Technical Documentation and Process

Book excerpt: We live in an age of electronic interconnectivity, with co-workers across the hall and across the ocean, and managing meetings can be a challenge across multiple time zones and cultures. This makes documenting your projects more important than ever. In Technical Documentation and Process, Jerry Whitaker and Bob Mancini provide the background and structure to help you document your projects more effectively. With more than 60 years of combined experience in successfully documenting complex engineering projects, the authors guide you in developing appropriate process and documentation tools that address the particular needs of your organization. Features Strategies for documenting a project, product, or facility A sample style guide template—the foundation on which you can build documents of various types A selection of document templates Ideas for managing complex processes and improving competitiveness using systems engineering and concurrent engineering practices Basic writing standards and helpful references Major considerations for disaster planning Discussion of standardization to show how it can help reduce costs Helpful tips to manage remote meetings and other communications First-hand examples from the authors’ own experience Throughout, the authors offer practical guidelines, suggestions, and lessons that can be applied across a wide variety of project types and organizational structures. Comprehensive yet to the point, this book helps you define the process, document the plan, and manage your projects more confidently.