By Aimee L. Whiteside
When I was a student transitioning into my first job as a technical writer and simultaneously beginning to navigate through the changes in that organization, I got it all wrong.
Here were five of my biggest mistakes:
Big Mistake #1: Act Like You Know Everything
Our newest writers often feel a need to prove they know it all, and, as a result, they can appear disrespectful, hasty, and impatient to senior staff. I, unfortunately, fell into this category. After graduation, I thought I knew everything about being a masterful technical communicator. After all, I read the textbooks; I listened attentively in class and took copious notes. In my young mind, I was a force—an unstoppable taskmaster newly released from the chains of the classroom door. I saw myself as an untethered super writer swooping in to save the day, while spouting off my grammar prowess and memorized passages from the Chicago Manual of Style. In retrospect, I regret not asking questions and reflecting more. I had so much to learn.
Big Mistake #2: Fail to Appreciate Workplace Experiences
In hindsight, my first job allowed me incredible flexibility and great benefits. Unfortunately, I saw it as only a job among other jobs, not an opportunity to grow and learn. Although it certainly is important to plan ahead and weigh your options, I would have been better served by taking some time to smell the roses and take in the experience.
Big Mistake #3: Miss Opportunities to Learn from Experienced Writers
Learn from others! Sadly, I didn’t fully appreciate the experts around me. For the most part, they truly wanted to help. Yet I didn’t think to connect with them to learn their stories, their experiences, or their thoughts about current changes in the organization. They were fountains of knowledge not only about the company and its history, but also about a technical communicator’s role in the larger organization. They had seen many iterations of change. Another missed opportunity.
Big Mistake #4: Lack Authenticity and Compassion to Cultivate Relationships
When I interviewed subject matter experts, I half-heartedly feigned interest so I could get information. It must have been obvious that I wasn’t really truly interested in their families or awards. What I didn’t understand then is that cultivating relationships with your subject matter experts is critically important, and it means being authentic and building trust over time. Looking back, these were all missed opportunities to connect and build collegial relationships and, perhaps, lifelong friendships.
Big Mistake #5: Fail to Conduct Adequate Research
A large portion of a technical communicator’s role involves research, experimentation, and problem solving. At the time, I didn’t see these parts as vital responsibilities or even as my responsibilities. After all, they weren’t listed in the job ad and writers write, right? In the early days of my career, I practiced a myopic, rigid approach to my craft, and I didn’t do enough exploration, research, and experimentation of the products and services offered. Instead, I saw my work as a race to the finish line.
A Second Chance to Help New Writers Better Prepare for Change
Decades later, I have made it my mission to help new writers to better navigate and embrace change. I hope to help them see the workplace as shades of opportunity where they can engage, listen, inspire, and transition with ease. At the same time, I hope to instill in them the importance of respecting the knowledge and experience of the experts around them.
Back to Basics: What Managers Ultimately Want in their New Writers
Several years ago, I engaged in an exploratory study about the experience of new technical communicators in the field and technical communication managers. As a former technical writer and consultant, I was not surprised by the results. The results suggested that new writers feared that they did not know enough technology; whereas, managers ultimately wanted exceptional basic writing, teamwork, and communication skills. Managers rationalized that the foundational skills were all that mattered; everything else could be learned. In their view, the basic role of the technical communicator and the critical skill sets had not changed all that much even in the face of numerous technological innovations.
Six Critical Skill Sets for Writers
Although the technologies and the processes for doing our work has changed tremendously, the managers in my study helped me see that there are roughly six basic-yet-critical technical communication skills. Depending on the specific job, many other skills can be essential as well. That said, the following skills emerged as critical:
- Data Gathering/Problem Solving. Audiences often arrive at online help or documentation in a frustrated or frenzied state. They want to resolve a problem immediately, and new writers must anticipate their questions and communicate the answer clearly and succinctly. As such, writers need to learn about different audience profiles, and they must be solution-oriented. They must see their work as answering end users’ questions quickly and succinctly. Also, don’t underestimate what you can learn from a preproduction version of software, a beta device, or an early prototype.
- Detail Orientation. Pay attention to detail. Follow the approved style guides. Engage with several levels of editing to help your audience and to free your work of errors. A writer’s work requires quality control because it reflects directly upon the professional ethos of their organization. Proofread, proofread, proofread!
