AGENDAIntroducing our expertsYour experience: Agile? Technical Writing

Outsourcing (TWO)?TWO: Myths, Successes, Success factors, RisksWhere do technical writers fit in an Agile

environment?How can tech writers succeed on Agile teams?Your questions and comments

BARRY SAIFFTechnical communications leader

32 years of technical documentation experience

Led writing teams at 6 US companies

Founded Saiff Solutions, Inc. in 2011

Provides content development to Fortune 500 companies in Japan & US

FRED WILLIAMSFounder of Williams Technical

Offers Agile communication, training, and consulting

Creator of the free online Technical Writing Course at Wikiversity (Google top 10)

Featured speaker:• Global Scrum Gathering, 2016• Agile Europe, 2016

POLL: What is Your Experience with Agile and Technical Writing Outsourcing?

Which answer best describes your experience?A. Manager/team lead with experience in technical

writing outsourcing and Agile.B. Manager/team lead with Agile experience.C. Manager/team lead with experience in technical

writing outsourcing.D. Manager/team lead.E. Technical writer/other tech comm professional/other.

OUTSOURCING MYTHSWhich do you believe about TWO?• TWO results in low quality• TWO always leads to layoffs• Whether or not TWO happens is up to me• All TWO situations ____________ (= for example, All corporations are bad)

OUTSOURCINGSUCCESSES

What happens when TWO works well?• Effective global collaboration• Learning• Process Improvement• Improved quality• Improved morale

• Reduced costs• Increased global

responsiveness• Productivity improvements

Carefully choose country:- Consider language, infrastructure, labor pool.- #1 country in business English: Philippines

(http://www.globalenglish.com/business_english_index)

TWO: KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Carefully choose provider.Consider process maturity first.Start with a low-risk pilot project.

TWO IMPLEMENTATION: When outsourcing goes wrong, it can be due to

any of the following issues:

RISKSLocation Function Inclusion Language

ExperienceLevel Culture Competency Management

• IF work > # writers, perhaps due to the demands of Agile…

• IF some development/QA has moved overseas…

• IF your scarce resource is management/training…

• IF you are using TWO, and processes are inadequate to support distributed teams…

• IF _______________

How can combining TWO and agile help you?

Source: http://www.pmdocuments.com/2012/09/15/agile-scrum-roles-and-responsibilities/

Agile Roles and Responsibilities: Where do tech writers fit in?

towerswatson.com

Agile Success: What should tech writers do?

1. Join the daily standupsFive tips for tech writer success in Agile environments:

2. Write documentation user storiesFive tips for tech writer success in Agile environments:

Agile Success: What should tech writers do?

3. Get synchronizedFive tips for tech writer success in Agile environments:

Agile Success: What should tech writers do?

4. Work on documentation debtFive tips for tech writer success in Agile environments:

Agile Success: What should tech writers do?

5. Use intelligent guessingFive tips for tech writer success in Agile environments:

Agile Success: What should tech writers do?

Do you have questions about technical writing outsourcing?About Agile? Do you need help with writing? Training for your technical writers or Agile development teams?Saiff Solutions can help.If your answer to any of the above is yes, answer “YES.”

POLL: Can we help you?

Email: barrysaiff@saiffsolutions.comSkype: SaiffSolutionsContact: +1 415 350 2959 +63 917 872 0929Web: www.saiffsolutions.com

CONTACT US!

QUESTIONS ?