TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Richard Collins wondered: <<Why don't tech writers analyze how errors get in
their work?>>
Sometimes we do. A couple years ago, we brought in a "Kaizen" consultant,
who taught us one of several Japanese-derived process improvement tools.
<pauses expectantly> Finished laughing yet? Okay. If I can continue now?
<harumph> The process was actually pretty cool, and once you dug down past
the management psychobabble, it boiled down to a very straightforward
process of looking at the current process, identifying problems and things
that simply weren't working right, and coming up with a solution.
It took us 5 days in total, spread out over about 2 months, and the end
result was pretty impressive. We cut our report production time in half, and
(in my opinion) improved the already-high quality. I liked the process
enough that I've been desultorily working on a case study manuscript for
Technical Communication. (Wanted to give it a couple years to be sure the
process was really continuing to work.) With luck, I'll actually be able to
start writing up the results this summer.
<<Be that as it may, case studies could provide practical help in avoiding
mistakes.>>
Unquestionably. And documenting your own problems and solutions is a great
way to develop "best practices" for your employer. You don't have to turn
these into a procedural straightjacket, but I found that our Kaizen
evaluation created the best of both worlds: a process that wasn't too
constraining, yet that provided enough guidance to ensure that all the
important things got done and done right.
I like to think of a good process as akin to a modern highway: it's paved to
ensure smooth and rapid travel, the bumps are mostly leveled out, it reduces
the likelihood of head-on collisions with traffic going the other way, and
you still have considerable room to maneuver within the multiple lanes and
exits. (Plus, there are traffic cops know as editors to ensure that everyone
follows the rules.) Having said that, I can't wait to see all the humorous
overextensions of that simile. <g>
<<Don't trust revision or edition numbers on manuscripts you are handed from
others.>>
This is where revision control comes in so handy.
<<Wouldn't it be great if every techwriter subscribed to techwr-L would
contribute entries to such a database?>>
It sure would. On the other hand, the archives already contain an enormous
amount of unorganized data on this subject, and an intrepid grad student
could probably create a thesis just from mining the archives to extract the
relevant information on real-world technical communication. Any grad
students out there listening in?
--Geoff Hart, geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada
580 boul. St-Jean
Pointe-Claire, Que., H9R 3J9 Canada
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