This post comes about from a conversation I had with a technical representative of a product I was working on yesterday. We were commenting on the different of an installation of software onto a Windows 2008 server when the representative said “I hate doing documentation, my documentation is in my head”. Now in IT that seems to be the norm. However, as I told the representative, “What if you go on vacation, get hit by a bus, or win the lottery? Who will know what to do?”
I explained that I could document the process for a small fee and he mentioned they would have a technical writer document the process.Really? Being in the IT field for almost 20 years when someone says they will document a process, it is like going for a root canal. The excuses flow. “I don’t have time for this, I’ll get to it later, I’ll get to this when I have some free time.” Make the time NOW while everything is fresh in your mind! After that cup of coffee or the bathroom break will cause forgetfulness to set in.
Whenever we find a better way to get something done, we need to share it, post it, document it. With social media pages we could post this “documentation” to pages so we can reference them from the “technical manual in the sky”, Google or Bing, Documentation is used to help others. I look at the effort as something to help me so I don’t get called when I am on vacation or so I can go on vacation. Documentation is not a four letter word. it is a 13 letter word.
We can help others with the important information we know. Think of it as something that can help someone at two in the morning. We have all been there when we really needed a small hint or the right pointer to clear an issue and if someone documented something, we could have been done hours ago. Lets help ourselves and others by doing our documentation.
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