Specifications writing for engineers is essential to accomplish effectively.
Specifications writing for engineers serves several functions such as specifying how a design will be implemented and clarifying agreements on design goals and methods.
Additionally, specification writing can serve as a tutorial for new members of an engineering team or a starting point for other documents, including:
- Presentations
- Patent applications
- Technical manuals
- User guides
- Training scripts
Experts in this field believe one of the key aspects of successful specifications writing is knowing the audience. Content should be modified or expanded depending on the needs and expectations of the audience.
Audiences very often may not know the details of your ideas or product; or they may not know all of your names and acronyms. It even comes down to language itself, as your audience may not understand English well.
Assembling content is also a germane part of specifications writing. Finding in-house sources is a good place to start. These sources might include interviews with colleagues, industry journals and your own knowledge.
Consulting external sources is also important. These sources might include technical textbooks, competitors’ publications, the internet or even a library (remember those?).
It’s also important to estimate a schedule. In specification writing, engineers should start with an approximate schedule. Around 5% of total time should be for planning and assembling source material. Then the first draft/review should take up about 85% of total time. It’s crucial to make the first draft look like the finished document.
The final 10% of specification writing for engineers should be split between the second draft and finally identifying and fixing all errors and omissions.
Want to learn more? Tonex offers Specification Writing for Engineers Workshop, a 2-day course that introduces the principles that apply to effective specification writing. It is an interactive program reviewing good specification guideline, road maps, exercises, examples, case studies, group projects and discussions.
Tonex Specifications Writing Training has been developed to transfer the skills and expertise to those involved in producing and writing specifications. Developing a specification includes identification, organization, presentation and good writing techniques.
For more information, questions, comments, contact us.