Project Documentation Done Right

Kenneth has 14 years of healthcare experience in government and private industry. Over eight years of experience managing healthcare IT projects, operations, contracts, and personnel. His work experience includes project management, contracts and procurements, data analysis, claims adjudication, business writing, and business process modeling. Kenneth was certified in 2006 as a Project Management Professional.

  Knowledge Management   Lessons Learned   Risk Management  

Documentation is often the last thing on the project manager’s mind, but in reality a project will live or die by its documentation.

Two months before go live, do you remember all the tasks that were mentioned when the system transition was discussed during the requirements sessions? Do you remember how the training team is going to roll out its training? Or do you remember who said they were going to handle communication with vendors?

Without documentation throughout the project, team members are left not understanding processes or forgetting important requirements. Keep the following points in mind so that the documentation will not get lost in the whirlwind of project activity happening throughout the lifecycle of the project.

One Location
The documentation should all be stored in one location. That location must be accessible to anyone who needs to get to the documentation--and it needs to be easy to use. A complicated folder hierarchy or unclear directions on how to retrieve documents will only hinder the project team from accessing the documentation. And if they cannot get to the documentation, they will not bother with it. After all, their work on the project and the deadlines associated with that work are much more important than sifting through endless folders of document iterations trying to find the right process.

The location of the …

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