Technical Writing For Teams

A unique, integrative, team-centered approach to writing and formatting technical documents Technical Professionals: Do you have difficulty producing high-quality documents with multiple contributors when faced with a tight deadline? Do you need a process that enables global team members to collaborate online as they produce sophisticated documents? Do you prefer the ease of a WYSIWG desktop publishing tool like Microsoft Word rather than more complex software like LaTeX? Professors and Graduate Students: Do you want to streamline the process of writing multi-investigator papers, reports, proposals, and books? Do you spend a lot of time formatting documents instead of thinking and writing? Do you write research papers in Microsoft Word and then need to convert them to LaTeX for your thesis? Do you write research papers in LaTeX and then need to convert them to Microsoft Word when embarking on collaborations with your colleagues from industry? Undergraduate Students: Do you need to write a research paper and don't know where to start? Do you need to collaborate with classmates on a long paper and find yourself lost in organizational details rather than immersed in the content? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, Technical Writing for Teams: The STREAM Tools Handbook is for you. It provides an easy-to-learn system that streamlines individual and collaborative writing, allowing you and your teams to instantly become more productive and create the highest quality documents in a minimum amount of time. Introduced here are the STREAM Tools—Scientific and Technical wRiting, Editing, And file Management Tools—which unlock your collaborators' potential and addresses team dynamics, separation of duties, and workflow. You'll see how to ensure compatibility among multiple writers, achieve consistent formatting, organize content, integrate bibliographic databases, automate the process of document preparation, and move content between Microsoft Word and LaTeX. Checklists, guidelines, and success stories are also included to help you operate as efficiently as possible. From planning and editing documents to solving common team writing problems to managing workflow, Technical Writing for Teams: The STREAM Tools Handbook is the one-stop reference that allows teams to collaborate successfully and create unified, effective documents.

Maximize the impact and precision of your message! Now in its fourth edition, the Microsoft Manual of Style provides essential guidance to content creators, journalists, technical writers, editors, and everyone else who writes about computer technology. Direct from the Editorial Style Board at Microsoft—you get a comprehensive glossary of both general technology terms and those specific to Microsoft; clear, concise usage and style guidelines with helpful examples and alternatives; guidance on grammar, tone, and voice; and best practices for writing content for the web, optimizing for accessibility, and communicating to a worldwide audience. Fully updated and optimized for ease of use, the Microsoft Manual of Style is designed to help you communicate clearly, consistently, and accurately about technical topics—across a range of audiences and media.

Built around real group interactions, Team Writing is a flexible, hybrid resource that pairs videos with a brief print book. Based on research revealing major problems at all stages of peer group work, the book shows how written communication can help technical writing students contribute to team projects in a meaningful way — and provides strategies for dealing with the breakdowns that can derail a project’s success. Numerous examples highlight the kind of written communication that helps teams thrive. Short, Web-based videos depict student teams in action, going beyond the textbook to show what real collaboration looks and sounds like.

Designing Engineers First Edition is written in short modules, where each module is built around a specific learning outcome and is cross-referenced to the other modules that should be read as pre-requisites, and could be read in tandem with or following that module. The book begins with a brief orientation to the design process, followed by coverage of the design process in a series of short modules. The rest of the book contains a set of modules organized in several major categories: Communication & Critical Thinking, Teamwork & Project Management, and Design for Specific Factors (e.g. environmental, human factors, intellectual property). A resource section provides brief reference material on economics, failure and risk, probability and statistics, principles & problem solving, and estimation.

From the basics to advanced skills, the Technical Writing Process is your comprehensive guide to the art and science of crafting technical documentation. With eight core steps—Plan, Design, Write, Edit, Review, Translate, Publish, and Manage—this guide integrates both classical writing principles and the transformative potential of modern tools like AI. This book is more than a guide; it's an invitation to embrace the art of writing instructions with the mentorship of our experienced technical writers. Whether you’re a novice writer or an industry stalwart aiming to refine your technical communication skills, this book offers a blend of tried-and-true methods with the power of new-age tools. AI, as a significant element of the modern toolkit, receives special attention, helping readers stay ahead of the curve. Features Insights from industry experts around the world Real-world case studies and examples Comprehensive chapters on techniques and concepts Downloadable templates* to support each step in the process *For exclusive discounts on our premium content, use the coupon code in this book. About the Authors Our writing team, composed of top-notch technical writers, translation experts, and technical documentation managers from around the world, has pooled their experience and insights to help you succeed in your technical writing career. Praise for the First Edition “Every aspiring author / tech writer in college should have this book.” Steve Ballard, Manager, Enterprise Content Solutions “This is exactly the sort of guide I wish I had when I first started tech writing.” Sharon Witheriff, Technical Writer “The Technical Writing Process is a practical toolkit that demystifies the art of technical writing with useful templates to help you succeed quickly and smartly.” Richard Kidd, General Manager “Aspiring writers throughout the enterprise will find this to be a solid resource as they try to figure out how they should go about documenting something. It's logically laid out, not too heavy on jargon, and uses good diagrams and illustrations.” Duane Green, Sr. Director of Content Strategy Solutions “I think this pragmatic approach is excellent and fills a desperate need in the tech writing world. Many a point raised will have the older hands nodding sagely and the younger people remembering the advice when they first run into those issues.” Dr Charlotte Nash-Stewart, Engineer, Author, and Technical Writer “This is a well-written, comprehensive and practical guide for technical writers. It is packed full of great information and is very easy to read. I particularly like the ‘Insights,’ ‘What does that mean?’ and ‘Tips’ callouts which appear throughout the book.” Sue Geercke, Director Technical Communications “Technical Writing Process explores the essential elements any technical writer should consider when tackling their next assignment. The book systematically guides the reader through an intuitive, yet effective, methodology that spans everything from Planning to Publishing.’ Shay Withnell, Product Marketing Manager “Technical Writing Process is the professionalisation of the technical writing discipline. It rightly considers the holistic context for a technical document and provides a comprehensive cookbook for getting it right within an organisation. The insights, examples and templates are perfect and pragmatic. The definitive standard in technical writing.” Rami Banna, Product Lead “This book serves as a great reference to someone tasked with the technical writing aspect of a project. It would have saved me much heartache and a considerable amount of time if I had this information at the start of my project.” Keo Phetsaya, Technical Sales Manager

Outsourcing stirs strong emotions. Employees associate it with layoffs, reduced quality, and plummeting morale. Managers often don't understand the potential, thinking either that it will reduce their costs by large amounts or that it will make them obsolete, too. The truth is that, when done correctly, outsourcing often does not lead to layoffs, can lead to increased quality, and can even boost morale. Although the inflated savings that some managers have been led to believe are untrue (outsourcing can rarely, if ever, reduce content development costs by more than 60 percent), outsourcing can still be a win for both a company and its employees.Outsourcing Technical Writing: A Primer provides a comprehensive introduction to outsourcing technical writing. Barry Saiff, who has had extensive experience with outsourced content development, provides a roadmap for outsourcing success along with cases studies, a sample outsourcing agreement, and a sample plan. He also connects the success of outsourcing with management excellence and process maturity.