Tech Biz Writing

Once a writing project is underway, and the author has assimilated the technical brief through the client’s requirement and specification, the next move should be to establish lines of communication with the people most intimately involved with the day to day development of the project.

It may well be that an administrative person is put in charge of all contacts between author and engineers, and in this case all arrangements should be handled through this person’s office. Alternatively, the chief design engineer or a project leader in charge of development work should be named as the contact. It’s vital to establish this chain of command from the outset. Nothing so infuriates people than to be left out of the loop in matters of this kind, even inadvertently. You will be expected to be professional about this and fit in with the client’s arrangements, of course.

If, however, the writer has been subcontracted by the Tech. Pubs. department of the company concerned, it is usual to go through the head of this office, or nominee. For authors working semi-permanently within this department, such contacts should present less of a problem.

At the outset of a writing task, it’s usual to make up a list, or card index, of all useful names. This file saves a great deal of time and trouble later, especially if it also includes information on job status, position in pecking order, and importance to the project development. Obliging contacts can be crucial at awkward moments when, as happens in any project, things start to go wrong.

It is, of course, a matter of courtesy, and common sense, not to approach technical staff until the brief has been fairly well mastered and the writer can speak to a project engineer on something close to equality. The best time to make effective use of contacts is usually high up on the learning curve.

When arranging such meetings or site visits, due regard should always be paid to company procedures and security checks — now endemic in all organizations. Appointments should always be made through the correct channels.

Every visit should be approached in a careful and professional manner. This will probably involve:

* Listing areas which need clarification.
* Compiling a list of queries on modifications.
* Making a note of questions of technical interpretation.

A good liaison visit will accomplish the following:

* Points answered.
* Technical queries clarified.
* Equipment examined.
* The way paved for the next stage of the work.

Of course, if an author wishes to examine any equipment, advance notice must always be given to the people concerned so that the right hardware can be put in the right place, and the right engineer made available at the right time. It’s sometimes a very complex procedure in logistics and full use should be made of the occasion.

Next: 20. Meetings

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 27th, 2006 at 8:47 am and is filed under Technical Writing, TechBiz Writing, Documentation, Research. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.