Jonathan LeeBusiness Development Manager| Symphony Communication Services LLCSingapore, Singapore, Singapore
It's often said that as an organization moves towards an Agile methodology, there is less focus on documentation and more on collaboration. Still, it doesn't mean that documentation isn't necessary at all.
How does one decide how much documentation is "sufficient", without falling into the temptation of over-documenting (if that is even possible)? Saving Changes...
Peter RapinSubject Matter Expect; Project Delivery| Independent ConsultantOntario, Canada
Let's take a step back - what is documentation?
1) ALL that is recorded whether in writing, on tape, on video, in drawings, computer printouts, drawings, emails, plans, notes, minutes, studies, opinions, recorded observations, personal notes from phone conversations, etc., etc,
2) ONLY documents that are specifically identified as having post-project value' or
3) a combination of both?
Typically documentation is comprised of three tasks 1) creating, including measurement, 2) actual recording and 3) storage or filing allowing for recovery. All these tasks require effort. You can do none, some or all, ]you can't do 2) or 3) without 1)]
As example; a meeting is task 1), minutes of meeting including sign-off being task 2) and electronic or hard copy filing is task 3).
When making decisions as to documentation you have to consider all three documentation tasks. Do you hold meetings but not record? Do you record but not file?
Do you measure outputs, record and file or only measure?
Do the stakeholders expect you to measure and report the measured values or just confirmation that you measured? or are they satisfied with your commitment to measure without specific confirmation?
I guess what I'm saying is that documentation is complex and you have to have a Documentation Plan. That in itself is documentation. Saving Changes...
It depends: if it’s a highly regulated industry err towards more documentation. If it’s not you don’t need crazy details, but you should be able to show some attempt at where you’re going and what you did Saving Changes...
Jonathan LeeBusiness Development Manager| Symphony Communication Services LLCSingapore, Singapore, Singapore
Thanks everyone for the perspectives. Still, never an obvious answer to this one. In some teams, I've observed chat messages & email threads to be acceptable forms of documentation, in others, wiki pages and for some others, multi-page documents. Saving Changes...
