TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Ethical Question - RESPONSE.4 From:Marshall Williamson <Marzall -at- AOL -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 8 Jan 1999 02:22:19 EST
Bill,
I couldn't agree more with your point about the need for integration between
functional areas in a project team. This, of course, is the SEI's (Software
Engineering Institute's) primary criterion for assessing the level of process
maturity for software development teams. And if we assume that the
documentation is an integral part of the user interface, it's quite clear that
we have a great deal to add to the complete design as technical communication
specialists.
The difficulty or advantage lies in the overall level of maturity of the
particular corporations we find ourselves in. Being able to assess just what
level a given firm is at is step one. Assessing just how receptive our
colleagues are to improvements to the quality of the documentation is a good
step two. I've found that this second step is usually easy to take early in a
project. And beyond that, maintaining high standards, meeting deadlines, and
making small, steady improvements that the team finds useful can go a long way
in winning them over.
If all else fails, there's always the contracting agencies (they're burgeoning
in Boulder, what with Interlocken coming up this spring, projects here in town
booming, and the investment capital starting to decant from the heady heights
of Wall Street)...
Marshall Williamson
Technical Writer/Editor
marzall -at- aol -dot- com
