Are we whining or whinging yet? Grin. It's all very simple really:
1) Everyone at your company has been writing in their native language since the age of two. They all consider themselves experts. They see nothing special in technical writers. And, all things considered, they'd rather have an SME bring their specialized knowledge to the job rather than some tech writer. This is especially true now that few pubs departments output to press. 2) Documentation is overhead. A cost center. I know you can itemize online help and installation and maintenance manual along with the actual product on the bill that gets sent to the customer, but you don't. I know you could charge extra for those items. But, really, we don't--even if you charge for printed docs, you don't get credit for it. I know good docs save support costs, but nobody measures that in any meaningful way. Documentation is overhead. Overhead is bad. Overhead cuts down stockholder profits and CEO bonuses and, more directly, your manager's bonuses. 3) There are other countries with decent educational systems, such as India, where people speak English very well (better than your high school French, n'est-ce pas?), and they charge 1/5 of what in house writers cost. It's just writing. We've all been doing that since 2nd grade. It's not hard. There you have it. What to do? 1) Become an SME. Learn as much as you can about the products you document. Become one with them. Become the expert. 2) Learn about your own profession. Become an uber-geek of technical writing. 3) Make friends. I am not convinced buying the SMEs and managers lunch, or stopping by with chocolates, or washing and waxing their cars before they leave for the day really does much ... but if it makes you feel better, then go ahead. Well, am off to take minutes at a project meeting ... l8r. (j/k) Cheers. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Bill Swallow Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 6:44 PM To: Beth Agnew Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: [TCP] Creeping Deadlines WARNING: The following is likely to ruffle some feathers but it needs to be said. Documentation groups are usually treated as afterthoughts because they allow themselves to be treated that way. DISCLAIMER: Important Notice ************************************************* This e-mail may contain information that is confidential, privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure. If you are not an intended recipient of this e-mail, do not duplicate or redistribute it by any means. Please delete it and any attachments and notify the sender that you have received it in error. Unintended recipients are prohibited from taking action on the basis of information in this e-mail.E-mail messages may contain computer viruses or other defects, may not be accurately replicated on other systems, or may be intercepted, deleted or interfered with without the knowledge of the sender or the intended recipient. If you are not comfortable with the risks associated with e-mail messages, you may decide not to use e-mail to communicate with IPC. IPC reserves the right, to the extent and under circumstances permitted by applicable law, to retain, monitor and intercept e-mail messages to and from its systems. ______________________________________________ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. DITA West 2007--Use a discount code of "TECHCOMMPROS" to get a discount rate of $200 off the $800 price if you register before close of business January 15, 2007. http://www.travelthepath.com/conf/dita2007.shtml _______________________________________________ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
