At one time, technical writers used to be something of an enigma – and still are.  These writers were called in for special projects and were often contract technical writers rather than full time staff.  As a result, they seemed to work in a fly by night fashion, helping only when needed and not sticking around for the long haul.

But is this the best scenario?

In times when communication matters more than ever, technical writers should be a part of writing decisions, from start to finish.  And having a team of writers is considered to be the best arrangement.  Not only will you have the collective wisdom of these professionals, but you will also find you are able to get things done much more quickly.

Even if a technical writer is an hourly employee, the more you have, the fewer hours they will need to work.  Together in the team, they can look at past projects to decide the tone and format, create the structure, write the project, and then review it for errors.  A trained technical writer can get all of these things done quickly when they have the support of a full time (or at least regular) technical writing team.

Businesses benefit with a more efficient technical writing team.  They can not only see their ideas become reality more quickly, but they will find the documentation is not only helpful, but more consistent than when a business brings in a new writer for each project.  In addition, a strong writing team will be able to see what other documents are necessary in order to build a concrete library of texts, instructional manuals, etc.

Is this always possible?  Is it always possible to have a team of technical writers?  Probably not.  But when a company relies on technical writing to train and to inform, it’s not a bad idea to stop looking at layoffs and start looking into hiring.

Related topics
Common Myths and Misconceptions About Layoffs
How to Justify Hiring Technical Writers During Hard Economic Times

HR policy writing is not always simple.  First, you need to condense a lot of information into a small space – no easy task.  At the same time, the text needs to be as clear as possible so as to educate the reading audience.  But even before you get started, you need to think about what tone to use with the reading audience. 

Perhaps the stodgy ways of the past aren’t the ways of the future anymore.

When writing for the everyday employee, the technical writer should be focused on writing in a more conversational tone.  Not only will this help express ideas in a more compelling manner, it will make the many policies easier to read, easier to digest, and easier to remember.

While some Human Resources technical writing might focus on the lecture tone, this can actually do a disservice to those who read it.  It can often lead to a reading audience that is less than receptive to the ideas presented since they may feel they are being talked down to.

Though there are some policies which can not be explained in layman’s terms or in slang, having a technical writer who can write in a more loose style may be just what the policy manual needs to become less of a paperweight and more of a useful reference tool for employees.

Conversational writing is something that may not come easily for some technical writers, so looking at a wide variety of candidates helps ensure that the desired tone for the HR policy manual can be achieved.  It might take a few tries to get the tone just right, but when accomplished, it makes it much easier for Human Resources to show new employees what they need to know.

Related:
Communicating for Diversity
Hiring Contract Technical Writers

It makes sense that the Human Resources department might want to write up the policies for each department.  But since many companies are more than willing to hand over this sort of work to the department in which the policies will be used, it seems that policy manuals have become less than accurate – or helpful.

Choosing to create a more effective policy requires technical writing to be at least supported by the Human Resources department of the company, along with the help of the management team in the affected department.  This combination of talent will help to create a policy, which will cover the issues the department might face, while also helping to create a standard for future employees and Human Resources personnel.

Here are some tips for ensuring the policy is drafted to be helpful as well as accurate:

• Answer questions – The policy should offer answers to the following questions: Who, What, Where, When, Why and How.  When these questions are answered, the policy covers anything a reader might ask.
• Grammar police needed – When a policy isn’t grammatically accurate, it can be difficult to read and to understand.  Employing a technical writer with grammar skills is the best way to ensure grammar usage is appropriate.
• Know the reader – If the reading audience is not kept in mind, the writing will not be effective.  The technical writer should always know who the audience is in order to create text which will help the reader, rather than confuse them. Additional, some consideration needs to be given to the diversity of the audience.
• Short and sweet – The long policies that are often included in Human Resources handbooks might have the best of intentions, but they can also be confusing and difficult on the reader.  When you need a policy to be followed, make it as simple (and as short) as possible.
• Use another set of eyes before publication – By asking someone else to read the text, you will ensure you are able to convey the ideas you need to convey before you print out the new policy manual. As a rule, technical writers are especially appreciative of the value of a second set of eyes.

Creating new policies, with the help of a technical writer, makes sense.  Combining the experience of HR with the skills of a professional writer allow everyone to win.

The writing world has changed in recent times.  With the innovations in technology, not only are people able to reach out to more audiences, but businesses which were never meant to be global now are – whether they are prepared or not.

With the proper technical writers, a business will be able to create a strong presence on the Internet as well as in publications designed to educate, inform, and to boost the reputation of a business.

Some of the highlights of the MadCap stopovers include:

• Reusing content as often as possible – Reusing content used to be a no-no in the business world, but now content can be used and reused in order to market and to inform.  While content is only written once, it can be used multiple times to reach a wider audience.
• Creating content for different publishing platforms – When creating a single piece of technical content, making sure it can be viewed and used over email, mobile applications, and the Web is of the utmost importance for maximum effectiveness.
• Measuring document effectiveness – If you’re sending out documents, you need to make sure they continue to be effective over the long term.
• Working together as a team – Though one article might only attribute one person as its author, this doesn’t mean that multiple people weren’t involved in creating it.  By creating a cooperative team, technical writing becomes easier and more efficient from start to finish.

