6 Stakeholders Tech Writers Rely On (and How to Win Them Over)
Knowing what stakeholders need – and how to work with them – can make or break your docs. Master collaboration to excel as a technical writer.
Technical writers don’t work alone. They connect engineering, product, marketing, support, and legal teams to ensure clear, accurate documentation. But each group has different priorities.
This article offers a quick look at key stakeholders and how to collaborate effectively. Of course, roles vary across companies, and no stereotype fits everyone. The best approach? Get to know the person behind the title and ask how they prefer to work. With that in mind, here are some practical tips for working with six essential teams in your organization.
Developers
Why They Matter
Developers create the software, APIs, and features that technical writers document. They have deep technical knowledge but often lack the time (or patience) to explain everything in detail.
Challenges
Developers focus on code. They might assume too much technical knowledge.
They work in fast-paced sprints, meaning documentation can become outdated quickly.
Many developers prefer coding over writing, so extracting information can be tough.
Tips for working together
✔ Be proactive: Sit in on sprint meetings, read commit messages, and explore code directly.
✔ Use structured questions: Instead of “Can you explain this feature?”, ask “What inputs, outputs, and edge cases should users know?”
✔ Integrate into their workflow: Use the same tools: GitHub, AsciiDoc, Slack to minimize friction.
✔ Provide templates: Help developers contribute by offering simple AsciiDoc or Markdown templates for documentation.
Product Managers
Why They Matter
Product managers (PMs) define what gets built and why. They decide feature priorities and ensure alignment with business goals.
Challenges
PMs focus on high-level strategy, not the details of implementation.
They may overpromise features before they’re fully developed.
Documentation is often an afterthought in product roadmaps.
Tips for working together
✔ Get involved early: Join roadmap planning meetings to understand upcoming features.
✔ Clarify feature intent: Ask why a feature exists, not just how it works.
✔ Advocate for documentation: Remind PMs that good docs reduce support tickets and improve adoption.
✔ Align release notes with docs: Ensure marketing and documentation messages are consistent.
UX Designers
Why They Matter
UX designers shape how users interact with a product. Great documentation complements a great user experience, reduces friction and increases engagement.
Challenges
UX teams focus on visuals and interactions, while technical writers focus on text and clarity.
Inconsistent terminology between UI design and documentation can confuse users.
Design changes happen rapidly, making it hard to keep documentation updated.
Tips for working together
✔ Use the same terminology: Ensure UI labels and documentation match exactly.
✔ Request design previews: Reviewing prototypes early helps you plan docs before the UI is finalized.
✔ Embed help text wisely: Collaborate on tooltips, microcopy, and embedded guides to enhance usability.
✔ Create a shared glossary: Standardized language reduces confusion across teams.
Marketing
Why They Matter
Marketing teams focus on branding, positioning, and discoverability. They ensure documentation aligns with the company’s voice and helps attract users.
Challenges
Marketing prioritizes engagement metrics, while technical writing prioritizes accuracy and clarity.
Search Engine Optimization may conflict with technical accuracy.
Marketing teams prefer storytelling, whereas documentation must be factual and concise.
Tips for working together
✔ Use SEO insights: Work with marketing to identify keywords that improve documentation discoverability.
✔ Balance clarity and engagement: Ensure content is useful first, engaging second.
✔ Coordinate with release announcements: Ensure that documentation aligns with feature launches.
✔ Promote docs as a resource: Help marketing teams use documentation as a conversion tool.
Customer Support
Why They Matter
Support teams interact directly with users. They know common pain points, FAQs, and missing documentation better than anyone.
Challenges
Support teams may lack time to provide detailed documentation feedback.
They often create ad hoc knowledge base articles, leading to inconsistencies.
Documentation updates might not reach them quickly enough.
Tips for working together
✔ Analyze support tickets: Identify patterns and update documentation to prevent repeat issues.
✔ Make docs easy to reference: Provide quick links for support agents to share.
✔ Host feedback loops: Regularly review support insights to improve documentation.
✔ Encourage contributions: Allow support teams to suggest edits or flag unclear sections.
Legal & Compliance
Why They Matter
Legal teams ensure that documentation aligns with regulatory requirements, intellectual property laws, and privacy policies.
Challenges
Legal language is often complex and rigid, conflicting with plain-language documentation.
Compliance reviews can delay releases.
Legal teams prioritize risk, while technical writers focus on user understanding.
Tips for working together
✔ Involve legal early: Don’t wait until the last minute for compliance reviews.
✔ Use plain language: Work together to make legal disclaimers clear and accessible.
✔ Clarify approval workflows: Define a clear review process to avoid bottlenecks.
✔ Automate compliance checks: Use tools to flag non-compliant language in documentation drafts.
Making Cross-Team Collaboration Work
Each stakeholder group brings unique priorities to documentation. As a technical writer, your role is to align everyone’s goals while ensuring clear, effective content.
To work efficiently across teams, start by communicating early and often to prevent last-minute surprises. Act as a translator, converting technical jargon into user-friendly explanations that bridge the gap between developers, product managers, marketing, and other stakeholders. Stay adaptable, as every team operates differently, and flexibility is key to maintaining a smooth workflow.
It’s a demanding role, requiring both precision and clarity. After all, as Nathaniel Hawthorne put it:
Easy reading is damn hard writing.
