Technical Writers Moving into Program/Project Management Roles

by Steve Binderwald

Writing paper documents is becoming a smaller (but still very important) part of the role played by the technical writer. This doesn't mean, however, that the technical writer's required skill set is diminishing. To the contrary, their responsibilities are expanding beyond the traditional boundaries of paper media into other areas like Web-based help files, ReadMe files, process definition, and information coordination/management. As a part of that expansion, technical writers have discovered that while they were learning and applying their writing craft, they also develop skill sets that allow them to work successfully in other areas of their organizations. One particular place in which these expanding skills sets have been applied is in the areas of project/program coordination and project/program management.

There are several reasons why writers have found the need to apply their skills in these other job categories. In recent years, many companies have been extremely scrupulous in scrutinizing how valuable human resources are used. As organizations "down-size," people in all areas are being asked to expand their roles and assume more responsibility. At Intel, we've made job shifts that moved traditional technical writers into program and project management roles that are not the typical roles played by a technical writer. However, these changes are working well when the technical writers are allowed to focus their efforts on areas and tasks in which they have skill. I have seen several of these efforts work successfully at Intel, to the point where programs are now seeking out individuals to "be on my team." These efforts contribute toward the success of the company. The expansion of the technical writer role into areas of program management is, in my view, a natural extension for the skill set of many technical writers.

REQUIRED SKILLS

So, what are those skills that allow technical writers to work as program/project managers? In this environment, a good program manager requires certain skills to manage the resources on a team, organize information in a useful way, track assignments and progress against goals, communicate decisions and plans, distribute information to the correct people, estimate and forecast resource needs, and manage those resources on a program or project over time. Technical writers need to do these things well… as do program/project managers. These skills are outlined below:

Communication skills

Technical writers are well versed in the basics of inquiry and investigation. A good writer must develop a sense for interviewing people and drawing out the information needed to tell the story that needs to be told. Writers tend to think graphically, in terms of pictures and diagrams, or the flow of information through a whole piece of writing. Often they do this better than anyone else in the company. When a writer applies this skill set to a program management or process discussion, they can enable a team to understand, clarify, redefine, and re-think how they intend a process to work. From that point, it is a short step for the writer to describe the process in the diagram and get it into some distribution system for the organization to use as a refresher or a training tool.

Information awareness

Technical writers measure information in terms of their audience. They consider what their reader needs and layer the information so that it can be presented and understood in a logical and sequential progression. In doing so, professional communicators are able to present explicitly clear answers to many basic questions that are often overlooked by project/program managers, in that they enable people to see "why this is important," "how this fits into the bigger picture," and "who needs this information anyway."

Systematic work methods

Technical writers are by nature systematic in their approach to their work. Some of this is a result of the writer's close cooperation with teams of people in delivering the appropriated information to the audience. Collaborating on projects provides the writer with the skill to organize incoming information among a whole team of people, analyze the input, determine what data is relevant, and finally, coordinate the outcomes with the entire team.

Team coordination

Technical writers at Intel typically coordinate information in environments of 10–12 team members. Some are knowledge sources; some are not. Some are cooperative; some are not. Some are good communicators; some are not. The technical writer assesses these (and other) attributes in the people in their team environment and plans where to find and how to amass the information they need for their audience. This coordinated approach to working with people has helped writers at Intel make a transition into project management roles.

Relationship management skills

Technical writers regularly find themselves stuck between two engineers arguing different poles of a technical debate. Good technical writers learn over time to recognize the problem areas in their work—places where the immovable object meets the irresistible force, and progress often stops. Often a technical writer is in the position to moderate those debates, to move the debates to closure, and to resolve the technical disagreements. Writers often bring with them very good interpersonal skills; they learn how to get what they need and not sacrifice the relationship in the process. They can build long-term relationships that help them get their work done efficiently.

Pragmatic approach

Technical writers are generally very efficient resources. They schedule their time closely, find shortcuts where appropriate, and leverage resources where they can. They seek out information sources and get those resources to explain or describe critical elements of a project or program, such as what they are doing, why they are doing it, when it will be done, what critical risks and dependencies are at play, and how it fits into the greater picture of what the company is doing to serve its customers. Writers often take a very practical view of their work and screen these encounters against the needs of their audience, constantly asking the question, "Do they really need this? Can I get the job done without it?"

Process orientation

Over time, technical writers develop very systematic methods for doing their work. They tend to develop a toolbox of techniques that allow them to get the information they need and get the job done correctly and on time. When dropped into a project or program team environment, technical writers tend to use this toolbox of skills to diplomatically engage with those work systems and work processes, and enable them to fit into the requirements of the project. These systematic work processes help teams deal with and meet expectations, and over time, help people fit their part of a program or project into a timeline or sequence of events.

Information management

Technical writers deal with the tools that are necessary for getting information out to the end users. Technical writers are close to the issues involved in managing distribution of that information. The advent of the Internet as a distribution vehicle has pulled the technical writer even closer to the end user. In many cases, technical writers are the experts on a team at deciding what medium to use in providing information to their audience. Technical writers have developed an ability to sift the bare essentials out of a pile of seemingly unrelated information and present the information clearly so people can understand it.

DRAWBACKS TO PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

There are drawbacks: Technical writers have some disadvantages in moving into a program or project management role within an organization:

Less technical understanding

Often, program and project managers have a greater technical understanding of a particular product than do the technical writers. In this case, the challenge for a writer who is working as a program manager, becomes one of identifying those experts and then calling on them to contribute expert inputs and insights as needed.

Organizational reaction

As with any job crossover, there is often an immediate and negative "knee-jerk" reaction (typically from other program managers) that questions why a person from one role is now fulfilling a new role. People may challenge the person, "What are you doing in this role?" or, "What do you know about this?"

ADVANTAGES TO PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

There are advantages—technical writers bring some skills and perspective to their role as a program manager that are just not found in anywhere else in the organization:

Objectivity

Technical writers tend to not be involved deeply in the product definitions and are generally able to approach decisions about product features more objectively. Again the great variable in the mind of a technical writer is "What does my audience (or customer) need?" There is less influence and draw by the technical elegance of a product design and, as a result, be able to focus more objectively on the practical application and the need.

EFFECTIVE CONTRIBUTION

So, where can technical writers contribute most effectively in this role? I've seen great results in situations where a technical writer teams with an experienced program manager. In this partnership, the experienced program manager handles the day-to-day technical issues for the project, and the technical writer focuses on what they know best—how to communicate clearly and concisely with the team; distill the essence of what is important out of a conversation or a meeting; how to coordinate information flow and release to other divisions, partners, and companies; and how to define and implement efficient work processes. With this type of work split, the writer can flourish and help the team operate with greater efficiency and effectiveness. My experience shows this to be a win for both the technical writer and the company.

In summary, the things that a technical writer does well (communicate clearly, systematically manage processes, organize information and processes, interact effectively with people, and effectively plan how to meet the needs of the audience) all lend themselves to the role of program management. Engineering teams often are so overworked that they hardly have the time to state what their processes are, let alone explain them to someone working next to them. When they find a resource, like a technical writer, who is willing to wade into the process discussion with the engineering teams and facilitate the discussions and the informal training, the result is that the processes are better defined, better functioning within the organization, and better understood by the organization.

Steve Bindewald is Manager of Technical Publications at Intel Corporation. He can be reached at steve.bindewald@intel.com.