Technical writing: the art of making complex technical content simple

Our technical writing skills make your technical documentation accurate and useful in every language

Technical writing is used to produce highly complex documents and texts, such as guidelines, instructions, manuals and procedures.

The idea of this service is to convey complex concepts in a clear, simple, schematic and coherent manner.

The technical writing of multilingual documents helps optimise our clients’ business processes.

If you need a manual, a procedure or any other technical document and you are looking for a single supplier to produce it for you, including:

• technical writing of content
• Desktop Publishing
• graphics, illustrations and printing
• multi-channel dissemination of results,

our technical publishing department can manage every single stage of your project!

We also like to emphasise the fact that we have technical writers worldwide, who are all authentic native linguists able to produce technical documentation directly in the language of the target audience. This is a further guarantee of accurate terminology and technical expertise in local markets.

Technical writing process

Preparation

The first phase of the work is an in-depth analysis, through which the writers define the communication style that will be used for the writing and organise the content in such a way as to create a modular structure for the reuse of similar and repetitive parts.

In this phase, the writers study the functioning of the product or process to be documented, identify the client’s needs and receive instructions on possible industry regulations to be applied. This is done by means of interviews and meetings with the client to obtain reference material.

In addition, upon request, the editorial department researches external information i.e., content from the web and from archives that do not belong to the client, in order to gain a better understanding of the working environment or to benchmark against competitors.

Finally, the information acquired and the instructions received from the client are gathered in the form of Writing Rules, which are then approved by the client.

Innovative consultancy

Before proceeding with the actual writing, SMG can provide a further consultancy service, which goes beyond the mere writing of the original message provided by the client and aims to identify possible new ideas, procedures or technologies.

Publishing and ancillary services

Once the priorities and work programme have been defined with the client, the actual technical writing begins.

To complement the technical writing, our team produces on-demand technical illustrations, graphics and multimedia creations that accompany the text and enhance its multi-channel effectiveness. As the work progresses, we submit drafts to the client for approval, thus avoiding massive final corrections.

Finally, our writing service can also be combined with DTP, translation, printing and public sharing, for a complete, turnkey solution.

Periodic updates

The valorisation of corporate knowledge is not limited to the mere drafting of documentation. Indeed, technical texts need continuous updating to ensure they are always aligned to the specific requirements of the context in which the client operates, which demands precious time that is hard to find. SMG Languages assures you:

• Constant updating of content to keep it in line with innovations to the client’s product/process and possible regulatory changes;
• A help desk service for collecting user complaints and queries, using a ticketing system;
• Training for users of the manuals/procedures drafted.

For more details, visit our page on language consultancy!

Beyond technical writing: the benefits of an external consultant

In addition to the technical expertise offered by our team with a direct presence in multiple countries, using external consultants such as SMG has additional benefits, especially in the medium to long term.

Another point of view

First of all, an external consultant can provide an unbiased assessment of the existing information system and thus more easily identify any inefficiencies. External consultation can bring new perspectives and identify redundancies and procedures that could benefit from simplification.

Lightening the workload and responsibility

A consultant brings in the necessary skills to complete the project faster than the client’s internal teams, who may have other responsibilities to fulfil. In fact, an external team reduces the pressure on corporate departments by taking over time-consuming analysis and research activities, in addition to writing.

This reduces the commitments and responsibilities of internal departments, which are free to concentrate on day-to-day tasks while maintaining full control of the work.

Project continuity: words create reality!

The centralised management of technical writing makes it easier to update all documents over time.

Furthermore, by taking care of help desk management and staff training, SMG will make technical writing a team effort: employees will be able to use this system to request or propose solutions regarding issues in their daily tasks.

This innovation can become the backbone of continuous training, knowledge retention in the company and, consequently, its operational success.