Being Personal isn't About Being Their "Buddy"

I have written often about the value of writing online in a personal voice. In particular, emails and newsletters lend themselves to a genuine, personal tone.

Usborne, Nick. Excess Voice (2004). Articles>Collaboration>Writing>Technical Writing

The Hidden Relationship Between Project Managers and Technical Writers  

Want to know the secret to better quality documentation and improved software design? Will Kelly outlines how the key is an effective relationship between project managers and technical writers.

Kelly, William T. TechRepublic (2003). Articles>Collaboration>Project Management>Technical Writing

Is Lone Writing Becoming a Team Sport?    

Larbi discusses the transition—including advantages—that many lone writers face as globalization becomes more prevalent and individual consultants transform into lone writer teams.

Larbi, Nancy E. Intercom (2008). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Collaboration

The Issue of Quality in Professional Documentation: How Can Academia Make More of a Difference?      

This article recommends strategies academics can use to contribute to an issue of great interest in industry: how best to define, measure, and achieve quality documentation.  These strategies include contextualizing quality definitions, advocating the use of multiple quality measures, conducting research to identify specific heuristics for defining and measuring quality in particular workplace contexts, and partnering with industry to educate upper management about those heuristics and the benefits of promoting technical communicators to the strategic role of organizational “gatekeepers of quality.”

Spilka, Rachel. Technical Communication Quarterly (2000). Articles>Documentation>Collaboration>Technical Writing

Learning the Fine Art of Reviewing

If you asked me what the most painful part of being a technical writer is, my answer would be: 'Getting reviews on time. Getting good feedback and inputs on your work.' For me technical writing has been very pleasurable because I hardly got any review comments. My morale has therefore been very high. Project managers, developers and others are so busy trying to come up with good software (read trying to fix all the goof-ups and bugs!) that they usually tend to give documentation lesser importance. User manuals, who reads them anyway? We do not have time for it!

Kamath, Gurudutt R. IT People (2003). Articles>Editing>Collaboration>Technical Writing

Many Heads Make Work Right

Writing is popularly considered a spontaneous exercise, and often is. Spontaneous writing, however, does not always result in high quality results.

Aiyyangar, Ramesh. Indus (2002). Articles>Writing>Collaboration>Technical Writing

Now That You've Got a Double Agent, What Do You Do With 'Em?  

Having demonstrated the importance of acquiring a double agent for writing projects, we now want to explain the best ways to successfully indoctrinate a double agent. This paper will help you prepare for, orient, train, and become a mentor for a double agent to help make him or her an effective member of your writing team.

Fisher, Judith R., Karen L. Mobley and Michelle M. Wright. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Writing>Technical Editing>Collaboration

The Role of the Editor in the Technical Writing Team

Editing today covers far more than printed materials. In this discussion, I am assuming a technical editor may be required to deal with: printed materials (for example, books, pamphlets, quick reference cards); electronic (for example, online documentation, online help, web pages); video scripts; computer-based training materials. I am also assuming that the audience for the material being edited is not comprised of other technical people; or if it is, the editor is not the person responsible for ensuring the technical accuracy of the material.

Hollis Weber, Jean. Technical Editors Eyrie (2002). Articles>Editing>Collaboration>Technical Writing

Strategies for Winning Recognition: Building a Visible, Viable, and Valuable Documentation Team  

Technical writing teams can improve their standing within their organizations. The purpose of this presentation is to share our experiences at Mirant where we've achieved recognition and respect as a vital internal service to the IT department and, increasingly, to the rest of the company.

Harkness, Holly E. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Documentation>Collaboration>Technical Writing

Teaching Technical Writing Through Student Peer-Evaluation    

Individual students in two different sections of an undergraduate civil engineering laboratory were tasked with preparing three professional-quality laboratory reports. The teaching assistant and/or instructor used established criteria to grade the first two reports prepared by students in one section. The first two reports prepared by students in the other section were peer evaluated by assigned fellow students within the same laboratory section using identical grading criteria. The peer evaluated section had a higher class average than the teaching assistant/instructor graded section on the fist two reports. The third report prepared by students from both sections was graded by a professional educator/architect without knowledge of a student's class section. The peer evaluation students also had a higher class average on the third report, suggesting that the peer evaluation process may have positively contributed to those students' writing skills.

Jensen, Wayne and Bruce Fischer. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2005). Articles>Education>Technical Writing>Collaboration

The Team Approach to Writing Policies and Procedures  

Although many companies claim to have working teams within their corporate structure, it may be difficult to use the same approach for writing documentation. With the demands for controlled documentation to meet quality standards, involvement in policy/procedure writing is an important factor in developing a sense of ownership and commitment to maintaining a document control system. A team approach to writing procedures may involve more time, but the results are operations consensus, improved writing skills, and a boost of professional confidence.

