you cannot have a face-to-face meeting with your team might be that your teammates work remotely from you. For example, you could be based in the United States while your team mates are based in Hong Kong.
Here, you have two options. First, you could set up a virtual meeting, in which you would set a time and date that would work for everyone to call in to the meeting. Or, second, you could circulate your drafts, gather the feedback, and reconcile any issues by getting the key people to resolve disputes.
