Docs or It Didn't Happen

On your job, how many times have you been asked for the documentation to back up your decision or your work? Well, here is why documentation is so important when it comes to work.

1. Provides guidance to someone else if you are unable to do the task, such as when you are on vacation or maybe just too busy to get everything done or no longer with the company.
2. Helps to provide why something is done in a specific way.
3. Provides the necessary steps in a process to ensure that a business can continue to operate.

What is funny about writing this is so many individuals in IT don’t like writing documentation or even quick notes about why something is being done a specific way. I know that as someone that enjoys writing documentation, I normally get a very funny look when I say I love writing documentation. Yes, documentation can be a challenge to write, but in so many ways it is also enjoyable because you can help a department, or a business get the necessary notes down, so everyone is working the same way.

For various departments there are different needs for the documentation, but I do know that for IT departments it can the virtual process that needs to be done if the servers are compromised or if there is damage to the equipment and how does the department get everything up and running again because downed servers mean people aren’t able to get work done.

I have once heard someone say that “If I document what I do, it means that they can replace me easily, but if I don’t document stuff they need to keep me.” Well, that might sometimes work, but there are also the times that not documenting something can mean that you end up being a cost to the business, and you will be replaced. Knowing how to write the documents is also important because it can help others as well as yourself. If the document is good, you can even use it as a reference when you are doing a task that you don’t do frequently.

Docs or it didn’t happen is something that I have heard so often when talking to people, but these same people are the ones that don’t write the documentation. So, next time you are doing something think about the steps that you do and maybe make some notes even if it isn’t every step but at least it could remind you how to do something quickly or it could help someone else.