Importance of Individual Contributor Role

The role of a technical communicator is being diversified in today's corporate world. As the demand for expertise, work requirements, areas of focus are increasing day by day, there is a similar modulation in regards to the roles handled by technical communicators of today's industry. The mapping of writers to the specific project may not exist all the time as there is a demand for these writers to showcase the expertise not only to the particular project but also should be able to support other business areas and organizational level activities. With such changes evolving in the definition of the roles, individual contributor role has gained much significance and importance in recent times. This has proved beneficial as they support multiple roles within the organization.

The Individual contributors reporting structure is also quite different when compared to a technical communicator's reporting structure when he/she is part of a team. They report directly to the director or business head and are highly responsible for decision making, project planning, driving standards, translation processes, reviews and enforcing quality at each and every level of the project phase till the release of end product deliverables to customer. The Individual contributors work with multiple projects apart from playing a keen role towards social networking activities within the organization. Working with multiple projects require high level of communication skills with good interaction with managers, project leads, employees and also should be a go getter when it comes to gathering of information from these teams. IC's work with the global teams and are well experienced in handling the customers/clients. Self-motivation is another key strength behind these roles. Without motivation, it would become difficult to meet these challenges, deadlines and project expectations.

The driving force behind these writers need to be simply amazing and effective. Without a proper and well equipped driving force in the minds of these writers, nothing can be achieved. To reach the extra mile or to stay focussed, the ICs are always a step ahead of others and ensure to reach the target on time with effective collaboration, appropriate delivery and quality of work.