Dana Aubin, Comtech Services
August 15, 2023
In a recent CIDM Roundtable, we gathered to discuss where technical writers belong within the enterprise. To start the meeting, I shared that this question reminded me of a book from my childhood, Flap Your Wings by P. D. Eastman. In the book, a boy finds an egg on the bank. Seeing an empty nest in a tree, the boy assumes that is where the egg should be. When mama and papa bird return to their nest, they are surprised to find a strange egg, but they decide to nurture it. Eventually the egg hatches, and out pops a baby alligator. Despite its odd appearance, mama and papa bird feed their baby, and feed it, and feed it. And the baby alligator grows…and grows…and grows until it no longer fits in the nest. Mama and papa bird try to teach the no-longer-a-baby alligator how to fly, but it falls…and falls…and falls until…splash! The alligator lands in the water and lives happily ever after.
In this story, the technical writers are the alligator egg. Like the boy, companies often don’t know quite what technical writers do, so they put them in a nest, or a department, that seems to make the most sense. 
As in the story, the technical writers experience benefits and drawbacks regardless of where they are located. Unlike the story, technical writing teams never seem to find their permanent home—they are moved again…and again…and again.
So where do technical writers belong? During the roundtable discussion, members shared that their technical writing teams have been part of numerous departments including R&D, engineering, support, QA, and marketing. Also, technical writers from various departments have been merged into a centralized documentation team, and then decentralized to align smaller technical writing teams to the departments with which they work most closely.
“I’ve been all over the map with different companies. I’ve always thought of technical documentation as a function of engineering—as part of the product.”
So where do technical writers belong? During the roundtable discussion, members shared that their technical writing teams have been part of numerous departments including R&D, engineering, support, QA, and marketing. Also, technical writers from various departments have been merged into a centralized documentation team, and then decentralized to align smaller technical writing teams to the departments with which they work most closely.
“I have whiplash…we were under product, but we went through centralization/decentralization more times than I can possibly remember and the best result out of that one was a hybrid. It’s great having your technical writers having their own identity organization, but they do need to work together with their developers.”
Members shared some of the advantages and disadvantages of each location. One member pointed out that the best location depends on the type of company; for example, technical writers at software companies work closely with engineering, but at hardware companies, technical writers work closely with professional services including support.
We were surprised to learn that two members are part of Product Experience at their companies. This department was new to most of us and consists of “remarkably the same” groups at both companies—technical writers, UX designers and writers, localization, design systems, and the platform team.
From our conversation, most members are currently part of R&D and seemed to agree that a hybrid model in which technical writers are embedded with engineering but also part of a centralized content organization is the best arrangement. Being embedded with engineering has the possibility of job grades, compensation, and career paths aligned with engineering.
“Being in R&D is the best place overall. It doesn’t always mean it’s perfect or easy, but it’s our best opportunity. We are with development, we are creating that product or customer experience, and we do work with user experience teams as well. So, in my experience, it seems to be the best place and the best chance of success.”
See you later alligator!