Technical Content Strategy

Technical Content Strategy involves the intertwining of product, persona, and Support--hopefully in a way successful for the company and the user alike.

This is a "Reader's Digest" Condensed version of a longerThis is a condensed version of a longer TCPE Proof of Concept document regarding the desired direction for the Technical Content Strategy from a Technical Writer's perspective. 

If you are interested in the full document, please contact the author.

Technical Content & Product Ecosystem:  Technical Content Strategy

Purpose

This document outlines the Proof of Concept Technical Content & Product Documentation Strategy. If you have any questions or feedback, please contact the author.

Scope

Documentation strategy should be part of the company's business strategy, which contains the company's vision and how documentation will help in the success of that vision.

“…Documentation Strategy is a plan to assure the adequate documentation of an ongoing issue, activity, function, or subject...”

-- Hackman and Warnow-Blewett 1987, 14A

This document focuses on the content explaining what your company’s product does, how it does it, and what the use results should look like. The general idea common for documentation strategies in many companies is that documentation has to be helpful in the following areas:

• Internal

The documentation should be used to support daily tasks, processes, and procedures, and to solve minor and major problems and conduct day-to-day operations for the company.

• External

The documents should help customers understand, use, and thrive with the Company's products and services.

Documentation Strategy in your Business

A business strategy cannot exist without a vast knowledge base (or documentation base. If your company lacks a viable documentation policy, you are actually making your messaging, support, and desire of your product(s) unclear to the customers and stakeholders.

Elements in a Documentation Strategy

There are elements that exist within Documentation Strategy and should consider the following as stated above, it should align with the Company general goals such as:

• Product Plan and infrastructure
• Support for the current projects
• Business priorities that drive the previous two bullet points
• Identify a list of documents that exist
• Identify a list of documents that need to be created
• Identify Risks that the company could face if the documentation is not created or maintained
• Identify the Issues that will negatively affect the Company if the documentation is not created or sustained.
• Metrics to monitor and measure the efficiency of the strategy
• Communication plan to share the results with the audience inside and outside the company.

Besides the elements listed above, the company will need to implement the strategy. To do so, the following components should be discovered and addressed to create and implement the strategy.

Focals

To ensure all documents, processes, and procedures are taken into account when developing the Strategy, you’ll want to establish an Oversight with representation for the teams or departments identified as associated with the Strategy.

Each Oversight member of the team will act as a mediator between the team and the group they represent. They will identify:

• Which documents from their group must be saved
• Which documents from their group should be updated
• Which can be eliminated
• Document the way their department processes documents[1]

Identify the Current File Structure / Revise if needed by Strategy

Once Oversight is established, assess the current file structure. Oversight will work to determine how documents function within the groups that are part of the Strategy:

• How are new requested
• How are existing accessed
• What is the Revision process
• Once released, how are they Sustained
• Once outdated or no longer relevant to the Product Map path, how are they Archived/Sunsetted

Choose 1-2 groups as a discovery project to help produce (and replicate) a pattern of how each group handles its documents.

Oversight will need to figure out what is necessary to carry out the document strategy to completion. This could be new solutions or adding or eliminating steps in the process to improve efficiency.

Identify Existing, Missing, and remove unnecessary Documentation

Now that the Oversight has an understanding of how the company handles documents, it’s time to identify what type of documents they’re dealing with and how they’re used. This will result in an inventory of the documents associated by group.

What to record

Taking inventory will identify multiple kinds of materials. Some examples include:

• Reference materials
• Duplicate copies of documents
• Client information
• Forms
• Templates
• Diagrams
• Tools used to create the content (if available)

Initially, a first pass, so to speak, should include all information. The team will begin identifying and potentially eliminating any unnecessary documents that were discovered. Eventually, they will hand that task off to their respective groups.

With assistance from the groups, Oversight will then work to firm up the actual relevant materials that need to be contained in the inventory.

What to remove

Known out of date and non-pursued feature and function content materials will be the first content to go. The team may choose to also commit dated documents into an archive to create a history of records.

Document the Processes and Procedures based on Discovery

A structured documentation framework and workflow processes help to achieve consistency and value in producing high-quality documentation.

The Process and Procedure framework should be granular enough to provide those recording the artifacts.

Most (in a relative terms) of the work at this phase of the process, will be to update existing needed, but outdated, content and write the new that was identified in the Oversight Inventory.

If, as part of the newly minted Documentation Strategy, tools, such as authoring or templates

Implement, Administer, and Maintain the Strategy

• It’s finally time to implement the Document Strategy.
• Move current inventoried documents into the identified infrastructure. You’ll want to index all aspects of the document as they’re transitioned in. Refer to the file system environment or application of choice for instructions on how to do that.
• Follow the procedures established in your file plan. Include reference sheets in the folders to help users locate related non-paper materials.
• Once everything is organized, it’s important that employees follow the strategy and keep all records up-to-date. This now becomes a company policy with everyone using the new structures.

Steps for Continued Success

Be sure to:

1. File or upload new documents as they are created.
2. Have a check-out system to track edits to documents and the people who made those edits.
3. Protect records - limiting access to only those who need it.
4. Verify the content is still “fresh” on a regular basis (6 month Review suggested at a minimum) to avoid issues with out of date or incorrect issues.
5. Remove (Archive) documents that have hit their retention periods to prevent a litigation or compliance risk.
6. Documentation Strategy is a “Continuous Improvement” item—be sure to also review the Strategy on a regular basis so as to keep it in line with the Company Map.

Summary

Companies tend to focus on specific elements such as Marketing, Development, Support--all of these are important within the success of products and the Company. These however, do not represent all. What is also important is correctly identifying and recognizing the full weight of influence elements such as Technical Content incur within the Company.

Finally, it is also important is having Strategies in place that provide a plan and a path forward that insures the content, regardless of ecosystem.

• Appendix A. Terms and Resources

Acronyms & Terms

Related Resources

Documentation and content related to this Ecosystem fall to the Documentation Team unless otherwise specified.

[1] By “document”, the team member will work with a representative to build an outline of the process, then function as the SME to help flesh out that process or procedure around their team document (s).

[2] Risk: POTENTIAL issue to be acknowledged and if mitigation option is available, documented with the Risk as well.