Are you involved with, or considering, agile development? Are you interested in technical writing outsourcing? Learn from our experts how to effectively combine these approaches. Presented by: Barry Saiff - Founder and CEO, Saiff Solutions, Inc. Fred Williams - Founder and CEO, Williams Technical Gaile Milanbilen - Technical Writer, Saiff Solutions, Inc.

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2. AGENDA
➢Introducing our experts
➢Your experience: Agile? Technical Writing Outsourcing (TWO)?
➢TWO: Myths, Successes, Success factors, Risks
➢Where do technical writers fit in an Agile environment?
➢Case study discussion: Coordination
➢Your questions and comments
➢LavaCon Las Vegas 2016 discount: 70% off

3. Barry Saiff
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Technical communications leader
32 years of technical documentation experience
Led writing teams at 6 US companies
Founded Saiff Solutions, Inc. in 2011
Provides content development to Fortune 500
companies in Japan & US

4. FRED WILLIAMS
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Founder of Williams Technical
Offers Agile communication, training, and
consulting
Creator of the free online Technical Writing
Course at Wikiversity (Google top 10)
Featured speaker:
• Global Scrum Gathering, 2016
• Agile Europe, 2016

5. Gaile Milanbilen
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Employed by Saiff Solutions for almost 3 years
Currently working as a Technical Writer in an
Agile environment, for a US-based client
Completed technical writing projects for
multiple multinational clients, using various
tools and content management systems

6. DISCUSSION: What is Your Experience with
Agile and Technical Writing Outsourcing?
Have you experienced (Y = Yes, N = No, N/A = Not applicable):
1. Working in an Agile development environment?
2. Working with writers in another country?
3. Being involved in a decision to outsource?
4. A well-crafted outsourcing plan?
5. A poorly-implemented outsourcing plan?
6. Outsourced technical writing in an Agile environment?
7. Technical writing one sprint behind development?
8. Technical writing on the same sprint as development?
9. What else??
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7. OUTSOURCINGMYTHS
Which do you believe about TWO?
• TWO results in low quality
• TWO always leads to layoffs
• Whether or not TWO happens is up to me
• All TWO situations ____________
(= for example, All corporations are bad)
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8. OUTSOURCING
SuccessesWhat happens when TWO works well?
• Effective global collaboration
• Learning
• Process Improvement
• Improved quality
• Improved morale
• Reduced costs
• Increased global
responsiveness
• Productivity improvements
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9. Carefully choose country:
- Consider language, infrastructure, labor pool.
- #1 country in business English: Philippines
(http://www.globalenglish.com/business_english_index)
TWO: KEY SUCCESS
FACTORS
Carefully choose provider.
Consider process maturity first.
Start with a low-risk pilot project.
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10. TWO IMPLEMENTATION:
When outsourcing goes wrong, it can be due to any of the
following issues:
RISKS
Location Function INCLUSI
ON
Languag
e
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EXPERIE
NCE
LEVEL
Culture Competenc
y
Management

11. • IF work > # writers, perhaps due to the
demands of Agile…
• IF some development/QA has moved
overseas…
• IF your scarce resource is
management/training…
• IF you are using TWO, and processes are
inadequate to support distributed teams…
• IF _______________
How can combining TWO and agile help
you?
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12. Source: http://www.pmdocuments.com/2012/09/15/agile-scrum-roles-and-responsibilities/
Agile Roles and
Responsibilities:
Where do tech writers fit in?
towerswatson.com
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13. Case Study: COORDINATION
Background: The developers started before technical writers got involved.
So, it is not possible for the writers to work on the same things on the same
sprint schedule as development and QA.
Issue: How can the writers best participate? Should they skip documenting
portions already developed and jump into the team sprint schedule? Or,
devise their own sprint schedule, matching the team in dates but differing in
content? Or another approach?
What do you, as Documentation
Manager, do?
Let’s discuss.
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14. Questions & comments!
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15. Do you have questions about technical writing outsourcing?
About Agile? Do you need help with writing? Training for
your technical writers or Agile development teams?
Saiff Solutions can help.
Can we help you?
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16. Type LAVACON if you’d like us to contact you to set up a private conversation,
AND a chance to get a 70% discount on your LavaCon Las Vegas registration.
LavaCon is the premier conference on content strategy and tech comm management, across a
wide range of industries.
LavaCon Las Vegas takes place October 25-28, 2016.
70% OFF REGISTRATION!
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17. Email: barrysaiff@saiffsolutions.com
Skype: SaiffSolutions
Contact: +1 415 350 2959
+63 917 872 0929
Web: www.saiffsolutions.com
CONTact US!
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