The One on Documentation
It’s not a task. It’s a culture.
College, 2007. Two of my classmates stroll into class empty-handed. The professor asked them where their notebooks were, saw two blank faces and immediately asked them to leave.
Corporate office, circa 2017. A meeting group ushers into a room. A few walk in with coffee mugs, some are busy on their phones, and almost everyone is hoping someone is taking notes. But nobody does.
Blame it on our age and times, perhaps, but the habit of writing things down is becoming a rare one.
Not due to lack of advice to pursue it, though. From my first internship till right about today, I have been subjected to a constant cacophony on the benefits of writing and documenting. And yet, most workplaces fail to inculcate this in their day to day affairs.
It’s more than just writing one-pagers
While the workforce may constantly dish out detailed and well-formatted documents, they are of little value unless someone reads them.
And when I said the habit of writing is a rare one, I forgot to add that the habit of reading is nearing extinction.
So, most people don’t read what’s been written and ask the writers questions that have already been answered. When they direct these folks to the document, the inquirers smirk and mumble, “Oh! That would take a lot of time”.
To which, the writers huff, “If I got the time to write it, you better take out time to read up!”, but only in their heads. And then they spend the next hour restating everything.
A small step to a rewarding cycle
When people start reading, a few great things happen.
The writers are rewarded with the luxury to spend lesser time in evangelizing their thoughts. Also, they get constant feedback which eventually helps them chisel their own thoughts too.
The readers benefit in turn — it is a virtuous cycle. With better engagement, writers start putting more effort into making their writing more amenable to consumption. They also start focusing on storage and organization of their documents. Goes without saying that for a document to serve its purpose, it needs to be logically, and quickly, accessible from a horde of shared files.
All in all, putting things down is only a step in the right direction towards a culture of documentation. The entire ecosystem has to work together to imbibe it into the organization ethos.
So, the next time you are vigorously typing away your notes, remember to go that extra mile and read what others have written as well.
If you have reached all the way to the bottom, would love to hear your thoughts, in agreement or otherwise, in the comments!
