If I had to pick just one area I’m passionate about as a leader and a teammate, it is the push for technical writers to see themselves as key contributors within the product team. Quite often, documentation can be treated by some functions as an afterthought – it’s not a problem until it’s a problem. That is something I have never been willing to accept, and I’ve constantly encouraged writers I’ve worked with not to accept it either.

I’ve heard colleagues use the phrase “I’m just a writer” to justify staying silent and accepting late feedback, unreasonable requests, or a general lack of professional courtesy from the many cross-functional teams that writers collaborate with daily. I don’t accept that in my teams. I’ve seen that with the right encouragement, technical writers can evolve and add value in areas not considered to be within our wheelhouse.

It is an exciting time to be a content engineer; just think of the various areas where we can contribute: UX, Content Strategy, GenAI search, Prompt Engineering, API

Documentation, Docs as Code initiatives. Still think you’re “just a writer”?

Think again.

The current head of HPE Hybrid Cloud and CTO is Fidelma Russo. Anytime I’ve heard her speak, her honesty always resonates. She delivers very simple messages that you can apply to any role. So, if you’re not willing to take career advice from me, take it from Fidelma instead: ‘‘Don’t sit in the background. Say what you need to say. Sit at the table...your career is your own.’’