Though other subjects were also explored at MadCap events, just knowing what others are concerned about can help you to begin to investigate issues which will support your technical writing needs, both now and in the future.

Lionbridge is offering a one hour webinar on July 22, 2010 which will help to educate business managers and marketing employees.  In doing so, businesses will learn when technical writing is necessary, how it is necessary and what steps need to be taken once a decision has been made.

When: Thursday July 22, 2010, 12:00PM – 1:00PM EDT

Website:       http://bit.ly/ContentDevWebinar

Industry: Information technology and services

Intended audience:  Technical writers, documentation managers, authors, localization managers, product managers, vice presidents, CEOs, CIOs, CFOs, CTOs, marketing managers, directors of marketing, webmasters, globalization directors.

Host/Sponsor: Lionbridge

This one-hour live webcast will teach HR reps how to determine their organization’s needs and readiness if the organization is contemplating the move to a structured approach for writing and translating documentation.

Discussion points will include:

• The benefits of structured documentation
• Key considerations when evaluating a move to structured documentation
• Best practices for implementation
• Live question and answer session

Using the live question and answer session, attendees of the webinar can custom tailor the information to their needs and begin to see how technical writing not only influences them, but also how this specialized writing will allow for more structured documentation.

Attendees can register for the webinar here: https://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?target=registration.jsp&eventid=215665&sessionid=1&key=DA687BC6CD4ACF6447578B3005B493F4&sourcepage=register

With more open source technologies available today, technical writing can be streamlined, but only when a company keeps up with new developments.

Adobe has announced it will be offering a free online seminar on using RoboHelp for policy and procedures documentation. The webinar will feature experts from both Lightext and Adobe and is expected to address:

• Project Management
• Search & Retrieval
• Creating Consistency
• Content Reuse

To register for the webinar, you’ll need an Adobe.com membership login and password. If you don’t already have an Adobe.com membership, you can register for one on Adobe’s Sign-In Page

Adobe’s webinar information page more information on the event as well as system requirements needed to participate in the session.

More Upcoming Adobe Online Events

Communicating Policies and Procedures for the 21st Century Organization (August 17, 2010)
Integrating Adobe FrameMaker 9 and Vasont Content Management Software to maximize XML content reuse(August 5, 2010)

The latest survey results indicate:

• 61.45% responded that they do not have a degree in Instructional Design
• 36.92% indicated they have a graduate degreein Instructional Design
• 1.64% indicate that they have a non-graduate degree in Instructional Design

The results may suggest that employers typically do not make having a degree in Instructional Design a top priority for learning professionals they hire. Those that do have a degree requirement are more likely to stress a graduate degree in the field than a Bachelor’s degree.

Connie Malamed, of The eLearning Coach, has compiled a top 10 list of what she believes are the qualities, knowledge and skills the ideal instructional designer should possess or develop. Her list focuses on instructional design for eLearning.

10 Qualities of the Ideal Instructional Designer

What do you think are the most important skills an instructional designer should have to be an effective in an elearning position? Leave a comment.

Find an Instructional Designer through WAI

by Kerri Barber

For years we have complained about having to sit through boring meetings full of inept presenters with their nicely prepared slide presentations, where meaningful information is buried in copious amounts of text. We’ve rolled our eyes, entertained ourselves with Meeting Bingo, and even took bets on who would fall asleep during staff meetings. We were not really listening anyway. How could we when the presenter made it nearly impossible to do so? For all our angst, we have often been just as guilty as those horrible presenters we are so loathe to endure.

Any repentant presenters can find thousands of good resources to help improve their skills and help them craft award-winning slides. Still, the problem persists and is even becoming ubiquitous in every company and across every industry. Why do we continue to torture ourselves and others? The problem may be simpler than you think. The two deadliest communication killers for presenters are Fear and Apathy.

Fear Cripples Careers

Fear can cause a person to do some very strange things, like unintentionally waste an audience’s precious time and attention. Almost everyone is fearful of public speaking to some degree, and the allure of a tool that helps alleviate the burden is just too powerful for some. PowerPoint achieves a dubious objective for the fearful presenter by becoming a digital crutch.

Seth Godin, author of the article “Really Bad PowerPoint” and the companion book, “A Big Red Fez,” believes that slide presentations should never be used as a teleprompter. So you can ask yourself: “Did your audience really have to come all this way to a meeting to listen to you read the slides? Why not just send them over?” Indeed, that would be a far more humane way to treat an audience seeking your valuable information.

If fear is motivating your intentions, then address the problem immediately. Realize that you are being asked to speak because you are an expert and what you have to say adds value. If you are a manager presenting at a staff meeting or a subject matter expert presenting quarterly earnings to the board of directors, your objective is clear: be concise and be credible. Simply reading your slides does lasting harm to your reputation. Even worse, you can make your audience angry and resentful. That damaging effect far outweighs the effort it takes to address a fear of public speaking.

