RE: Technical Writing, QA, and Training (fairly long)

[Dannette Thompson <dthomps -at- foundationsoft -dot- com>]

Mark,
Boy, does all of that sound familiar! My company has recently experienced
some of the same issues, albeit with a smaller staff. When I was hired as
the first "official" Technical Writer here, I reported to the Director of
Education, who was responsible for creating all documentation and training
materials, as well as finding someone to teach training classes. The trainer
was typically a member of the support department, but with my background in
education, I was frequently called upon to help.

I dislike teaching here because, while I know the software very well, I
cannot necessarily answer the accounting questions that arise when dealing
with a custom setup in class. (We make an accounting software.) In other
words, tell me how you want it to work and I can show you how to make that
happen. But if you're not sure how you want it to work, I'm at a loss. 

On the other hand, my experiences in the classroom have greatly benefited my
documentation skills here -- especially because I was responsible for
creating reference guides *and* training guides. I've learned a great deal
about the questions typical users ask, gained some "real-world" examples and
found myself with an even greater level of knowledge regarding the software.

Problems started to arise when I spent too much time on training and not
enough on documentation. (That's another issue with training; it demands a
lot of attention.) Mgmt began to see the light and has reorganized our
company structure in much the same way you mentioned. "Education" no longer
exists. Instead, we are part of QA, which is under the R&D Division. The
Education Director co-manages the R&D Division with the former R&D Director.
The production of training material and the actual training now falls under
the Support Division. 

Of course, there are always new issues. Since I'm the "software guru" around
here (esp. MS Office), R&D now takes up a huge amount of my time with other
non-writing related tasks. For example, our database can "talk" to Excel, so
I've spent the last week creating Excel templates for reports that users
have requested and R&D doesn't have time to program. Seems like no matter
where you sit, there's someone who can drain your resources.

In summary, I guess my advice is to take a good long look at other parts of
the situation. The grass often is greener on the other side. So, don't be
too eager to go running to another "opportunity" unless many things are
unbearable. Like I mentioned, training can have some benefits for you, so
try to keep a positive outlook regarding it as much as possible. In
addition, I'd make sure that I was tracking time spent on the various types
of projects in case someone suddenly asks why documentation has been
neglected.

Good luck,

Dannette Thompson
Technical Writer
Foundation Software, Inc.
The #1 Accounting Software for Labor-Intensive Contractors
The opinions expressed in this message do not necessarily reflect the
opinions or policies of my employer or coworkers.


-----Original Message-----
From: Mark -dot- Eichelberger -at- Aftech -dot- Fiserv -dot- com
[mailto:Mark -dot- Eichelberger -at- Aftech -dot- Fiserv -dot- com]
Sent: Friday, March 09, 2001 2:30 PM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: Technical Writing, QA, and Training


Folks, I am in the middle of a political battle here at my organization and
I would like to get some information from others in the field.   

The Technical Writing staff (myself and 2 other individuals) in my
organization (a developer of financial software with approximately 110
employees) had its roots in the Customer Support department and was
developed by the manager of this department.  When a position as Manager of
Training became available, this manager took that position and brought the
Technical Writing department with her.  In addition to managing the TW
staff, she now managed a staff of trainers offering inhouse training to
internal and external clients  This manager now reported to the Director of
Training and Installation.  This move took place around 2 years ago and
since this time, the relationship between this manager and the Director of
Training and Installation has deteriorated to the point that the manager has
decided to take a position at another organization.

One of the many factors in the souring of the relationship was the Director
of Training and Installation's desire for the Technical Writers to
periodically take on additional roles of trainers if the need arose.  Since
2 out of the 3 Tech Writers in the department have training backgrounds, the
Director felt they were a resource that could be used by the training staff.
Both the Technical Writers and the Manager of Training have strongly
resisted this. Of course, now that Manager of Training has resigned, the
technical writers fear that the Director will hire a manager more in line
with his philosophy and the result is that we will be forced to take on
training assignments.    

While the obvious first reaction we are experiencing is to begin to look for
alternate "career opportunities", I have some questions for the list
members.  Do any Technical Writers on the list have experience in both
training and technical writing and are they called upon to perform both
roles?  If so, have you developed any strategies to make it work?  Has it
been very difficult to handle the responsibilities of both roles?

One last point...During the course of documenting products, we often work
with our Product Development and Quality Assurance department in the
development of functional specifications and testing of software.  This
relationship has developed over the past 2 years and we would really like to
see the Technical Writing staff become part of this department (and split
off from Training).  How many Technical Writers on the list currently have
an organizational structure where Technical Writing is a part of Quality
Assurance?

Thanks in advance!  
Mark Eichelberger
Technical Writer
AFTECH
Mark -dot- Eichelberger -at- Aftech -dot- Fiserv -dot- com
610 993 8000 x534

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