How to Write an Operational Guide for Highly Technical People

When you are faced with the opportunity to write an operational guide for technical people. You have to step out of your way of thinking and think of things in a more structured way. Unless you are able to explain how a well oiled machined works you may want to just stick with the steps to make it run. Many technically people over think situations and their solutions. What this means is that they tend to add steps to make something more logical. When writing your manual you will want to leave nothing to guess work.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

1. First there are some basic steps to follow regarding format. Your Font size should always be 12 -14 pt. the standard size of paper used is 8.5 x 11. Use standard margins, headers and footers. Character spacing should be normal. Single spaced lines unless separating paragraphs.
   
   Use commonly used symbols including commonly used symbols for work specific chapters.
2. Organize chapters and functions so they flow together with ease. it is important to understand that any guesswork will cause a technical person to disregard the manual.
   
   Just keep in mind what is the next most logical step.
3. If you use tables, they should enhance and further explain your steps. Do not make them feel as though they are learning something new. When writing standard operating procedures make sure that you take in to consideration that some may already know more about the procedures.
4. Most importantly and the last step I have to offer is to make sure that you have at least one very (highly) technical writer. this way they can add the needed terminology to the manual that will tie all the other need steps together.

Tips & Warnings

• Only use pictures when it shows better than the words the desired result.