Tom Johnson is a technical writer for Google who works loosely with engineering and product development teams. In February, during a time between jobs at Amazon and Google, Tom wrote about his good decisions and minor mistakes during his five years at Amazon.
His good decisions all related back to two main ideas: collaboration and utilization of technology. He stresses the importance of embedding yourself as a part of the team you are writing for. This is because the more information you have the easier your job will be as a tech writer. He cites practices like including a feedback form at the bottom of all documents, sharing updates to increase visibility, and requesting more information upfront. Tom also advises to make use of newer technologies and methods to streamline your workflow. This includes slack channels for communication, workflow maps, feedback forms, and Scrum to manage workflows.
Not everything has been a success though. His mistakes are the opposite of what has worked. Bad communication was caused by not reviewing what engineers contributed to documents and not seeking advice from support groups. He regrets not using more automated technology to identify outdated content.
One more thing that Tom stressed was focus. He recommends setting a timer for 4 hours every day as a focus session and setting that time aside to do nothing but write. What he considers his dumbest mistake is loaning work out to a group while still reporting to a different one. You basically end up doing twice the work as you will be making documentation for both groups while only being accountable for one.
I enjoyed reading Tom's post and will keep his points in mind as I work on my senior thesis starting in August. This will be a highly collaborative effort and some of these tips will be of great help.
Link:
https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/good-decisions-and-mistakes/
WordPress.com
No comments:
Post a Comment