- Organization. Writing effective technical instructions means breaking concepts into simple, discrete, and organized tasks. Organization during a time of change is crucial.
- Project Management. Also imperative is the ability to break down a project in terms of time, people, and resources. An effective writer must prioritize work and estimate timelines. Especially during times of change, writers must determine who is best capable of taking each piece as well as determine any other resources required.
- Teamwork. In my research, the skills managers crave above all others are for their writers to work well and excel in a team setting. Also desired is the ability to transform dysfunctional behaviors into more functional ones or to at least be able to operationalize problems, avoid distractions, and keep on schedule.
- Written and Oral Communication Proficiency. Proficiency of grammar, usage, and mechanics is vital to a writer’s daily work; simultaneously, they must be advocates of their end users’ needs. Writers are often challenged because our work is often no longer a start-to-finish print manual, but rather dynamic digital pieces of content serving a multitude of audiences at any time and any place. Also, during times of change, effective written and oral communication becomes the lifeblood of moving forward positively and professionally: every word matters.
Six Core Competencies Writers Need to Weather Change in the Workplace
In addition to these skill sets, there are also a number of core competencies that help technical communicators to better weather the changes ahead. They are as follows:
- Collaboration. Yes, it’s worth repeating. Collaboration is essential. Writers must learn how to work, respect, and appreciate diverse individuals to allow for unit and organizational growth.
- Flexibility. New writers should have an open mind to new ideas, new processes, and diversification. Be positive, resilient, kind, and adaptable. When possible, try to anticipate change and plan for it, rather than simply react to it.
- Innovation. Managers desire intelligent, creative solutions to complex issues. Experiment and innovate!
- Patience. Another key competency is patience. Writers should be prepared not only to be flexible, but also to roll with change. Even though it may be difficult to accept or embrace change or the pace at which it arrives, try not to burden yourself or others with things beyond your control. Also, be sensitive to others’ adjustment processes, particularly those who have been with an organization for several years or decades.
- Personal Mastery. The best way to weather change is to ask questions and be led by inquiry and curiosity. If you hold a continuous improvement mindset with a strong work ethic, you will be recognized. Be compassionate, professional, quality-oriented, adaptable, and a lifelong learner, especially during times of change.
- Systems Orientation. Perhaps the hardest competency for new writers is understanding the bigger picture—the organizational mission, goals, and structure. Learn about the organizational structure and the history of an organization before you suggest any change. To be ready for change, writers must always know how to clearly articulate the value they add to the organization. Additionally, travel the world, read often, engage your creative outlets, and let those experiences begin to help you understand different cultures, perspectives, and paradigms.
Armed with this knowledge, new technical communicators may be better prepared for change, and they could serve as role models to other units. As technical communication scholar William Hart-Davidson once noted, “the knowledge and skills of technical communicators [are], indeed, in high demand at the highest levels of technological decision-making: research, policy, business planning, management, and design.” Hart-Davidson also posits that writers are routinely called upon “to directly contribute to the most valuable aspects of company’s business and an organization’s mission.”
It’s truly up to all of us to guide our new writers to not simply navigate the waters of change, but to craft the words of change that best serve organizations, clients, and stakeholders. Then, writers can forever shed the “Tina the Brittle Technical Writer” stigma and instead emerge as strong, indispensable professionals who will lead and succeed.
Aimee Whiteside (awhiteside@ut.edu) is an assistant professor of English and writing, coordinator for the professional and technical writing minor, and co-director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Tampa.
References
Hart-Davidson, William. 2001. “On Writing, Technical Communication, and Information Technology: The Core Competencies of Technical Communication.” Technical Communication 48: 145–155, esp. 146.
Hart-Davidson, William. 2003. “What Are the Work ‘Patterns of Technical Communication?’” In Solving Problems in Technical Communication, ed. Johndan Johnson-Eilola and Stuart Selber, pp. 50–74, esp. 71. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Whiteside, Aimee L. 2003. “The Skills that Technical Communicators Need: An Investigation of Technical Communication Graduates, Managers, and Curricula.” Journal of Technical Writing & Communication 33: 303–318.
