Radical Idea?

[John Bell <jbell -at- PARAGREN -dot- COM>]

I have a very interesting opportunity in front of me, and I have
what may be a radical idea. I want to bounce this off the group
to see what the positives and negatives are.

I'm working for a small (~40 people) software company that is growing
quite rapidly. Our current projections are to increase from 2 products
to 4, and to increase staff to about 100 by the end of 1997. I am the
sole tech writer, and I also have inherited the responsibilities for
client training and technical support. The main reason I got those duties
is that I'm the only one in the company who has done those job functions
before.

I was talking with the VP on Friday, and he wants me to expand "my
department". Today, I think one additional person could handle the
load with me, but what about by year's end? I can't accurately predict
if two of us, or "X" of us is the right number. I'd rather err on the
side of caution because I've seen several times what happens when a
"department" makes grandiose predictions of how many people they'll
need, hires them, and then discovers that they over-predicted and have
to trim their workforce.

The VP wants me to get a Tech Support person and a trainer. He is thinking
along rather strict lines of job functions. My radical idea? Hire
multi-talented tech writers and share the three functions between us. If
the company grows larger, we can split up by job function then. However at
this early stage, I get only a few support calls a week, and training
comes in bursts. I can't see the logic of hiring dedicated people now,
when their workload will be light.

The other side of the coin is the TW mantra: Know your Audience.
I figure the best way to know your audience is to meet them. First as
their trainers, and secondly as their tech support rep. How many of us
have moaned over being isolated from our audience. "Management would
never send me or any other TW to a client site just so we could meet
the clients first hand." I see this as the opportunity to bridge that
gap and produce really first-rate documentation.

So, hypothetically speaking, would you as a tech writer enjoy a job
where you were doing technical writing, client training, and client
technical support? If the company grows larger and the opportunity to
split into separate disciplines arises, should we split and which
discipline(s) would you want to work in?

Thanks!
--- John Bell
    jbell -at- paragren -dot- com

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