Re: Client woes: a question to ask yourself...

["Amanda M. Jervis" <ajervis -at- vidiom -dot- com>]

Richard G. Combs wrote:

> Umm, who said anything about "having to take a bunch of business college
> classes"? Bruce simply wondered why tech writing programs don't offer
> courses on the business aspects. Does the term "elective" ring a bell?


Documentation and training (and all other kinds of technical writing) are
integral to the operations of the businesses in which we work. To ignore
that fact, and to pretend that we need not be concern with the business of
our employers, is as short-sighted as those business executives who think
documentation and training are expendable parts of their bottom line (and
who therefore cut doc departments and layoff writers).

As technical writing professionals, it behooves us to make ourselves
valuable to the business.
To do that, we need an understanding of the business and its execs. It's
simply a rhetorical problem: we need to understand and communicate
effectively to this audience, their purposes, etc.

However, the underlying assumption so far in this thread is that the
"business side" of technical writing must be taught in business
classes--separate from the technical writing curriculum. When I taught
business and technical writing, I always infused business requirements into
every assignment and every discussion. Business requirements are an
indelible part of our work, our documents, and our training so we
short-change students when we ignore these rhetorical concerns.

I suspect these issues are often not addressed because many instructors have
never worked outside academia. (I realize this is a loaded comment so read
my comment carefully and don't flame me for being against academics).
Scholarship IS valuable and theory must be taught so students understand WHY
they do something a certain way. I use the theory learned in my masters
program every day.

However, students also benefit from real-world experience taught by teachers
who are practicing professionals (who should probably not teach theory) and
who can help students develop business savvy, as it pertains to technical
writers. Thus, Bryan can avoid all the onerous "business classes" (perhaps
in favor of computer programming electives ;-) and still graduate with at
least a novice's sense of how technical writers work within a
business--whether that business is a large corporation, a small business, or
a sole-proprietorship of the writer's.

Amanda Jervis
Vidiom Systems
Boulder, Colorado



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