Many technical writing departments complain that it is difficult for them to get resources and money for important investments. Other writing departments, however, manage to get funding seemingly effortlessly, even though their companies are similarly successful. What do these writing departments do differently? Let’s take a look together at what strategies are successful when it comes to getting funding.
Many technical writing departments are familiar with the difficulties associated with getting funding. First of all, there are cultural reasons at play. Organizationally speaking, technical writing departments are one of the newer departments. Many “old school” managers grew up in a world where technical writing was just a task done “somewhere”.
Technical documentation is therefore not considered a direct management task for these managers. However, technical writing has become highly professionalized in the last 15 to 20 years. The tasks have also become more complex and diverse. From the perspective of the writing department, there is therefore an increased need for management.
It is thus a strategic task for the technical writing department to become more visible with their services in the company. However, this is not easy, as the documentation is often only seen as a mandatory requirement: a product cannot enter the market without it, but it also – supposedly – makes no contribution to the success of the product. From a management perspective, it is therefore important to keep this cost pool as low as possible.
This shows that there are two approaches that make it easier to justify funding. Either an investment reduces the costs for the existing documentation requirements or it generates a benefit that did not previously exist or has not yet been viewed systematically.
Technical writing departments also need to significantly increase their visibility in the company. Because, of course, technical documentation is much more than just an unavoidable cost pool. Technical documentation can in fact contribute to reducing costs itself, such as by preventing support costs or training costs. The function of providing legal protection for the company in case of product damage is also a cost-saving measure in the widest sense, as the documentation stands in contrast to the costs for insurance policies and claims.
In addition to reducing costs, technical writing departments also contribute to the success of a company. They provide material that makes the sales department’s work easier and support the marketing team with their content. They play an important role in the knowledge management of the company and continuously ensure that data from other sources is checked for validity as part of their work. Technical writing departments also take care of terminology management within the company.
Once a writing department has systematically collated its benefits and evaluated them in the company context, management should of course be made aware of the value of an investment. This is easiest if the investment results in cost savings. However, it is not enough just to claim savings: they must also be measurable.
As an argumentation basis for management, it makes sense to clearly demonstrate how an investment changes the way you work and how this can reduce costs. Ideally, you should be able to determine a point in time when the investment has paid for itself through the savings generated and is therefore starting to earn money for the company.
It is also helpful if benefits such as time savings or quality improvements can be expressed in terms of costs. What does it cost a company if a delivery is delayed because the manual still isn’t finished? How expensive is it to reprint a handbook because passages were translated incorrectly? Such points and others convince budget managers that an investment is profitable for a company.
Unfortunately, it is common for funding not to be approved despite plausible cost-benefit calculations. That may be due to the decision-maker not being convinced that the desired investment will work as planned, for example. But even then all is not lost.
It provides a good starting point to demonstrate that an investment fits into the overall corporate strategy and makes a significant contribution to this. A CMS makes an important contribution to the digitalization strategy of a company, for example. Translation memory systems or machine translation help with globalization. Terminology systems can help with the visibility of the company brand and the products. This puts your investment into a broader context, making it easier to approve.
However, you can also create a broader context yourself by considering how the planned investment will benefit other departments. Can the product data sheets now also be published in the online shop thanks to the new CMS? Are translated quick guides perhaps a good argumentation aid for sales in markets for which little marketing material can be produced?
There are many such examples of how additional benefits can be achieved in a company with product documentation. The more departments that are in favor of an investment, the more important it is to the company. This in turn can often lead to the budget being found.