Writing skills, Tool skills and procedural knowledge

[Warren Singer <Warren_Singer -at- VOCALTEC -dot- COM>]

Warren Singer -at- VOCALTEC
10/04/98 10:52 AM

I have been following the thread on writing skills versus tool skills and
it seems to me that there is an important component of technical writing
that is being forgotten. When I look back on the experience that I have
gained in the work environment , I see that I can draw on an entire range
of skills that are neither tool specific knowledge or writing skills. For
want of a better term, I'd like to refer this skill set as "procedural
knowledge".
Examples of procedural knowledge include the following:
   Understanding of the work environment in a high tech organization - this
   includes knowing how different types of high tech organizations
   function, understanding the hierarchy of the particular organization -
   how decisions are made and how knowledge is accumulated and disseminated
   within a particular company and most important, understanding the
   business environment of the company. Why is this important? Because it
   helps me situate myself and understand my position and function within
   the work environment, it helps me to see the documentation that I am
   producing in the context of the company and aids me to communicate
   documentation needs more effectively.
   Knowledge of the documentation production process - familiarity working
   with those involved at different stages of the documentation of a
   product - project engineers and managers, creative directors, product
   managers, quality control, localization, technical support and marketing
   enables me to use the unique skills that each department has to offer to
   improve the documentation.
   Production and printing  -  at some stage, whether at a management level
   or before, many technical writers move towards the side of printing,
   preparing postscript files, dealing with printing houses, understanding
   how the manuals that are been written actually get printed, burnt on a
   CD.
   Interpersonal communication and interviewing skills - an important
   element that is the product of experience is understanding how to deal
   with and manage people, get information, negotiate deadlines and deal
   with crises.
   Organization and knowledge management - a vital element that comes with
   experience is knowing how to define documentation needs, estimate
   project times and set target dates, organize projects,  organize
   documentation files and provide adequate means for storage and backup.

   All these procedural skills are part and parcel of the technical writers
   work environment. They comprise of knowing not only how to use the
   tools, such as Word, Framemaker, Robohelp, HTML etc., but also how to
   apply these tools effectively in a work environment. The technical
   writer's repertoire of tools includes not only knowing how to write for
   different audiences, but also how the task of writing is constructed and
   carried out in a high tech environment.


___________________________________
Warren Singer
Design and Documentation Department
VocalTec Communications Ltd.
Tel.:  +972-9-9707765 (direct)
Fax:   +972-9-9561867
Email: warren_singer -at- vocaltec -dot- com
___________________________________

 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=