Kai Weber - Getting ahead as a lone author

•

0 likes•2,036 views

amelio

Slides of my talk at TCUK10, the ISTC conference at Oxford, on September 22, 2010.

Technology

GETTING AHEAD AS A LONE AUTHOR
5 BEST PRACTICES

Kai Weber
22 September 2010
TCUK 10

WHO AM I AND WHAT DO I KNOW ?
 1988 – Technical writer

 2001 – 2008 Employed lone writer

 2008 – Senior Technical Writer, SimCorp

 Coach, trainer, mentor

 M.A. in American Studies

GETTING AHEAD AS A LONE WRITER?

Carl Rakeman: “Pony Express” http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/

1. HOW TO BUY YOURSELF TIME
 Eliminate internal inefficiencies.
 Move to(wards) topic-based authoring.
 Consider temporary skimping.

 Fight external inefficiencies.
 Resist or budget time-consuming tasks, such as testing.
 Plan and schedule documentation.

 Plunder time-saving methods and tools.

► Take charge of your time and your schedule.

2. HOW TO OPTIMIZE YOUR SKILLS
 Assess and emphasize your (relative) strengths.

 Add people skills.

 Collaborate with colleagues and trade skills.

► Do what you do best and collaborate.

3. HOW TO TREAT DOC AS A BUSINESS
 Estimate your documentation efforts.
 Account for efforts, past and future.
 Estimate writing, reviewing, editing by topic.
 Use past efforts, averages and experience.

 Embrace cost metrics.
 Resist seductive, but misleading metrics.
 Attribute efforts and costs to specific developments.
 Turn topic reuse into a corporate asset.

► “You can’t control what you can’t measure.”
- Tom DeMarco

4. HOW TO MAKE DOCUMENTATION AN ASSET
 Serve the customer, not the product or company.
 Address user tasks, not product features or intentions.
 Become the users’ advocate.
 Verify with surveys and user analysis.

4. HOW TO MAKE DOCUMENTATION AN ASSET

Kathy Sierra
Creating passionate users

5. HOW TO COLLABORATE
 Provide a clear interface
 To your sources: Engineers, developers, SMEs
 To stakeholders: Customer service, product managers, etc.
 To your manager

 Stand up for documentation and yourself.

 … and don't whine about language, grammar, etc.

► Learn from your topics: Collaborate!

GETTING AHEAD AS A LONE WRITER
1. Buy Yourself Time
2. Optimize Your Skills
3. Treat Documentation as a Business
4. Make Documentation an Asset
5. Collaborate

Thank you!

KEEP IN TOUCH!

 I blog at http://kaiweber.wordpress.com/

 I tweet at @techwriterkai

Recently uploaded

E-Vehicle_Hacking_by_Parul Sharma_null_owasp.pptxnull - The Open Security Community

Integration and Automation in Practice: CI/CD in Mule Integration and Automat...Patryk Bandurski

Ensuring Technical Readiness For Copilot in Microsoft 3652toLead Limited

Beyond Boundaries: Leveraging No-Code Solutions for Industry InnovationSafe Software

DMCC Future of Trade Web3 - Special EditionDubai Multi Commodity Centre

New from BookNet Canada for 2024: BNC CataList - Tech Forum 2024BookNet Canada

Advanced Test Driven-Development @ php[tek] 2024Scott Keck-Warren

AI as an Interface for Commercial BuildingsMemoori

The Future of Software Development - Devin AI Innovative Approach.pdfSeasiaInfotech2

"ML in Production",Oleksandr BaganFwdays

Training state-of-the-art general text embeddingZilliz

Search Engine Optimization SEO PDF for 2024.pdfRankYa

Nell’iperspazio con Rocket: il Framework Web di Rust!Commit University

Scanning the Internet for External Cloud Exposures via SSL CertsRizwan Syed

Artificial intelligence in cctv survelliance.pptxhariprasad279825

Bun (KitWorks Team Study 노별마루 발표 2024.4.22)Wonjun Hwang

"LLMs for Python Engineers: Advanced Data Analysis and Semantic Kernel",Oleks...Fwdays

WordPress Websites for Engineers: Elevate Your Brandgvaughan

Dev Dives: Streamline document processing with UiPath Studio WebUiPathCommunity

My Hashitalk Indonesia April 2024 PresentationRidwan Fadjar

Recently uploaded (20)

E-Vehicle_Hacking_by_Parul Sharma_null_owasp.pptx

Integration and Automation in Practice: CI/CD in Mule Integration and Automat...

Ensuring Technical Readiness For Copilot in Microsoft 365

Beyond Boundaries: Leveraging No-Code Solutions for Industry Innovation

DMCC Future of Trade Web3 - Special Edition

New from BookNet Canada for 2024: BNC CataList - Tech Forum 2024

Advanced Test Driven-Development @ php[tek] 2024

AI as an Interface for Commercial Buildings

The Future of Software Development - Devin AI Innovative Approach.pdf

"ML in Production",Oleksandr Bagan

Training state-of-the-art general text embedding

Search Engine Optimization SEO PDF for 2024.pdf

Nell’iperspazio con Rocket: il Framework Web di Rust!

Scanning the Internet for External Cloud Exposures via SSL Certs

Artificial intelligence in cctv survelliance.pptx

Bun (KitWorks Team Study 노별마루 발표 2024.4.22)

"LLMs for Python Engineers: Advanced Data Analysis and Semantic Kernel",Oleks...

