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Subject:Re: Tech Writers As Trainers From:Elna Tymes <etymes -at- LTS -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 22 Aug 1997 13:09:49 -0700
Kathy Marshall wrote:
>
> So when I am approached about writing these training materials, I want
> to also suggest I assist with the training. Is this so unusual? How many
> of your techwhirlers are involved in training?
<raising hand>
We do training all the time. But then, we aren't your traditional tech
pubs group. In fact, we hold weekly training sessions with our own
people, on various tools or concepts that we feel they should know. And
we actively encourage our own people to develop internal training
classes themselves, both to teach others something new and to learn how
training differs from other forms of technical communication.
Technical writing tends to concentrate on producing manuals that cover
every possible need. Training tends to concentrate on getting people
productive on whatever the tool is, up to some minimal level of
performance. Manuals tend to be used as ad-hoc reference tools;
training is more a structured set of experiences.
When we're looking at resumes, we tend to regard a writer with some
training experience as more valuable than one who has no training
experience. But in general, we feel that the more kinds of technical
communication experience you have, the better you'll be at choosing the
right tools and methods for accomplishing the job.
Elna Tymes
Los Trancos Systems
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