How to Prioritize Documentation: Managing Your Technical Writing Backlog

Technical writers often face the issue of backlogs. It so happens that even after working diligently for hours, the backlog list seems never-ending.  In addition, the burden of new release notes and maintenance requests further ceases the list from shrinking. If you are facing these issues, trust our experience, you’re not alone.

Very often technical writers forget about prioritizing the documents as everything seems equally important. However, three basic questions can help you prioritize your work effectively. If you have any queries, feel free to talk to our experts for guidance. We have decade-long experience in this field and can help you to clear your backlogs.

Three questions that help in technical documentation prioritization

Technical writers will always have work at hand which is considered urgent. That is how the nature of the work is. However, it is advised that you should take a step back from time to time to get a gist of the bigger picture. It is highly important to set a priority list of these urgent tasks with the highest priority ones at the top and the lowest ones at the bottom. That way, you can strategize your backlog better.

The three questions that will help you prioritize and make the list are:

Is there any pending legal or safety documentation?

Safety or legal documents should be placed at the top while preparing the priority list. These documents, if not completed on time, can lead to irreversible consequences. It is the first priority of any organization to enable the end-users to use their product safely. Tech writers should also ensure that the users are well-informed about the legalities. Therefore, these documents must be pushed to the highest priority section so that they are completed on time.

Do you have any documents pending that can have a financial impact?

Some documents can, directly or indirectly, affect the financial aspect of your organization. These documents must be handled with urgency. To illustrate, if there is a customer support document pending, it might either make the customers shift to an alternative product or lead to the creation of more tickets for the support team.

Are you supporting the soft spots of your organization?

Every organization has weak processes that need more support. The documents related to these areas should be marked as a priority.

If you are facing this issue again and again, then it is time for you to check the pace of the workflow. Sometimes the team members can also seem to contribute less due to changes in the existing authoring tool or documentation process. It is imperative to upskill your team regularly. 

At Metapercept, we have designed training courses based on the industry-readiness of professionals and custom requirements of organizations. These courses can increase the employability of participants and enable them to add value to the organization.

For queries, reach out to us! We are happy to help!