Technical Writing
What is Technical Writing
The primary purpose of technical writing is the development of useful information, i.e. :
- Excellent technical writing avoids jargon, clarifies ambiguity, and presents useful information in a format that is clear and easily understood by the intended audience
- Poor technical writing increases confusion by creating unnecessary jargon or failing to explain or present the information in a suitable format or at an appropriate level
An essential tool in technical writing is style, which is generated by grammar, punctuation, spelling (American, British or Australian), and the choice of words used, whether or not the information is a website, a glossy advertisement, a parts database, a procedural work instruction or a knowledgeable narrative.
What we do...
Technical writing is performed by technical writers who research the purpose of the document or content that they will create and the audience for whom it is intended. They gather information from existing sources of documentation, engineering drawings, and from the equipment itself as well as from SME's (Subject Matter Experts); technical writers need not be subject-matter experts themselves, but they should at least be familiar with the equipment or processes involved. Technical writers need strong language and teaching skills and must understand how to communicate at all levels using the appropriate technology.
The TWC team has a passion for developing information to help people help themselves, and the more complicated, specialised, or unique your business is, the more the group enjoys their work.
TWC has been fortunate enough to be engaged by some of the world’s most significant mining, defence, and EPCM companies in numerous training, safety, engineering, or quality-based roles. Over the years the team have been able to fully utilise the skills and experience developed working across a wide range of technical writing roles in the fields of electrical, mechanical and general engineering, and migrate those skills across to the human resource, financial and administration fields.
In some cases greater patience, understanding and diplomacy were required in liaising with different cultures and skill levels, as not all client representatives were speakers of English as a first language, and not all of the intended audience had high literacy or numeracy skills.
TWC can assist you with fully customised multi-discipline technical content for incorporation into the support you either provide your clients or use within your business system assurance or knowledge management systems:
- Across your organisation at the team, site, project or corporate level
- Information - electronic and hard copy business or IP content
- People - policies, plans, procedures, processes
- Risk - cyber, physical, financial
TWC will undertake a ‘gap analysis’ review of the documents, images, and information your staff currently uses. Moreover, with plenty of experience in this area, TWC is often required to develop quality documentation using source data ranging from incomplete to complex information found in ad hoc personal flash drives, non-existent management systems or folders scattered around classified, technical, or corporate networks.
Then through close liaison with management, administrative, operational and maintenance personnel, TWC will develop safe, up-to-date, and readily understood hard copy operating and maintenance manuals, project plans and policies, procedural work instructions and quick reference cards.
Our scope is nation-wide, and we can provide you, your team, and your organisation, support from your office, or ours. We’ve worked in remote desert sites, regional offices, and corporate head offices, everywhere from the Hunter Valley in the east to the Gascoyne in the west, from Cape York in the north to Hobart in the south.
You can rest assured, as TWC has a history of going the extra mile to develop high-quality, professional, and cost-effective technical documentation for you, in whatever format you need. So no matter where you are, TWC can also develop if required, electronic content for mobile apps or web pages on your intranet for staff or on the internet for the whole world.