If the dreaded “Reply All” email disaster is a train wreck for your career, then consider bad presentation skills a malignant cancer. Your reputation becomes eroded and colleagues will eventually harbor animosity toward you that perhaps even they can’t define, but it will be there. If you are a manager, the problem is far more damaging to your leadership capabilities, and the respect from your subordinates will suffer.

Fortunately, there is hope if you are ready to admit you have a problem. In almost every city there are valuable resources available to help people with mild to severe phobias related to public speaking. There are social groups like Toast Masters that help people overcome their fear while honing their presentation skills in a nonjudgmental environment, If you prefer a more personalized approach, seek a coach who specializes in this area and ask for a consultation. If your fear is so significant or even paralyzing, you may need a qualified, patient counselor who can help you regain your confidence and control.

Fear of public speaking need not limit your leadership abilities and career prospects. This is an area you can correct, allowing you to shine not only as a presenter, but also as an expert with a high perceived value in your organization.

An Indifference to Apathy

It’s already well past quitting time and you’ve spent nearly your entire day in meetings and you’re preparing to spend most of your evening reviewing financial data. The last thing you need to worry about is the presentation you are giving tomorrow. A hectic schedule and increasing demands are enough to make anyone significantly apathetic to their own presentation materials and really, who has the time? You do, if you want it.

There are very few people who relish the idea of doing something boring, unpleasant, and sometimes even painful. These people are called Saints. Chances are, most of us don’t fit in that category. Instead of doing something you find to be a chore, do something fun and enjoyable. Do the impossible and change your world — one presentation at a time.

The best presentations are those that are well thought out, compelling, and have as few lines of text as possible — perhaps even no text at all. That’s right. NO TEXT! The idea is to have your audience sitting comfortably and totally focused on you and what you have to say. Why distract them with text and illegible charts? Instead, use your slides to help tell your story and really sell your idea in a creative way. This is sounding better already, isn’t it?

Seth Godin provides this example in his article to help illustrate the point, “Talking about pollution in Houston? Instead of giving me four bullet points of EPA data, why not show me a photo of a bunch of dead birds, some smog and even a diseased lung? Amazingly, it’s more fun than doing it the old way. But it’s effective communication.”

Imagine you are the director for a short film and you are using your slides to help set the tone. Use PowerPoint’s notes section to provide your talking points while your audience receives the emotional charge of the unexpected from the imagery you present. You provide the commentary to support your message while the slides aid in the meaning. You are already the expert on your subject matter and the audience is relying on you –- not your slides — to communicate the pertinent information. It’s a perfect combination of imagery and expertise that will save you time and add far more impact than you could have ever achieved doing things the same old way.

Presentation guru, Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, agrees and writes in his blog, Five Rules for Better Presentations, “I often think the presenter would be more compelling if he would ditch the presentation software and just speak. Because of this, I’ve even thought of outlawing presentation software in our company.” Can you imagine what your company would be like without PowerPoint? Would a ban on such tools cripple you or liberate you? Why wait when you can take charge now while freeing up much of your time in the process?

Becoming a great presenter is achievable for anyone with the desire to change the way they relate to others. Honing this skill can open doors for innumerable opportunities and help instill a sense of confidence that can affect many other areas of your life. Why sit back wallowing in fear and apathy when you have the power to change who you are and the things you look at every day? The saying goes, “Dance like no one is watching”, so speak like everyone wants to listen. The reality is, they really do if you will only let them.

About the Author

Kerri Barber is the VP of Marketing Communications for WriteData Services, LLC and an award-winning Public Relations/Corporate Communications professional and published author. Her diverse background includes expertise in corporate media, corporate citizenship, and development of brand recognition strategies. Her work has helped thousands around the globe in over 130 countries do business faster and with confidence. She specializes in leadership development and communicating for diverse audiences, as well as electronic communication delivery spanning the digital spectrum.

More Articles by Kerri Barber

• Common Myths and Misconceptions About Layoffs

The eighth annual LavaCon conference on professional development will be held at the Omni Hotel in San Diego, CA from Sept. 29–Oct. 2, 2010. This year’s theme is:

How to develop, manage and publish digital content that enhances the customer experience, reduces production costs and promotes your online brand.

The conference’s Program page includes a voting system where you can rate your interest in each scheduled conference session. The sessions with the most votes will be assigned the largest meeting rooms available.

At press time, the session popularity leader was far and away “Generations: Digital Divide and Conquer”, which will be presented by Jenny Schmitt, Founder of CloudSpark.

LavaCon 2010 Official Website
LavaCon 2010 Registration Info
Conference Hotel Information (Omni, San Diego)

Related:
How Technical Documentation Professionals Can Use Twitter
Social Media: Are You Missing Out?
How to Justify Conference Attendance