Re: Tips on how to talk to SMEs

[Chantel Brathwaite <brathwaitec -at- castupgrade -dot- com>]

Ruth,

You've raised an excellent point.  I was pondering William's message 
today after I read it.  I was thinking about how to respond or even if I 
should because I do feel as if there is room for both types of writers - 
some who are more "reporter" in approach and some who are more 
technical.  But as I thought about it more, I think that a lot of the 
approach depends on the project and what it demands.

For example, I am the sole writer for a fairly large training system 
that contains many subsystems.  No one person (including the engineers) 
on this project knows every piece of the system intimately, no matter 
how technical they are - although there are a couple who have fairly 
deep knowledge acquired over years.  Part of the reason is because this 
system interfaces with other very large systems that have varying levels 
of documentation available.  Also, some of the equipment is used by 
different members of the military during engagements - much of it is 
designed around specific military doctrine for certain types of positions.

Much of the equipment that it interfaces with is very complex.  For 
example, one compact piece of equipment that interfaces with the system 
has a 1,000+ page documented manual.  On top of that, the system is 
continually evolving with new versions of different pieces of equipment 
at a very fast clip.  We delivered a version 3 months ago - and in 3 
months - 5 different pieces of software changed versions in addition to 
the software the program ourselves.  And I don't only have to keep up 
with software and hardware changes, but all of the changes in buildings 
that relate to this training system.  I'm talking about circuit changes, 
zone changes for networks, even the way clocks are wired - and I've 
never been to any of these facilities (one is halfway around the world). 
Typically, I have to maintain about 14 different pieces of documentation 
per release - and sometimes the releases are a couple of times a year.  
While it would be great to be a technical expert, it is more 
advantageous to be a reporter in this position.

So, I try to hone technical expertise as much as I can, but act as a 
reporter, sometimes like an "in the guts" technical writer, often like 
an editor, and like a graphic artist.  The way in which you approach a 
technical writing project differs depending on the size of the project 
and the number of moving parts, I think.

I think too that we bring SME-level knowledge when it comes to the end 
user. We shouldn't underestimate that.  To change something difficult 
into something  easy-to-understand is a real skill that I think that we 
shouldn't discount - regardless of how we approach the technical writing 
task.

Chantel

On 7/14/2011 1:37 PM, Ruth Sessions wrote: