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.
My own observation (and experience) is that project management skills
are a key asset in obtaining (and keeping) the best TW positions.
Twice in the past few years I have been hired in to take over for
fired tech writers who were undoubtedly good writers, but terrible
project managers.
As a result the documentation projects were in a shambles, with lots
of written material but no organization. In both cases, the project
managers were able to see this, and did what they had to do to correct
the situation.
Incidentally, one of these projects was for a federal agency, and the
other one was for a major non-governmental organization (the point
being that there were fairly well defined and rigid style and
organizational specifications on hand).
Keith Arnett
Technical Writer
Sterling Software, Inc./Operations Manangement Division
Reston VA USA
Anthony Markatos wrote:
>Do TW contractors and consultants do project management tasks such as:
>end user analysis, determining project scope, and estimating? Do TW
>contractors and consultants create significant amounts of content?
