Re: Where do we belong??
Can someone tell me, where the Technical Writing Team would fit in a
Software Product Company? In the Product Engineering Team or the Product
Marketing Team
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I've always felt most at home on an engineering team (perhaps that's because I have an engineering background). On a Product Engineering Team, technical writers can contribute far more than just user documentation, which is a work product that could be produced by either marketing or engineering departments. Engineering-oriented writers have several advantages: better access to and relationships with SME's, can act as liaisons between Engineering and the rest of the company, and
The Subject Matter Experts (SME's) are almost always found in Engineering departments. As such, an Engineering team that includes technical writers can function as a unit from product conception through product shipment. Sure, the team could invite Marketing-oriented technical writers to join the project at all phases, but lets face it -- cooperation is much more likely within a team than between teams. In my experience, integrating tightly with the developers has helped me produce much better documentation. As a member of the team from early on in a project, I see how the product is _supposed_ to work, how it _actually_ works, and how it evolves. My documentation is more accurate, contains more useful tips, and is complete _before_ the product is finished testing.
As much as I like having a great relationship with the SME's I work with, my favorite aspect of working in an Engineering department is that I can act as liaison between the engineers and the rest of our company. A common joke about software developers and engineers is that they speak in code similar to the code they write all day long. In contrast, many technical writers have the talent for translating both to and from technical jargon. As such, we are in the perfect position to be the go-between for Engineering and Marketing or Engineering and Sales.
Given my choice, I'd always situate myself or my team in Engineering departments. As you can see, I really like the relationship I have with SME's. Working as a liaison between Engineering and other teams is very satisfying, as well.
Good luck with your decision, Ramaa!
Meg
Megan Golding | mgolding -at- secureworks -dot- net
Technical Writer | SecureWorks, Inc.
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Where do we belong??: From: Ramaa Venugopalan
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