Managing Writers: A Real World Guide to Managing Technical Documentation
Richard L. Hamilton,
XML Press, Ft. Collins, CO 2009

Review by Jeannine M. E. Klein, Ph.D.
Aside from the 1996 classic Managing Your Documentation Projects by JoAnn Hackos and its 2006 update, Information Development: Managing Your Documentation Projects, Portfolio, and People, few books exist in the specialized niche where management meets technical writing. General technical management books abound; there is even a relatively significant library on technical writing per se. But when it comes to herding that particular species of cats known as technical writers, few guideposts exist. Richard L. Hamilton addresses this void with Managing Writers: A Real World Guide to Managing Technical Documentation. Technical writers new to management should find the book helpful when navigating the unfamiliar waters of HR, project coordination, and technology acquisition; experienced managers new to the technical writing team will appreciate the insights into this specialized branch of technology.

Hamilton sets out his underlying theory of management in his introduction: “I believe the most important function of a manager is to set up an environment where writers can be productive; an environment where writers are respected, given the tools they need, shielded from interference from the corporation and its managers (including me), and left alone to do their jobs” (p.5). Note the word corporation—Hamilton’s experience is primarily at large companies managing software documentation projects. His corporate experience inclines him to HR paperwork and some of the technologies (for example, DocBook) that require the heaviest lifting on the part of technical writers as well as major investments of time and money. Because of this slant, his book may be less useful to the self-managed lone writer at a start-up or to the documentation manager of a small team.

[In the interests of full disclosure, I have worked for at least one of the same companies as Hamilton and recognize his theory of management from that shared corporate culture. I must say that my manager at the company, who espoused a similar management style, was one of the best managers I have ever had.]

Hamilton divides his book into three major sections: Managing People, Managing Projects, and Managing Technology. Managing Projects is the strongest section, well-balanced between overview and detail. Managing People contains good information that fully supports the book’s theoretical underpinnings, but is often much too general. Managing Technology will be helpful if you are attempting to mastermind a major technology acquisition, but Hamilton often gets lost in the details of the technology itself rather than how it supports writers and writing projects.

In Managing Projects, Hamilton provides a good overview of project management tasks as well as explicit details about how to perform them. He begins with a description of two primary development methodologies in the current market: sequential (traditional) and iterative (e.g., Agile or Scrum). The information here is especially valuable since many companies are adding tech writers to the development methodology despite the fact that most methodologies make no explicit room for writers. Hamilton provides the necessary bridge to make the combination work. Standard management tasks of project planning, tracking, metrics, and localization are covered in a detailed procedural manner that is both eminently usable and highly familiar to those working in a technical writing environment.

Although the Managing People section is relatively general, it includes excellent chapters on hiring new employees and writing performance evaluations. The performance evaluation section is one of the best: its procedures are practical and Hamilton clearly sets out the pros and cons of evaluations, as well as the traps of sorting employees into winners and losers or imposing a rigid ranking and rating system. Similarly, the chapter on hiring provides a no-nonsense approach to assembling an interview team; evaluating potential employees; and considering the alternatives of contractors, services, and off shoring. The chapters on motivation and managing change are less satisfying; while the basic ideas are good (removing demotivators; managing change through phases), the specifics are lackluster (not listening to your employees and being inflexible are such obvious demotivators it seems pointless to include them).

In the closing section on Managing Technology, Hamilton lets his own enthusiasms get in his way. XML, DocBook, single-sourcing, and content management systems are not the only choices in their respective fields. Again, Hamilton shows his large-corporate bias: CMS (content management systems) and DocBook setups are expensive and have a steep learning curve. Many technical writers can understand Hamilton’s fascination with technology, but it gets in the way here.

Throughout the book, some of the most valuable information is contained in Hamilton’s “rules of thumb” which help quantify and track the essentially qualitative business of technical writing. For example, not all writers may work to Hamilton’s “two-pages-per-day” pace, but it provides a usable metric for project planning. Similarly, a manager may be required to track a wide variety of milestones, but Hamilton’s dictum of tracking a milestone only when another work item depends on it makes for a smoother-running team, without undue project management overhead. In addition to the rules of thumb, Hamilton sprinkles a variety of valuable cross-references to other books and web-based materials.

Since technical writing is at the heart of this book, it seems not entirely inappropriate to comment on one grammatical quirk in the book. From the subtitle to the text, Hamilton resists properly hyphenating compound modifiers. His book is a “Real-World Guide,” not a “Real Guide” or a “World Guide” and it should be punctuated as such. The same hyphenation avoidance occurs throughout the book, along with a few typographical errors. Picking nits, perhaps, but that’s part of the job of a technical writer.

None of the caveats noted above keep Managing Writers: A Real World Guide to Managing Technical Documentation from being a useful addition to the all-too-restricted library on the management of technical writers.

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