When technical communications professionals start working in a small or mid-sized company, there are some particular challenges that they may face. First of all, the role may be unfamiliar to new colleagues or the general framework; tech comms technologies and tool most certainly are. Secondly, tech comms professionals will need to justify costs incurring from implementing tech comms technologies and systems. Thirdly, adopting new documentation tools and processes as part of product development may cause some resistance in development teams.
The aim of this talk is to address all these issues from my own professional experience having been 15 years in the field and having worked extensively in both the tech comms service-provider sector and in many companies as the first technical writer. I have worked in heavy industry and software companies.
The audience will hear case studies illustrating different scenarios in different companies, what has worked and what hasn’t (tools, approaches, processes, etc.). The audience will get some tips on how to tackle or even prevent future problems or challenges already in the job interview phase; what questions the tech comms professional should ask from the potential employer or client. The audience will hear about some interpersonal skills and strategies that may help when starting as the first tech comms professional in a company. The audience will also hear some suggestions on tools ranging from “shoelace” budget upwards.