Management
The Website Triad
Thursday, May 5th, 2011Who is the first person you call when you need a website? It should be a technical communicator. Often described as a web content developer or web writer, a technical communicator with knowledge of the important disciplines of web usability and user advocacy will save you thousands of dollars when building or enhancing your web [...]
What You Can Do as a Technical Communicator
Thursday, March 17th, 2011Listen to the podcast, download the handout, and review the PowerPoint given by Beth Agnew at the STC Career Day, Sep 25, 2010. In this presentation, Beth talks about the many roles technical communicators can fill, the types of work they do, and the value they add to any organization. She likens them to “Swiss [...]
No One Is Immune to Usability Problems
Thursday, September 23rd, 2010No matter how much an organization wants to build good usability into its products and services, sometimes things get overlooked. Often it’s the little details that people don’t think of that cause the biggest problems and cost the most to fix. That’s why having a trained technical communicator on staff is a great idea. A [...]
Why You Need a Technical Communicator
Sunday, July 11th, 2010Every company should have at least one technical communicator. A technical communicator (technical writer) is a valuable addition to the team in any organization, especially one in the scientific, medical, or high tech industry. Technical communicators: Facilitate communication Translate technical language into plain language Document processes and procedures Communicate technical & scientific developments to a [...]
Seeing the Big Picture
Wednesday, June 18th, 2008High tech companies have a lot of moving parts. There are numerous projects on the go, multiple teams at work, different divisions to oversee company operations, and the need to continually keep one eye on what’s going on outside the company as much as what’s going on inside it. It’s very easy to lose sight [...]
Dependencies: The Bane of Efficiency
Friday, June 13th, 2008Students in the Technical Communication program learn how to manage their documentation projects. I’m fond of drawing the parallel between the Software (or Product) Development Life Cycle and the Document Development Life Cycle. They both have the same phases. The keys to project management of course are to control scope, supervise resources, and manage dependencies. [...]
