[austechwriter] Re: Perceptions in the industry
- From: "Steve Hudson" <cruddy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2003 11:36:53 +1000
Very, very interesting stuff Chrissy. All I have is a bunch of anecdotal
evidence to chuck into the fray, and maybe some vague thoughts :-) The
overall feeling goes back to those "Tech writers are right next door to
these jobs: <insert long list>". I shall be overly harsh with your content
in order to squeeze out as much as possible:
> Establish Documentation Requirements (effectively an organisational needs
analysis)
Opinion:
Doc Reqs and Org needs are two diff things. First you do an Org needs
analysis. This give you scope. Then within this scope you purpose document
types before detailing in the Designs reference. This latter part is doc
reqs.
Technically speaking the org needs should be completed by a BA, good TWs are
simple BAs as well.
Anecdote:
This is a toughy. Enterprises at CMM 2+ do the BA stuff at a management
level. The Tech Pubs manager or Designer does the designs. Us TWs just fill
the gaps in the provided skeletons. Said Tech Pubs manager uses your book
here, not us. Can a Tech Pubs manager be replaced by a secretary? Well,
several large IT-centric enterprises with offices here in Aus have a
secretary running the tech pubs dept, armed with books just like yours. In
several instances this secretary is on 35-45 a year, and their perm staff
under them are on 60-70.
Smaller companies vary considerably. Some provide you with exact direction
on what they expect next. As you are not managing squat, hopefully the dudes
in the know have your book - highly unlikely if it mentions Q though. They
want results and are almost uniformly scared of the cost of implementing Q
and feel the ROI aint worth it. No secretary can fill in here, unless they
managers really are clueless and think any word collection suffices.
Some are a joy, you waltz on in, they say "you're the expert - we'll leave
it up to YOU!" in which case the first set of purchases includes your book
:-) No secretary can fill in here. These company managers generally get
expert and user review to judge your work as they acknowledge their
inability to really tell. Secretaries will be sacked quickly, tech writers
will get pay rises.
> Manage Template Design and Development
Opinion:
This is what should be next. Your doco needs analysis above leads straight
into this as stated above. You HAVE to have a baseline before you can
measure it. Make thy baseline! Can a secretary design GOOD templates? No,
but they are asked to do it all the time anyway...
Anecdote:
99% of places I walk into have extremely substandard forms and templates.
The secretaries have been tasked and have delivered.
These last steps should be in this order and are hair-splitting the same
thing.
>Establish and implement Quality Assurance Strategies
>Establish Strategy for Maintenance and Continuous Improvement.
>Establish Quality Standards and Processes
Opinion:
Note what's last, not first. Develop strategies before tactics. Successful
strategies ensure you develop a tactical advantage. What % of real world
companies have a real Q commitment and infrastructure? 'k all.
Anecdote:
Who do they put in charge? A secretary or HR lowie. Effectiveness? A single
digit percentage. That having been said, universally if the doco is good
then the Q is good and this role is fulfilled by a professional Quality
dept.
That having been said, almost everywhere I have been the people in the know
rapidly realise that if they get me involved in their process re-engineering
they get much better processes, not just prettier presentation of the same
old poor process.
Opinion:
Last step should be
Managing the documentation processes.
Regular reviews for currency, filing system checks, active and passive
feedback systems, managing change and so on. Change management should be a
chapter on its own. This can be run by a secretary very successfully. Its
probably scattered throughout your other chapters.
Summary
=======
We are not secretaries. However, a good tech writer CAN be managed by a
competent secretary. Your TAFE users are working in a TAFE. A secretary
there is capable of and does maintain their documentation. It's very
non-technical. A large automotive industry uses a pool of secretaries to do
the same, very successfully. Most real world business is not the
high-faluted IT island in the heart of an enterprise. It is a much smaller
and tamer thing.
Imagine your local butcher deciding to expand his business to supply a chain
of shops. Could a good secretary help him, with the aid of your book, type
up all the needed stuff? You betchya. Could she do the same for a S/W R&D
company? Notta chance. A major shipping company? Yes, but badly - not badly
enough for anyone to complain though, they haven't seen what magic a TW can
really do for them.
Steve Hudson
Word Heretic, Sydney, Australia
Tricky stuff with Word or words for you.
Email: steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Products: http://www.geocities.com/word_heretic/products.html
Spellbooks: 728 pages of dump left and dropping...
-----Original Message-----
From: Christine Birtley-Kent
Hi Guys
Over the last 12 months I have been writing course materials for TAFE
Certificate IV and Diploma courses. I recently finished writing one called
'Manage Business Document Design and Development', which involved such
topics as:
Establish Documentation Requirements (effectively an organisational needs
analysis)
Establish Quality Standards and Processes
Manage Template Design and Development
Establish and implement Quality Assurance Strategies
Establish Strategy for Maintenance and Continuous Improvement.
To my mind this is a management level course and I wrote it as such
anticipating an audience of experienced technical writers moving to
management level.
I then decided to find out who was buying this book and what courses they
had placed it into - in the hope that there may be a decent tech writing
course emerging in the TAFE division (which means much cheaper than the
Swinburne course).
I found this module appearing in two courses called Diploma of
Business Administration. [Note the word 'Admininstration'.] Following are
the descriptions of the audience for the course that appear in their course
descriptions .
'This qualification is designed to produce graduates who can provide
administrative support for professionals in the work environment. ' (Moreton
Institute) [Note the words 'administrative support for professionals'.]
'This course provides advanced skills and a broad base of knowledge which
can
be applied in a range of situations in an office/clerical environment.'
(Southbank Institute) [Note the word 'clerical'.]
At no stage are technical writing skills or experience specified. The entry
requirements are either the Certificate IV in which you might have taken
'Write Complex Documents' as a module, or alternatively 'Substantial current
work experience within an office environment.'
If we are seen as clerks, then why would we be consulted in management
decisions?
I wonder how many of us are really presenting as much more than clerks?
(Brave assertions Mike!) Are we now so intimidated by looming unemployment
and so exhausted by excessive work hours and demands, that we are happy to
fade into clerkdom if that is what the boss wants?
How do we change industry perception so that we are seen as professionals,
not administrative support?
ck
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