Key Elements of an Effective Style Guide in the New Age.

Purpose: Is the current style guide helping our business? Does it give us an edge over our competitors in reaching out to people? Company executives ask these questions before allocating budgets and resources for the documentation team. A style guide is a rule-driven document that sets the parameters for consistency and acceptability of all written materials produced by an organization. But, is that the sole function of a style guide? This paper lays out key fundamentals of how to make an effective style guide and explores its benefits. The article also illustrates the process of developing a style guide in detail while satisfying the needs of the organization. Method: To understand the best practices in the industry, a comparative analysis of five style guides of global software companies was done. Further, an online survey was administered to the technical writing community to collect more information. To get first-hand feedback from professionals, seven technical writers were interviewed and discussions in online technical writing forums were facilitated. Result: In addition to generating document consistency, 82% of the survey participants concurred that an effective style guide helps in creating a distinct brand image. Word usage, new terminology, document formatting and meeting needs of global audience are important topics that need constant attention during designing a style guide. Conclusion: A style guide will have a successful impact when it is supported by management, incorporates broader inputs from all its beneficiaries, is integrated into the day-to-day operations, and is updated periodically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]