Explaining Your Contribution as a Technical Communicator

Thursday, January 14th, 2010 | Team Dynamics

Technical writers sometimes find it difficult to explain what they do in a few words. Maybe it’s not so bad when you’re talking to your uncle, but if you’re unable to explain this to your project manager, it can be awkward.

I’ve put together thirteen specific positive impacts that technical communicators have on organizations. You can open the PDF here or from the “Slopes” section of the sidebar.

I hope it gives you some help. If you have any suggestions for impacts and explanations I can add and some examples to go with them, please let me know. I’ll of course give you credit if I add it. This is an open work, and I hope the number thirteen goes up. (Also let me know if there are typeface problems.)

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7 Comments to 'Explaining Your Contribution as a Technical Communicator'

Haitham Razagui
January 15, 2010

Thanks for posting such a useful document. I’ve added a link to it on my website. One of the greatest ironies Technical Writers face is despite earning a living explaining things that are complex in an accessible way, many of us find it difficult to explain our jobs to people we meet and justify our roles in the workplace.

Michael Hughes
January 15, 2010

Great document! Selling our value as a profession has to start with selling our contributions as contributors within our own companies and organizations. And the old saying, “It goes without saying,” is a death trap. Every technical communicator needs to point out when he or she adds value in the ways you have described. If we do not blow our own horns, no one else is going to step in and do it for us.

Anindita
January 17, 2010

Am not sure if it can be a separate, standalone point, but I think documentation is like Intelligence (police or military). No one notices it when things go right, but the consequences of Intelligence failure can be disastrous. People won’t stop talking about the failure – with the consequent effect of the product itself losing credibility in the eyes of the consumer.

And, there are no metrics to prove how an effective can Intelligence save lives….but yep, there are metrics for the consequent (and collateral) damage of failed Intelligence.