Whitmer, Diane L. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Documentation>Technical Writing>Collaboration

Technical Writer/Subject Matter Expert Interaction: The Writer's Perspective, the Organizational Challenge    

Almost a decade ago, Walkowski's (1991) study of the interaction between subject-matter experts (SMEs) and technical writers focused on the perceptions of software engineers toward technical writers. Her findings gave technical writers insights on how to improve critical relationships with these organizational colleagues. This study partially replicates Walkowski's (1991) study of technical writer-SME interactions, but instead of collecting data from SMEs, we surveyed technical writers themselves. We report perceptions collected from 31 technical writers and contrast them with Walkowski's original findings, offering interpersonal and organizational recommendations for addressing tensions between these groups. By examining both the SMEs' and the technical writers' perceptions of their relationship, we are able to provide a two-sided view of a dynamic and complex interaction. We also argue that participants in the SME-technical writer interaction cannot fully alter their relationship without the strategic supp

Lee, Martha F. and Brad Mehlenbacher. Technical Communication Online (2000). Articles>Collaboration>Technical Writing>SMEs

TECHWR-L: A History and Case Study of a Profession-Specific Listserv List    

Until Spring 1993, technical communicators had few Internet resources of their own. They could find common ground in forums oriented toward specific word processing programs and other tools of the trade, but they had no place to discuss profession-specific, rather than tool-specific, issues. TECHWR-L was founded that spring, and the growth, development, and response to the list has been remarkable. Most significant, however, is the effect that TECHWR-L has had on individual technical communicators worldwide. It demonstrates that the Internet can and should be used to provide more focused and comprehensive resources to technical communicators in the future. This case study outlines the growth and development of TECHWR-L, discusses some of the more controversial aspects of the list, and outlines how TECHWR-L or some other focused forum could prove an even more valuable resource for the profession.

Ray, Eric J. Technical Communication Online (1996). Articles>Collaboration>Mailing Lists>Technical Writing

Collaborative Walkthrough Video

Collaborative walkthroughs are a technique that my team used while rewriting our Help and adopting DITA. We believe that we were able to improve the user experience by improving the collaborative experience.

Bennett, Miranda. On Writing (2008). Articles>Documentation>Collaboration>Technical Writing

When Trust Becomes a Characteristic Flaw in a Project

As hard as it may seem, lesson one of technical writing is to break the rules and contact the end user. Conduct a mini-ethnography. Sit with the users. Call them on the phone. Send them emails. Do not let it get to the point where you feel you must go through the PM to communicate with the end user. As hard and uncomfortable as it may be, the consequences of not talking to the end user can be crippling to your help.

Johnson, Tom H. I'd Rather Be Writing (2008). Articles>Project Management>Collaboration>Technical Writing

On Collaboration

Openness is a faster route to better work. There are lots of ways of doing it, but I do think that as much as they pretend pure openness, successful OS projects all have hierarchy.

Mandiberg, Michael. Mandiberg.com (2009). Articles>Collaboration>Technical Writing>Open Source

Collaborative Authoring and Technical Writing

Writing is a complex, cyclical task. The writing task requires more than formulating text to express ideas, it involves data gathering, managing constraints, formulating intentions, planning, and revising goals. Much of the complexity is due to the management of simultaneous activities and constraints. Management of these processes can lead to 'cognitive overload', which in turn can negatively affect the quality of the text produced. With technical writing, these same issues of task complexity are applicable.

Spring, Michael. University of Pittsburgh (1997). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Collaboration

Open-Source Tech Writing: The Time is Now

We are all going to have to collaborate like never before. Everyone should select at least one area of interest and specialize as best they can. Then we will need to start meeting and sharing information. Immediately. There are several ways to do this, I believe.

Norris, Julie. 2moro Docs (2009). Articles>Collaboration>Technical Writing>Open Source

How Soon is Now?

One common complaint a lot of technical writers have is that they aren’t included early enough in lifecycle of a project. The downsides are that by the time work hits your desk you don’t have a full picture of who the customer is, why they want whatever it is you are building, and how they want it provided to them. All of which directly impacts the information being created.

McLean, Donna. One Man Writes (2009). Articles>Project Management>Technical Writing>Collaboration

Top 10 Technical Writer Annoyances

The life of a Technical Writer is far from boring. Days spent typing away at a keyboard are often disturbed by the rigours of the corporate world. I was reminded of this earlier today when one of my team, a relatively new recruit to the world of technical authoring, discovered that occasionally being kept in the dark can be annoying. In honour of this momentous occasion, I offer to you for your delectation my own top ten ways to annoy a Technical Author.

McAndrew, Colum. RoboColum(n), The (2009). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Collaboration