Re: Professional respect

Subject: Re: Professional respect
From: "Michael West" <mbwest -at- bigpond -dot- net -dot- au>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2001 20:16:06 +1000


From: "Meena S" :

> ... My engineer colleagues ... tend to look down on a TW.
> ... Their take is that a Technical Writer ... does not add any
> value whatsoever to the software production process.

I'd say they're pretty close to being right. So why don't you ask
the *users* whether they think well-written instructional material
adds any value to *their* experience. Why don't you ask the sales
people how much harder *their* job would be if they couldn't offer
end-user instructional materials as part of the package? Who gives
a flip what the engineers have to say about it?

> I have tried to participate more, give sessions on
> documentation and its importance, even volunteered
> to wade thru boring documents to show them a client
> or potential customer just HATES to see a typo or a badly
> written document. It can make anyone cringe..

Forget about cringing. Cringing has nothing to do with anything.
Make sure you're not annoying people by implying that you are
somehow smarter and more perfect than they are.

There is only one thing you should be concerned with:

** What value are you adding to the users' experience ? **

In an engineering organization, engineers are the elite and everyone
else is 'support staff.' That's just the way it is; you can't change it.

Just stay focussed on your real objective, which is not 'acceptance'
but knowing that you've added value to your companies products
ina way that engineers will never understand or acknowledge.

If that doesn't sound like an attractive compromise, find another
role in life.

--
Michael West
Melbourne, Australia



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Follow-Ups:

References:
Professional respect: From: Meena S

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