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Subject:RE: This too is technical communication From:Beth Agnew <Beth -dot- Agnew -at- senecac -dot- on -dot- ca> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Fri, 01 Jun 2007 15:00:05 -0400
There are way too many companies that indeed have no clue about what a
techwriters can or should be doing for them, and consequently they also
cannot recognize poor technical writing when it is foisted on them. I have
come in as a contractor many times, and been astounded at what was passing
for documentation.
They are simply blown away when I hand them a documentation plan that
specifies the docs they'll get from me, and when I introduce other
documentation methodologies such as a formal review process and doc testing.
It would be generous to describe their capability maturity at anything other
than oblivious. :-)
--Beth
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+beth -dot- agnew=senecac -dot- on -dot- ca -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+beth -dot- agnew=senecac -dot- on -dot- ca -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
Behalf Of Troy Klukewich
Sent: Friday, June 01, 2007 2:17 PM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: This too is technical communication
I'm very much on track with what you are saying, only I would add that:
* Most companies, at least that I've seen in software, really do not know
how to employ tech writers with good architectural and I would argue even
just good writing skills (inconsistency, for example, and documentation by
the pound being endemic). If they're techie enough and "smart", it's
presumed that they can write well and often they do not.
* Writers with good architectural skills and global thinking are still a
rarity, so in some cases it is a problem of supply and demand. If you can
demonstrate these skills, you are highly employable. Add efforts like XML
and DITA to the mix, the needs for these skills will only increase.
* I would say that most companies, perhaps even the vast majority, employ
poor documentation processes given what I've seen with a lot of room for
growth and improvement. Having gone through CMMI efforts for documentation,
I would confidently say that most doc groups are at level 1.
Better methodologies, thankfully, do already exist and have existed for many
years. Are they widespread in our industry? Not at all. If you compare our
industry with a mature industry like manufacturing with widespread ERP
implementations that enforce consistency, we have a long way to go.
Is it fair to compare our industry with manufacturing where consistent
processes are valued? Sure, because when we use consistent processes within
the content domain, we improve business, too. And it can be done. Some are
even saying that "ERP for information and content" (otherwise known as CMS)
is the next big thing in business.
Potentially, and in fact, we have far more core value within product
documentation and content infrastructure itself than, say, taking minute
notes or leveraging our transferable skills elsewhere in the company.
Troy
----- Original Message ----
From: Gene Kim-Eng <techwr -at- genek -dot- com>
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Sent: Friday, June 1, 2007 10:52:15 AM
Subject: Re: This too is technical communication
This is a reasonable arguement for the proposition that there are
*companies* that are "not mature" and don't know how to employ
tech writers to produce documentation that is not "inefficient and
inconsisten," or *writers* who are "not mature" and don't know
how to produce it. That's not the same thing as the entire field of
technical writing being "not mature."
The fact that many people employ poor processes and do a job
badly does not demonstrate that the methodologies to do the job
well do not exist.
Gene Kim-Eng
----- Original Message -----
From: "Troy Klukewich" <tklukewich -at- sbcglobal -dot- net>
> Working for larger companies for some years now, what I've seen in all
cases is that acquisitions of smaller companies include
> documentation and infrastructure with remarkably inefficient and
inconsistent processes going back many years. Once these
> documentation architectures are brought up to scale with international
markets included, they prove to be unecessarily expensive.
> Though the content had been around for many years, the content
infrastructure was hardly mature.
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