By Jerry Grohovsky, Copyright 2016. JPG & Associates, Inc. Many small to medium-size engineering, manufacturing, or start-up companies do not have a technical writer on-staff. Subsequently, when the need arises to find a technical writer, stake-holders often make the mistake of assigning the documentation project to an engineer, technician, or marketing communications employee inside the [...]
By Jerry Grohovsky, Copyright 2017. JPG & Associates, Inc. If you—the client—have never worked with a technical writer previously (either as a new client, project manager, or subject matter expert—SME), there are certain facts about technical writers, the profession itself, and how projects evolve that will help you to be more successful in a first-time [...]
By Jerry Grohovsky, Copyright 2018. JPG & Associates, Inc. Often Tech. Comm. Professionals (or TCPs) are caught off-guard when asked this all too-common question: “How can you write intelligently about a product, process, or technical topic unless you are an engineer, scientist, Ph.D., or similar expert of that topic?” In the future, I suggest [...]
By Jerry Grohovsky, Copyright 2014. JPG & Associates, Inc. Savings in terms of dollars and time: The most obvious advantage is in the face-value savings realized by using technical writers, from development through product delivery. Hour-to-hour comparisons show that: Technical writer billing time is much less costly than engineer billing time (possibly 30-50% lower, especially [...]
By Jerry Grohovsky, Copyright 2014. JPG & Associates, Inc. In order for JPG to make an accurate assessment of costs and resource needs for a specific client project, JPG requests that the client provide feedback: Who is the audience? What level of detail does the audience require? What is the primary objective of the documentation? [...]
By Jerry Grohovsky, Copyright 2018. JPG & Associates, Inc. You may want to consider doing projects on a project- by-project quotation basis if: Projects are very intermittent. With projects done on a quotation basis, more paperwork is required—since each project requires a separate quotation. Either volume of individual documents is low, or frequency of [...]
By Jerry Grohovsky, Copyright 2018. JPG & Associates, Inc.You may want to consider having your technical writing resources be located on-site (or at the client site) if:Day-to-day (or frequent face-to-face interactions) with subject matter experts (SMEs) are required.There are frequent meetings which are more effective in-person.Authoring tools are tied into a priority, closed enterprise system [...]
By Jerry Grohovsky, Copyright 2016. JPG & Associates, Inc. Since the end of the great recession, the expanding economy has provided a confidence base for companies to be “bullish” on investing in more research, creating new products, expanding manufacturing capacity, and in-turn adding to their employee count to support all these activities. During the past [...]
By Jerry Grohovsky, Copyright 2014. JPG & Associates, Inc. What Are The Advantages of Using Consultants (Or Contractors) Versus Direct Employees? The use of consultants (or contractors) can reduce a company's overhead costs. In environments with common project "peaks" and "valleys" of activity, resources can be easily adjusted, without paying out annual salaries and benefits [...]
By Jerry Grohovsky, Copyright 2014. JPG & Associates, Inc. Competitive bidding has always been an integral part of American business. In the current economy, it has its advantages for companies who are seeking the best delivery of product for the best price. At JPG, we believe that competitive biding also has its place in the [...]