Best Practices

Introduction

At The Writing Factory Inc. (TWF), documentation best practices encompass all aspects of the documentation process - the authoring, the archiving and the dissemination. Our objective is to elevate the quality of your documents so you get the value you need.

Authoring Best Practices

TWF divides authoring best practices into two areas: quality writing and meta-data.

Business writing, procedure writing and technical writing are learned skills. Technical Writers author content to communicate information to a reader in a clear, concise manner. TWF employs only trained, experienced senior Technical Writers. They author content that your employees, suppliers and customers will easily understand the first time they read it.

What is meta-data? Meta-data is "data" about "other data". The "other data" is the policy, procedure, process narrative, etc. The "data" may consist of a number of elements, e.g. author, title, date of creation or publication, subject coverage, etc. Meta-data's real value is realized once the documents are archived. While traditional search may be based on content, meta-data search lets you locate documents based on a much more diverse set of criteria. This benefits your employees by allowing them to locate the information they need in a number of ways.

Archiving Best Practices

Archiving means saving your documents or data to a storage device, e.g. hard drive. Another aspect of archiving is the management of the stored content. There are a wide range of content management systems (CMS) available today.

Most companies purchase a CMS and then attempt to adapt their content to the application's requirements. TWF adopts a different approach. First we look at what types of documents/content your business creates. Second we determine how your business uses the information. Then our KM associates advise you on the most appropriate solution based on your current and future needs. Perhaps an integrated mix of technologies based on your current platform will give you the benefits you need while saving you money. The technology must fit the business, instead of the other way around.

Dissemination Best Practices

Quality dissemination means the right information can be easily found when it is needed and in the most appropriate format. For example, while an employee is creating a 12-page report, certain parts can be "marked up" for inclusion in a PowerPoint presentation. The "marked up" text is called "conditional" content. With appropriate technology, the "conditional" content can then be automatically extracted into PowerPoint presentation.

TWF will show you how to integrate authoring and archiving best practices to facilitate re-purposing of content in a meaningful and cost efficient manner.

Your next step

TWF works with whatever CMS technology you may have. We will help you eliminate the "garbage in; garbage out" cycle. Contact us to discuss how best practices can improve the quality of your communication.