Projects have a way of snowballing so fast we are almost to the end of them before we get a chance to look back and see what we have accomplished. Our brains are buzzing with all the tiny pieces of information crucial to the task at hand (as well as some totally extraneous stuff we could do just as well letting go of) but we have no system with which to order them. Documentation provides the frame-work we need to sift through what we have gathered, take what we need and discard the rest.
It is all too easy to let the project take on a life of its own and the end goal gets lost in the immediacy of new ideas and appealing diversions. Documentation calls us to task, reminds us of the reason we started the project in the first place and forces clarity of purpose and a sense of accountability.
As long as all we are doing is talking, it’s easy to assume we are all in agreement. Words are seldom scrutinized in conversation and group members may feel they have a unity of purpose about the project at hand. Documentation insists upon a deeper commitment on the part of each team member because people naturally take the written word seriously. When goals and plans are written down, they automatically acquire weight and stature. No one wants to put their name to something they cannot stand by. Commitment is a natural corollary to documentation. |
