Christchurch Branch Report: Technically not technical writing

August 2018

Bernadette Cooney discovers the role of a technical writer is an ever evolving one at the July branch meeting of TechCommNZ in Christchurch, where seasoned communicator Claire Mahoney took her audience of 30 people through the rigours of managing organisational knowledge as well as content…

Let me begin by quoting Claire: “There are so many things we do as technical writers that are technically not technical writing. And I don’t think we are a unique profession in this regard ‒ plenty of lawyers do non-lawyery things and teachers do non-teachery things. That our profession is sometimes ill-defined as a result, especially by those who want to hire us, is not a new assertion.”

Claire has over 12 years’ experience in content and communication roles for corporate clients, so is familiar with helping business provide clearer, more purposeful content internally and externally. She is currently the Content Curator for global geo-tech firm, Seequent. She has seen many roles for technical communicators emerge over the years.

As she says, we've been a bit mysterious. Slowly morphing from traditional manual writers and document creators to producing online help, instructional videos, to UI writing, UX, microcopy, mobile interactions, to commitment of content through code. That’s been a natural progression of our skills based on technology changes, and there's even been an upswing in demand for our skills as a result.

But that’s not the only progression in our field.

Having worked (one way or another) in every role from content strategy, knowledge management, technical storytelling, content curation, to content management, Claire shared how being a traditional technical writer formed the basis of success in these peripheral fields as well.

As she said from the beginning, this presentation was about contextualising technical writing more generously, to give us a new perspective on our foundation skills. As a journalist turned technical writer myself, I was certainly interested in that perspective!

So, when is a technical writer not, technically, a technical writer? Quite often and for various reasons, as it turns out.

Technical writing is the task of transferring knowledge from one group to another. When a technical writer acts as the conduit between the groups to provide clear messages, they are doing one part of a larger task.

“Professional communicators do more than just send a message or provide information. They consider the whole structural, behavioural, cultural, commercial, temporal and technological universe that their communication exists in,” says Claire.

In order to do so, you require the essentials of a good tech writers toolbox which include:

• clear writing
• reviewing for quality
• diligent analysis
• audience care
• tooling know-how
• content management

These are, of course, our foundation skills. They are also transferable skills, and are increasingly becoming jobs in their own right.

Content management involves understanding your user

Content strategy is the mapping of what your organisation wants to say, to what your targeted audience needs or wants to hear. This involves identifying user objectives and behaviours before agreeing upon and designing, testing and publishing content.

“If you enjoy complexity, have a big picture brain and care deeply about how information is delivered and gets used, then content strategy is for you,” Claire says.

Knowledge management aids excellence in business

Knowledge management is becoming an increasingly common aspect of a modern technical writer’s role says Claire.

This involves capturing and sharing expertise from within the organisation and using and managing that knowledge so both the organisation and its customers can benefit from it.

Mapping the organisation’s processes identifies subject matter experts and any gaps in understanding within the organisation. The act of process mapping is very often useful to teams who would otherwise never get a chance to work on themselves.

“They love it and its useful,” Claire says.

Process mapping skills particularly suit tech writers who enjoy bringing order to chaos and have highly tuned listening skills.

Experts can lead to some great stories

Identifying subject matter experts within business is a real boon to technical writers and is an excellent tool to capture real gold in any organisation’s story. It’s one of the reasons that journalists (like me!) also find a calling in tech comm.

“People relate well to stories and they are a great elevator of technical information,” Claire says.

Storytelling deploys the inner journalist in writers’, answering the when, why, where and so-what questions. It helps you know more about your organisation as a technical writer and can uncover real gems the business can utilise.

The role of the technical communicator is an ever evolving one, and I for one am glad it is!