Outsourcing is a great way to utilize experienced talent in specific disciplines. Many companies only think of outsourcing as a way to cut costs, but it is also great for improving a company capabilities. Sometimes trying to do a task in-house ultimately costs more. It requires more time from staff that could be better utilized elsewhere. An added benefit of outsourcing is the innovative ideas that are shared across the two teams.
Technical writing is an art. It is important to have well-written instructions about your product or technology. In some companies, the engineers or product developers are tasked with this job. This rarely works well for anyone involved. User manuals turn into 300-page books. Instructions are too technical and customers are forced to call Customer Support. Product developers are overworked and unable to get the product out on time.
These issues can be solved by outsourcing your technical writing. Professional writers are experts and understanding and analyzing technical information and presenting it in a simple, organized, precise and easily understood manner. Their job is to take complex technical information and make it user-friendly. They are talented at tweezing out the relevant information that consumers need. Whether you hire a freelance individual or a company, there are many benefits to outsourcing your technical writing.
Most Value-Added Activity Your engineers and product developers aren’t writers. They may know the product inside and out and not be able to communicate the knowledge in a way that is helpful to consumers. These members of your team are highly educated. They are great at knowing the functional requirements of each product, designing and testing the components of the products, evaluating the overall effectiveness of a design, its cost, reliability and safety. Their job is not a job that anyone can do. Their most value-added activity is to be an engineer. When they try to be a technical writer, you waste time and resources for an inferior return on labor.
Cost-Effective Outsourcing technical writing is cost-effective. You gain a writer expertise without the overhead. You forego the cost of salary, insurance, retirement, paid time off, office supplies, computers, phones and all the other accouterments of hiring a full-time employee. In exchange for your money, you get a trained and skilled writer that is capable of delivering to your audience information about your product that is useful and relevant to them for their purpose. Many companies even come with a team of editors to make sure your documents are delivered on time and error-free. Outsourcing is great for companies that launch a handful of products a year. It allows you to control your cost and better manage variable workloads.
Customer Satisfaction Customers are more likely to come back if they have a good experience. Consumers interact with more than just your customer support and sales staff, they are interacting with your product as well. If they have the information they need to be presented in a way they understand, they will be more satisfied with the product. Technical writers enhance the customer experience. Your customers are less frustrated. They are presented with the information that is relevant as opposed to details of how and why it works. Companies like QAwerk have a team of writers and editors that provide you with a document that provides the best user experience.
When hiring technical writing companies, seek out professionals that are experienced in your industry. It is helpful if everyone knows what is expected. Make sure to clearly define your project scope of work and your deadlines in the beginning. Provide a Style Guide and controlled vocabulary. Controlled vocabulary is a language with a limited set of words and strict grammatical rules that help readers avoid confusion. Utilizing these two tools helps your technical writer generate consistent, readable and useable content. Stay in touch with your writer and establish checkpoints along the way.
Technical writers are professionals that are able to simplify the complex. Good technical writing is geared to specifically targeted audiences and uses writing to break down complex information into relevant, useful and accurate instructions the audiences to take defined actions in pursuit of a specific goal. This is no easy task. Your product designers are great at what they do, designing products. Their most value-added activity is not writing. Outsourcing is usually more cost-effective. Unless you are in constant need of a writer for technical documents, you waste money hiring a full-time employee. Employees and customers end up more satisfied and well-informed.
