by Rachel Houghton

Engineers. Before I became a technical writer, that used to be a swear word in my household. It meant logical, precise, controlling and anal-retentive. Now that I'm a technical writer and married to a software engineer, I've learned that there is more than one type of engineer and how to work with them. Currently, I'm the only technical writer in the software documentation division. Locally, I work with 16 engineers of varying technical areas and expertise, all the way from entry level (fresh out of college) software engineers to the highest "rung" on the engineering ladder. Over the course of the past four years, I've noticed several trends with engineers.

Always know what you want to talk about when approaching an engineer. "Can I talk to you about this aspect of the software?" will get you a lot more information and cooperation than "I wanted to talk to you about the product." Knowing what you want to ask will also help you to ask the right engineer. For example, you're not going to get the answer you want about the GUI if you ask the engineer who does the timing analysis. Having a 'cheat sheet' or list about who does what (Joe is the GUI guy, Larry is the timing guy, etc.) is helpful in choosing the right engineer.

Be honest about your technical knowledge. If they know you're new on the job and are still learning the product, they're more likely to cut you some slack on asking "duh" questions. Don't be afraid to ask for clarification ó if you can't understand what the engineer is trying to say, then you can't adequately explain it for an end user. However, if you've been on the job for several months and are still asking the same kinds of questions, you're likely to run into resisting and uncooperative engineers who don't respect you.

Keep up with the industry news. Know who the competition is and what they're announcing. You can sometimes learn a lot about the industry just by being able to say "I see that Company X announced this product X ó how does that compare to our product?" or "I see that Company A is buying out Company B ó do you see any effect to our company?" Often, that's enough to get them talking. Personally, I have subscriptions to one industry specific magazine, one computer industry magazine and at least two weekly industry e-mail lists.

Make sure you are in the loop on current and upcoming projects. This can be especially difficult if you're dealing with an offsite group in addition to a local site. If someone starts talking about a project you haven't heard about, politely inquire about the documentation requirements for that project. I've had project leaders include documentation requirements in a project that my supervisor and I don't even know about.

Humorous Points to Consider

Do not get in the way of the Friday 4-page Fry's ad. Engineers are into toys and drool over the latest gadgets, as well as the cheap prices of hard drives.

Bribery always works to smooth relations. Food is always goodóbagels and donuts work particularly well, especially in the morning. Of course, bribery isn't required, just appreciated.

Wait until the caffeine has kicked inóunless it's an emergency. Unless you absolutely need that one piece of information right away, give the engineer time to get some caffeine before you invade their cubicle.

Rachel Houghton is a senior technical writer for Cypress Semiconductor. As a lone writer, she is responsible for documenting software products in Beaverton and San Jose, creating icons and graphics, handling translation of documentation and dealing with engineers. She assists with the STC Competition and can be reached at rhj@cypress.com.