Project Management for the New Technical Writer

By Rita Garcia

Bonni Graham, CEO and President of Manual Labour, Inc., gave a presentation to our Inland Empire STC members last October on effective strategies to manage projects. I'm new to technical communications and took a project management course at UC Riverside last year as part of their certificate program. I thought this presentation would be a nice review. Some of the information Bonni gave was a nice review for me, but I learned much more from her presentation.

Textbook vs. Real World

First of all, let me tell you that the project management course at UCR is a rigorous, eye-opening experience for a newbie to technical communication. The scope of project management is mind-boggling and full of intricacies. Further, things change all the time.

My instructor at the time was Sharon Burton, owner and CEO of Anthrobytes Consulting, a local technical documentation firm. Sharon adds humor and downright reality to her courses. As in most courses, you learn textbook methodologies and theories, and you are guided by a syllabus. During the course, however, Sharon cautioned her students that things don't necessarily work the same way in the real world.

Bonni echoed this same thought during her presentation. Even with an assigned project manager, technical writers not only perform their work, but also contribute heavily elsewhere to the overall success of the main project. In short, we become the miracle workers in a project, and we need to prepare ourselves for that. We need to come up with a plan.

A Project Plan for the Individual

One of the key elements Bonni discussed was the percentage of time one must devote to a project. This means deciding what percent of time will be given for audience analysis, content specification, the first draft, a technical review, and production. However, these are not the only items. One must also consider factors, such as possible system downtime, worker absences, and other inevitable disastrous events. Bonni used this introduction to begin speaking about how technical writers must also plan their time for their individual work.

Bonni told us that whatever a technical writer's work is, he or she must plan about ten percent for project management. When you think about, it makes perfect sense. A technical writer's work may be part of a bigger project, but that part can be, and should be managed as significantly as the whole project. The writer must dedicate time to find out what the product is, what it does, who will use it, how it will be used, and so forth. When you think about it more, as I began to, we all do some type of planning daily. We think about what has to be done, when it has to be done, and what we hope to accomplish. Then we think about whether we have the right amount of time to do it the way we want (or need) to have it done. The things we plan to do in a day are usually no more than constant mental thoughts backed up with a "Things to Do" list. For a successful project, however, a writer must give considerably more thought and planning. A writer needs to construct and document an individual plan.

The Plan

As technical writers, especially newbies, we need to approach our assigned work with every strategy and importance as a project manager would for the main project. The scope of our individual tasks can be just as overwhelming as the main project itself and cannot be successfully executed by using sticky-notes, "Things to Do" lists, and the like as a documented plan. We need to formally construct and document how we plan to achieve our goals. Time needs to be documented for our audience analysis, content specification, writing time, and our contribution to the technical review process. Possible downtime, whether machine or human, also needs to be part of our formal plan. A well-constructed and organized plan can be reviewed from time to time not only to keep us on track, but also to remind ourselves of important objectives, such as who our audience is. The Suggested Readings noted below are great resources for how to plan and manage a project.

Great Results from Great Planning

When Bonni gives a presentation on project management, you are drawn into an intriguing world. You learn the immense role a technical writer has on a project. You learn there can be great results in a project that is well-planned and executed. You also learn there can be great satisfaction and success by having an individual project management plan.

Visit Bonni Graham's Web site at: http://www.manuallabour.com.

You can also visit Sharon Burton's Web site at: http://www.anthrobytes.com.

Author's Note: Although the books noted below are written primarily for project managers, a great deal of the information can be applied toward your individual project management plan.