Jamie Roddy, Manager Technical Communications at Sabre Corporation, joins the Knowledgebase Ninjas Podcast to share her approach of recruiting and training technical writers, three key milestones to achieving high-quality documentation and the significance of agile reporting structure.

Key Facts

• Jamie’s LinkedIn
• Sabre Corporation website
• Jamie has a Master’s degree in Technical Communication from the University of North Texas
• Jamie has worked in the technical writing industry for more than a decade
• Jamie is a member of the Advisory Board at the University of North Texas
• Jamie is currently managing global technical communications at Sabre Corporation
• Sabre Corporation is a software company that serves the global travel industry

Key Takeaways

• At Sabre, Jamie is responsible for recruiting, training, and managing the team of global technical writers 
• Jamie’s technical support team consists of seventeen members 
• At Sabre, Jamie and her team ensure that the documentation process aligns with the product development lifecycle. They do it by achieving three key milestones:

1. 1. Scope lock: Where the new features of the product are defined 
   2. Code complete: Where the developers complete the coding and send the product for customer testing
   3. Release-ready: Where the product is ready to be released after the final gate review

• At Sabre, technical writers’ key KPIs are generating gate review, creating release notes, user guides, and streamlining online help
• Each technical writer is given a sense of ownership and freedom while creating a document. Jamie believes that this helps the technical writers to produce efficient work in a good working environment
• Sabre Corporation is not just about documentation; its core value as a software and technology company is to empower the global travel industry by providing a seamless, personalized travel plan 
• Jamie reveals that Sabre Corporations uses an agile reporting structure to ensure consistency in quality of the documentation 
• Jamie believes that experienced technical writing professionals can add quality to your documentation process. Hence, while recruiting, Jamie prefers to hire people with strong portfolios  
• The technical writers at Sabre Corporation are responsible for documenting and creating user manuals for a variety of products such as online travel guides, corporate booking tools, travel revenue management tool, and mobile itinerary tools, etc
• Sabre Corporation has different strategies for training the internal and external stakeholders;

1. 1. Internal audience: every employee gets the prompt questions and quizzes about the product, including expert developers and product owners
   2. External audience: is offered a development training program with accessible training modules and certification after completion 

• Jamie believes that openness to customers’ feedback and integrating that into the document improves a document’s quality

Jamie’s biggest influence

• Jamie’s team of technical writers at Sabre Corporation 
• Members of the Advisory Board at the University of North Texas 

What documentation-related advice would Jamie give to her 20-year-old self?

Don’t be afraid to utilize new chances. Take advantage of opportunities that come up in your life and build a strong network. 

“When I started my job at Sabre Corporation, I was too nervous and unsure about my career path. However, I quickly worked my way up to success with acting upon the right opportunities and networking.”

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