RE: initiating successful technical communications

["Tom Whitlam" <whitlam -at- pacific -dot- net -dot- sg>]

<snip>I have recently joined a software company that has decided to create a
technical documentation department. Previously, a marketing rep pulled a
couple all-nighters to create the first very turgid, condescending, poorly
organized (I could say a lot more, but...) manual. Tech support costs run
around $3.5 million/yr.
<snip more>
We are putting together a report/proposal on how to find a direction for our
department...<snip again>...lots of advice, especially success stories. I
want to see our new department succeed.</snip>

Hi Barbara,

I've been in this situation, but unfortunately I have no success story to
report. You may however gain something from my hindsight on the situation.

I joined a company which had previously spent about 1 hour, per page of
final copy, developing their user manuals, which seems likely to be similar
to the amount of time spent now by your company. Of course, the manuals were
laughably inadequate, and they knew it; what they did not know, and were not
prepared to accept, was that a serious upgrade in quality would require a
serious investment of professional time; that is, they needed professional
technical communicators operating in the 2 to 3 hours per page range, as a
minimum.

I went through a classic development cycle: user analysis, task analysis,
task/user time chart, table of contents (with estimated page counts) and
sample chapters, for one the nine modules of their very large application. I
sent this out for review and received enthusiastic responses for this
high-quality work. :)

I then took the estimated page counts from the TOC and extrapolated the
amount of work required to produce the same quality for the other eight
manuals, which was about 11 person-years. Shocked dismay resulted! They did
not believe that "writing" takes time. I will not bore you with the rest of
the history, other than to say it was disappointing for all concerned. :(

What I would suggest to you, in hindsight, is establish a budget up front
for your nascent "department". To get as much as you can, tell them their
support costs will reduce by XX% over X years. Having established the
maximum they are willing/able to pay, then plan what products you can afford
to deliver, at what level of quality. If you can't get the estimated hours
per page up to over 2, as a starting minimum, I'd fire this company and find
another challenge; you'll both be better off in the long run.

Best of luck! ;)

Tom Whitlam
Information Designer
Whitlam TechComm
whitlam -at- pacific -dot- net -dot- sg