WordPress Websites for Engineers: Elevate Your Brand

Dev Dives: Streamline document processing with UiPath Studio Web

My Hashitalk Indonesia April 2024 Presentation

Featured

2024 State of Marketing Report – by HubspotMarius Sescu

Everything You Need To Know About ChatGPTExpeed Software

Product Design Trends in 2024 | Teenage EngineeringsPixeldarts

How Race, Age and Gender Shape Attitudes Towards Mental HealthThinkNow

AI Trends in Creative Operations 2024 by Artwork Flow.pdfmarketingartwork

Skeleton Culture CodeSkeleton Technologies

PEPSICO Presentation to CAGNY Conference Feb 2024Neil Kimberley

Content Methodology: A Best Practices Report (Webinar)contently

How to Prepare For a Successful Job Search for 2024Albert Qian

Social Media Marketing Trends 2024 // The Global Indie InsightsKurio // The Social Media Age(ncy)

Trends In Paid Search: Navigating The Digital Landscape In 2024Search Engine Journal

5 Public speaking tips from TED - Visualized summarySpeakerHub

ChatGPT and the Future of Work - Clark Boyd Clark Boyd

Getting into the tech field. what next Tessa Mero

Google's Just Not That Into You: Understanding Core Updates & Search IntentLily Ray

How to have difficult conversations Rajiv Jayarajah, MAppComm, ACC

Introduction to Data ScienceChristy Abraham Joy

Time Management & Productivity - Best PracticesVit Horky

The six step guide to practical project managementMindGenius

Beginners Guide to TikTok for Search - Rachel Pearson - We are Tilt __ Bright...RachelPearson36

Featured (20)

2024 State of Marketing Report – by Hubspot

Everything You Need To Know About ChatGPT

Product Design Trends in 2024 | Teenage Engineerings

How Race, Age and Gender Shape Attitudes Towards Mental Health

AI Trends in Creative Operations 2024 by Artwork Flow.pdf

Skeleton Culture Code

PEPSICO Presentation to CAGNY Conference Feb 2024

Content Methodology: A Best Practices Report (Webinar)

How to Prepare For a Successful Job Search for 2024

Social Media Marketing Trends 2024 // The Global Indie Insights

Trends In Paid Search: Navigating The Digital Landscape In 2024

5 Public speaking tips from TED - Visualized summary

ChatGPT and the Future of Work - Clark Boyd

Getting into the tech field. what next

Google's Just Not That Into You: Understanding Core Updates & Search Intent

How to have difficult conversations

Introduction to Data Science

Time Management & Productivity - Best Practices

The six step guide to practical project management

Beginners Guide to TikTok for Search - Rachel Pearson - We are Tilt __ Bright...

Kai Weber - Getting ahead as a lone author

1. GETTING AHEAD AS A LONE AUTHOR 5 BEST PRACTICES Kai Weber 22 September 2010 TCUK 10

2. WHO AM I AND WHAT DO I KNOW ?  1988 – Technical writer  2001 – 2008 Employed lone writer  2008 – Senior Technical Writer, SimCorp  Coach, trainer, mentor  M.A. in American Studies

3. GETTING AHEAD AS A LONE WRITER? Carl Rakeman: “Pony Express” http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/

4. GETTING AHEAD AS A LONE WRITER Benign neglect ▼ Learn to run the job (more) like a business 5 best practices ▼ Raised profile

5. 1. HOW TO BUY YOURSELF TIME  Eliminate internal inefficiencies.  Move to(wards) topic-based authoring.  Consider temporary skimping.  Fight external inefficiencies.  Resist or budget time-consuming tasks, such as testing.  Plan and schedule documentation.  Plunder time-saving methods and tools. ► Take charge of your time and your schedule.

6. 2. HOW TO OPTIMIZE YOUR SKILLS  Assess and emphasize your (relative) strengths.  Add people skills.  Collaborate with colleagues and trade skills. ► Do what you do best and collaborate.

7. 3. HOW TO TREAT DOC AS A BUSINESS  Estimate your documentation efforts.  Account for efforts, past and future.  Estimate writing, reviewing, editing by topic.  Use past efforts, averages and experience.  Embrace cost metrics.  Resist seductive, but misleading metrics.  Attribute efforts and costs to specific developments.  Turn topic reuse into a corporate asset. ► “You can’t control what you can’t measure.” - Tom DeMarco

8. 4. HOW TO MAKE DOCUMENTATION AN ASSET  Serve the customer, not the product or company.  Address user tasks, not product features or intentions.  Become the users’ advocate.  Verify with surveys and user analysis.

9. 4. HOW TO MAKE DOCUMENTATION AN ASSET Kathy Sierra Creating passionate users

10. 5. HOW TO COLLABORATE  Provide a clear interface  To your sources: Engineers, developers, SMEs  To stakeholders: Customer service, product managers, etc.  To your manager  Stand up for documentation and yourself.  … and don't whine about language, grammar, etc. ► Learn from your topics: Collaborate!

11. GETTING AHEAD AS A LONE WRITER 1. Buy Yourself Time 2. Optimize Your Skills 3. Treat Documentation as a Business 4. Make Documentation an Asset 5. Collaborate Thank you!

12. KEEP IN TOUCH!  I blog at http://kaiweber.wordpress.com/  I tweet at @techwriterkai

Kai Weber - Getting ahead as a lone author

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Featured

Featured (20)

Kai Weber - Getting ahead as a lone author