Today companies are searching for ways to reduce their expenses and still keep quality high. One effective way to cut costs that many firms are exploring is to hire a technical writing company to develop their technical manuals. If everyone understands the ground rules this can be a very effective way to reduce costs and can actually improve the quality of the technical manuals in many cases. The following paragraphs provide six guidelines for ensuring a successful outsourcing project.

1. Get on the same page. Once everybody knows the rules of the game, the project will have a greater chance to succeed. Getting the rules laid out properly begins with a detailed proposal describing what will be accomplished. The details of the technical manual including content, layout, arrangement, format, graphics used, and other aspects should be defined to the extent possible. One key thing to try and quantify is the size or scope of the document. To gain an understanding of how big the project will be, develop an outline and try to assign estimated page counts to each chapter.

2. Who does what? Another key to a successful project is to clearly identify who will be involved and what their roles will be. Problems can arise when multiple individuals are providing source data that may be conflicting. To alleviate this issue you should try to have one single person be responsible for getting data to and from the technical manual writing company.

3. Set the fee. My technical writing company, Allard, works almost exclusively on a firm, fixed-price basis. Clients appreciate this approach, as it allows them to budget with a degree of confidence and not worry about cost overruns or overcharges. It also provides us with an incentive to get the project completed on time, if not early.

4. Set a schedule. Deadlines exist for a reason. If there are no deadlines then very little will get accomplished – it is just human nature. But all parties involved should recognize that schedules are very seldom met with no slippage at all. It is a very rare technical writing project that hits every milestone with no delays due to late design changes, revisions, delays due to the unavailability of key individuals, etc.

5. Get it in writing. When a portion of a project is submitted (i.e. outline, rough draft) the technical writing company should insist upon a formal review and a written (or, email) approval. This will ensure that everybody has taken the responsibility to review the document and will avoid surprises later.

6. Be patient. If you are outsourcing your technical writing for the first time, you should understand that there will be a learning curve. The writers have to become familiar with the technology, the product, and the individuals involved. The client will have to learn what is expected in terms of the level of detail, the typical turnaround, and other facets of the project. The first project is typically somewhat rocky, but if everybody is patient and perseveres, the next project will invariably go better.

Our library of completed projects fills almost an entire office. In over 20 years of technical writing, we have developed a good working relationship with dozens of clients, many of whom have outsourced their projects to Allard for many years. If your company will heed the suggestions in this list, it will help your next project proceed smoothly.