Category Archives: Downfall of Tech Docs

Downfall of Tech Docs Productivity Technical Writing

6 Ways To Sabotage Your Technical Documentation

August 21, 2011 – 5:41 pm

Every job hunt and even unsolicited discussions with recruiters bring me more tales of organizations continuing to have issues producing and maintaining technical documentation. It is not isolated in one sector and I keep hearing the same problems repeatedly. This has been a real disappointment for me over the years I was a contract technical writer and now that I have a staff technical writer job.

Developing technical documentation isn’t fun. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be such an afterthought. Things aren’t made any easier with a technical writing profession that is fragmented on the true role of the technical writer.

Here are some ways organizations sabotage their own technical documentation:

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Downfall of Tech Docs Project Management Technical Writing

Why Johnny Can’t Document a Product

February 19, 2011 – 3:37 pm

A lot of my technical writing career has been spent as a contractor and consultant working with organizations that didn’t have technical documentation in place and need it in place fast. Throughout my travels, I’ve also spoken to even more organizations through the course of interviewing for potential projects. One thing I’ve learned is that Johnny can’t document a product.

Creating technical documentation isn’t rocket science nor does it require a select caste of individuals. A replicable process, some standards, maybe some templates, and oh yeah some common sense can really help your technical documentation efforts go the distance.

While some of the reasons why Johnny can’t document a product, these issues can sneak up an ultimately sabotage a documentation effort and ultimately the entire project.

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Downfall of Tech Docs Kelly's Laws of Technical Writing Tech Industry Downfall

More Things your Technical Writer isn’t Telling You

February 4, 2011 – 11:28 pm

You can learn a lot about an organization when you develop their project documentation.  In my time, I’ve had the benefit of working with a lot of smart people and even more people who thought they were the smartest person in the room. When you dig into project features, then the fun begins as the dynamic between engineering, product management, sales, and the executives can make or break a product and gamble with the future of the company. How folks answer questions remains a fascination to me.

It can also be a real interesting venue for observing ego and human nature Here are some more things your technical writer or requirements analyst isn’t telling you:

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Downfall of Tech Docs Product Management Project Management Technical Writing

When the Tech Writing Group Becomes a Parking Lot

February 1, 2011 – 8:20 pm

I’ve long been critical of the technical writing profession on this blog and in some of my other writing. It’s not because I hate technical writing – I do love it – rather it’s because I’ve seen some critical missteps from both the technical writing profession and those that hire them. After all, I am a technical writer so I do question.

One of the worst things an organization can do to self sabotage their technical documentation efforts is to make their technical writing group a parking lot or dumping ground for employees that other group’s don’t want. This can lead to a number of issues that can eventually have a ripple effect across an entire project:

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Downfall of Tech Docs Job Hunting Technical Writing

Why Technical Writer Certification isn’t going to Matter

August 27, 2010 – 11:02 am

I read with interest about how the Society for Technical Communication is launching a certification program for technical writers. Unfortunately, I don’t think it is going to change much of anything out in the marketplace for technical writers. Sure, it will be another piece of paper but it won’t be able to compete with the value employers perceive in Cisco, Microsoft, and PMP certifications.

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Contracting Downfall of Tech Docs Technical Writing

3 Things Nobody will tell you about Remote Writing Projects

December 5, 2009 – 4:45 pm

147892_9397 I’ve become sort of a student of remote working because of my freelancing and consulting work. A special area of interest is the changes (both good and bad) in dynamics and project management  that sometimes occur when a remote technical writer joins the team.

While this post speaks more about remote technical writing projects, you may find that you’ve bumped up against one or more of these things while working as a remote writer:

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Contracting Downfall of Tech Docs Life Tech Industry Downfall Work

Will Today’s Economy Further Thin Out IT Contracting Firms?

June 19, 2009 – 2:02 pm

The thought passed my mind today after hearing about more than one low ball technical writing contract off and on over the past few months is if today’s economy, corporate indecision, and skewed corporate perceptions that the perfect senior person can be found for cheap is going to further thin out the IT contracting firm herd.

I say this because the bulk of most recruiters salary is paid on a commission basis meaning they have to place people and the fact that some IT contract openings have been open for months as employers get lost in indecision, hand wringing, and a myriad of other issues I can only pretend to understand.

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Contracting Downfall of Tech Docs Kelly's Laws of Technical Writing Technical Writing Work

Five Things Technical Writers need to do at least Once

June 8, 2009 – 12:30 pm

I’ve had a chance to meet with some technical writers, hiring managers, and  potential clients over the past few weeks and the picture of the technical writing profession remains as troubled as ever.

While many senior technical writers are driven into contracting there is still an insular technical writing community that has never taken such risks. Personally, I think every technical writer needs to spend some time as a W2 and independent contractor and publish original work to expand their own horizons beyond just font fondling.

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Downfall of Tech Docs Job Hunting Kelly's Laws of Technical Writing Technical Writing

Writing Samples for Technical Writers

May 26, 2009 – 3:41 pm

My latest round of interviews and potential client meetings are causing me to reflect about writing samples and their use in the interview process. At least in my experience, what passes for quality technical writing can vary slightly if not significantly from one organization to another. This means that an A+ document in one organization may not cut it in another organization. read more »

 
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Downfall of Tech Docs Life Product Management Project Management Tech Industry Downfall Work

Kelly’s Laws of Non-Disclosure Agreements

March 19, 2009 – 11:19 pm

I’ve recently had cause to rethink of the whole concept of Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) and I am finding the whole concept has been prostituted by tech companies (prompted by their attorneys) because they are way too insecure of their intellectual property (or lack thereof).

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