Feline Musings

Yes, writers have to sell their skills in IT-organizations - not to get the job, but after they land a job in an IT-organization. While most IT-organizations are realizing the need for hiring skilled writers to handle their technical and organizational documentation, they are not fully aware of the potential of the writers they hire.

Most technical writers, instructional designers, or information architects (as IT-organizations prefer to call their writers) are considered support staff, and not exactly instrumental to the organizations billed growth. Since, writers in the IT-industry are comparatively a new breed of resources; they carry the onus of educating the management about the value they can generate.

Here are some arguments, which writers can use to demonstrate how they can add value to an IT-organization, and effectively sell the “write” job.

1. Project-based advantages
1.1 Availability of specialized documentation skill-set
Technical documentation requires crisp, clear and concise writing that encompasses the business logic as well as technical aspects of your software product. While your team’s technical and business analysis resources can provide all the relevant information, it requires a professional writer to gather the entire scope of your knowledge and document it in a legible and comprehensive format.

1.2 Advantage of proper editing and correct writing
Software Engineers code, Test Engineers ensure quality, and Business Analysts ensure product functionality. A Technical Writer ensures the usage of correct grammar, precise details and a professional document that is end-user friendly and impressive.

1.3 Updated and consistent specification documents
In most software projects, the technical and functional documentation is obsolete, as usually Software Engineer code without updating the specifications. A Technical Writer associated with your project can be a part of the Software Development Life Cycle, and maintain and update all specification documents. This also ensures that vital technical and functional information is retained within the project, in case the Software Engineer moves on from the project.

1.4 Saving time and effort of technical resources

A Technical Writer who is involved in a project since the Analysis phase of the project can save a lot of time in planning and self-reviewing documentation. Your technical team and managers will be free to handle the technical and client-based aspects instead of fretting over document formats, templates, edits, and spending coding and project management time on unwieldy documentation. Similarly, properly edited and correctly documented test plans, and test cases can reduce Test Engineers’ time and efforts.

1.5 Saving project management time and effort
A Technical Writer can help Project Leads and Managers to prepare effective business proposals, change requests and other relevant documentation in customized and consistent format. A paper trail of documented events also allows you to monitor and improve your processes, products, and services.

1.6 Assuring product quality
Technical Writers extensively use the product before documenting User Guides, Tutorials, Specifications, Installation Guides, and Business Proposals. They can give valuable inputs in terms of aesthetics, identify cosmetic errors and ensure that the product’s user interface/error messages etc. uses correct grammar and globally acceptable terminology.

1.7 Improving product showcasing
You can also leverage the advantage of Graphic Designers to prepare web forms, create interface designs, diagrams, graphics and visuals and utilize Elearning-based professionals to create professional tutorials and case studies for internal as well as external distribution.

1.8 Customized documentation to meet customer needs
Skilled and experienced writers can help you to analyze your end-user needs and create effective documentation that is best suited to the customers’ level of product usage and understanding.

1.9 Improving product usability and customer satisfaction
Professionally planned and written user documentation will not only improve the ease of using the product, but will also enhance customer delight. Inaccuracies will reflect poorly on your product, regardless of its technical standard.

2. Organization-based advantages
2.1 Improved internal documentation
Using standard templates and professionally created designs and templates, backed by extensive review and language edits, will improve the consistency and impact of internal documentation, such as HR policies and procedures, Quality Management System. Writers can create User guides and help documents for the organization’s internal software for employee/management usage.

2.2 Improved organization show casing
You can leverage the advantage of content management and graphic designing resources to augment website design, navigation and content with downloadable case studies, newsletters, bulletins, press releases.

2.3 Knowledge management
Regular and consistent documentation across projects ensures the maintenance of a knowledge database and reusable content/template and style repository for various documents created and distributed at organization level. Expert knowledge is communicated, but more importantly captured, with good Elearning and knowledge management systems.

2.4 Enhance employee satisfaction
Easy-to-read and easy-to-access documents across projects helps to reduce the learning curve of new resources and saves project management time. Easily available information and a professional look and feel to the organization’s newsletters and other communication/documents for the employees goes a long way in creating a strong positive impact on the employee and enhances employee satisfaction. In the age of media advertising for IT companies, most organizations are creating unique brand images through words and images and employees like to relate and be a part of an organization with a strong market brand image.

2.5 Training on communication and writing skills
Writers in your organization can train various levels of project and organization based resources on effective writing to market the product and handle customer queries. It is important to use correct terminology, gender-neutral and globally accepted language. It is a known fact that in most customer feedback, effective communication and written skills is a prime issue of concern, and it reduces the customer delight factor, considerably.

3. Business advantages
3.1 Professional business proposals
Business proposal writing is a specialized skill where the product features, project skills and organization abilities has to be showcased in a format that sells and a language that speaks less but delivers more. Your Technical Writer can help you to document your commercial and business proposals and maintain a repository of ready material for easy customized use.

3.2 Improved image of the product and organization
Consistent use of templates, logos, professional graphics, colors, language and industry standard terms and terminologies, lend a professional image to your organization. The relevance and crispness of the written word in brochures, web sites, proposals, user guides and all other forms of documentation that go to your customers – present and potential – reflect your attention to detail. This contributes to the quality and usability of your documentation and enhances the market brand image of your organization.

3.3 In league with global industry standards
Quality user documentation delivered in various formats, such as cross-browser Online Help using industry standard documentation tools provides you the competitive edge that most global IT companies have.

3.4 Lower troubleshooting costs
Self-explanatory and user-friendly documentation will reduce customer calls to your products’ technical helpdesk. Professional documents also enhance the reliability of business processes. Elearning material can be used effectively to train your customers on your products and services.

3.5 Reduce internal training costs
Available product documents, updated knowledge and content repository and interactive training material, for example, product training workbooks, demos, tutorials etc will help to reduce knowledge sharing and training costs. Writers can assist the Training department to prepare reusable training material, which can reduce the cost of acquiring external trainers/training material.

3.6 Acquiring customers for Documentation based projects
Elearning is fast emerging as a lucrative market. While software companies seek diversified work domains and seek to expand their market base, ELearning professionals can be highly instrumental in helping the organization to venture into the lucrative market of ELearning and Technical Documentation for customers. India is fast emerging as a market for outsourcing Elearning, Technical Writing and Graphic Designing assignments. There are some prime players in the market already and it is high time to venture into this revenue-generating area.

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