Technical writers wearing multiple hats

Technical writers should have the blended knowledge of writing and tools. While tools do not only mean software used for documentation, it also includes the application software about which writers need to work around. Manager need to decide whom to involve based on technology of a project. Content update related project would prefer a content enthusiasts, whereas a technical resource for technology centric project.

The phrase is common among us that it hard to train people on language than on language. In technical writing, a person has come across so many jargons and tools on which need to learn as part of the project requirement. In a big organization, we have a team comprising of writers, editors, and managers. Among writers, also someone is expert in tools, who can provide assistance on tools and obviously an editor who pinpoints on the clarity of the document.

For technical writers it is always good to work in team where intra-communication elevates the quality and productivity of documentation. However, some of the budget of company and/or project or does not permit to maintain a team on writers. Then the picture comes where a writer need to wear multiple hats for documentation related task. In such situations, the person needs to take the responsibility of managing their own task.