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This is a point I have tried to make in every position I've had as a
technical communicator, i.e., that documentation, in whatever form
it takes, needs to be an integral part of the product and not just an
accessory that gets shoved into the carton at the last minute. In a
number of cases, the most difficulty I have had achieving buy-in
on this has actually come from the technical writers themselves,
who have looked at things like online/embedded help and lean
documentation as threats to their Framemaker-to-printed doc
existences rather than opportunities to root themselves firmly into
the product development process.
If employers neglect
documentation, sometimes it's because the technical communicators have
isolated themselves into their little ivory towers of syntax and active
voice and font fondling, and neglect (and often refuse) to learn something
of the business, the product and the audience for their products. I will
maintain with my last breath that as long as you treat documentation as
separate from your product, you will be treated as separate from your team.
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