You are at the right place!
Greetings.
You’re probably wondering…
- Who is this guy? Who am I? and
- Why do I have this website or what services I provide?
These two questions are important. The answers to these questions are all the more important to you and me as well.
Who am I?
And, the answer is…
I am a technical communicator, mentor, coach, leader, content strategist, trainer, and consultant. My passion is technical communication. I have worked in the technical communication field for more than 32+ years, of which I have spent more than fifteen years in leadership positions.
During my employment I have been leading and managing documentation projects, providing quality documentation services to IT industries while focusing on domains like storage, quality systems, networking, security, healthcare, banking, manufacturing, and so on.
Recently, I was employed with HCL Technologies as Group Manager. I was responsible for strategy, operations, customer relations, and getting new business/clients.
I also spent time creating a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Technical Communications.
In September 2018, I founded the Institute for Technical Communicators of India (ITCI) Facebook group. ITCI is a non-profit social group engaged in promoting technical communication.
Prior to joining the software industry, I had multi-disciplinary experience across various fields including journalism, corporate communications, public relations, training, and management. So, I have gotten a taste of how various aspects of communication, mass communication and technical communication function.
I have been associated with Society for Technical Communication (STC), a global organization engaged in promoting technical communication for more than 20+ years. I have worked with the STC India Chapter since its inception. I served as the President of the STC India chapter in 2013. I have contributed to a wide array of roles during the span of 20+ years. In 2018,
I was honored with the Fellow rank, the highest honor conferred upon a technical communicator by STC.
I completed my post-graduate degree in Communications and Journalism from Pune University. Later, I acquired my Masters in Business Administration. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Fergusson College. Additionally, I have also pursued my studies in computers, English literature, and the German language.
I began my career as a technical writer and ultimately became a leader. I led technical communication units and teams. On the technical side, I led teams as a Content Strategist or Principal Technical Communicator. I’ve made the transition from technical communicator to manager and beyond (Head – Documentation, Business Head, Group Manager, and so on).
By general standards, I’ve been successful considering the struggles involved to grow in the technical communication field, and yet, I got very little help along the way. By that, I mean, I got very little help that would have made the transition to technical or management roles easier.
Primarily, that was because there are only a few folks who are available and who really understand what a technical communicator goes through when they have to transition to either technical or leadership roles. Technical communicators either make the transition successfully or at times stagnate in their careers.
There were engineers, technical managers, and senior managers who would teach me about project management, schedules, budgets, and operations. But, these still can be learned with some help. No one was there to teach me what I really needed to know to make management “comfortable” for me, as a technical communicator or technical writer.
There was no one there then who was willing to discuss the “transition” to technical or managerial career paths.
And, while I was lucky enough to get the assignments and be successful at them, I had to make the trip pretty much on my own, so to speak.
I was able to build teams. I was able to turn projects and teams around, even in situations where others had failed. Somehow, I learned on my own how to motivate myself and team members, and move them to achieve results.
And, I began to help those who worked for me make the transition to the roles of their interest. I began to groom technical communicators to take on their own major projects. Some got excellent opportunities. and some even started on their own.
Why do I have this website or what services I provide?
And, the answer is…
From these results, I started telling myself – I want to guide aspiring technical communicators, freshers, and experienced technical communicators to have a rewarding career. I want to help them achieve their career goals. I want to tell them how to do it because I felt I understood what they needed to know and that no one was telling them.
Hence, I decided to embark on a consulting, mentoring, and training career. I decided that it was important for me to get what I considered to be my message out to technical communicators.
Thus, I have started my consulting, mentoring, and training services, my main interest has been in grooming technical communicators to have successful long-term careers.
I also help aspiring technical communicators who want to make a smooth transition from other domains. careers or professions to technical communication.
The message of this website is really my message. It’s based on my experience, and on my ideas about what works and what doesn’t work in technical communication. It’s about the personal development of the technical communicator required to become a truly successful technical communicator in an organization.
You won’t find me providing the typical training or theory classes or sharing information that are already available everywhere on the Internet. If that is what you want, there are plenty of good websites, blogs that you can visit that will provide that kind of information. That’s not me. I definitely have an opinion developed over a long career. I have strategies that work in a wide variety of situations. They have worked for me and they have worked for the people I’ve trained or mentored. This is not about theory. This is about the practical or the real-world or the industry scenario.
On this website, my message will consist of my programs, my ideas, my experiences, and my suggestions. Try them out. If they work, please come back. If they don’t work then please feel free to let me know. I encourage you to ask me specific questions. This can and will be a powerful learning process. And that’s what we do as technical communicators. We learn and we apply what we learn. You may have learnt the science or art or any subject of your interest. Now, with your interest in technical communication, it is the time to learn about the science and art of technical communication.
Thus, my message consists of three parts:
- I help anyone aspiring for a career in technical communication.
- I help freshers or newbies be productive as technical communicators in their organization.
- I help experienced technical communicators be better and more effective or make a smooth and effective transition to either technical or management roles.
All of these components are covered in my various programs.
More on this in future blogs.
Enjoy and wish you all success!
