Embracing Lean: A Few Thoughts I often come across companies that think they operate Lean, but upon...
In today's business world, the importance of lean documentation cannot be overstated.
But why does something as dry as 'documentation' form the basis of a well-running business? And how does documentation influence the culture of your company?
The Problem with No Documentation or Traditional Documentation
Without documentation, businesses face a myriad of challenges. And boy, have I seen these challenges manifest time after time. Misalignment between teams becomes a common issue as no single source of truth guides operations. This lack of clarity can lead to inefficiencies, errors, and inconsistencies in performing tasks.
A lack of appropriate documentation creates a culture of 'heroes' or single points of failure in the business - individuals with exclusive knowledge about specific processes. When these individuals are absent or leave the organisation, their knowledge goes with them, creating operational risks.
Traditional documentation often falls into the trap of becoming overly detailed and complex, wasting resources and time. Sometimes, the information it contains is outdated when a comprehensive document is completed. This results in a lack of use and trust in the documentation, so the documents aren't used daily.
Some organisations incorrectly believe that spending time on documenting is time wasted. However, spending time 'upstream' documenting key processes leads to greater productivity and reduced risk downstream.
The Lean Approach to Documentation
The lean approach to documentation addresses these issues by focusing on creating clear, concise, and useful documents that provide value to the user. It's about eliminating unnecessary information and focusing on what truly matters. This approach saves time and resources and improves the overall user experience leading to a greater chance of adoption.
Key Principles of Lean Documentation
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Eliminate the Need: If a product, service, or feature is not being used or is considered wasteful, there's no need to document it. This principle encourages us to simplify our processes and products, reducing the need for extensive documentation.
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Show, Don't Tell: Visuals, process maps and videos are more engaging and effective than text-heavy documents. They can convey complex ideas more straightforwardly and understandably.
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Target Value: Prioritize documenting the processes that provide the most value. This could be areas of risk, common mistakes, or high-impact customer interactions.
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Normalize or Not at All: If a document is not being used regularly, it's likely to become outdated. Therefore, documentation should be part of the daily routine or not done at all.
Process Ownership and Continuous Improvement
One crucial aspect of lean documentation is the assignment of process ownership. Each documented process should have a designated owner responsible for maintaining and updating the process documentation. This ensures accountability and provides a clear point of contact for any questions or concerns related to the process.
Team members should be encouraged to report any errors they encounter or suggest improvements to the process. The process owner can then review the feedback and make necessary updates to the documentation. This approach promotes a culture of continuous improvement, where everyone feels empowered to contribute to improving the process.
Once updates are made, the process owner is responsible for disseminating the new information to the team. This ensures that everyone is kept up-to-date with the latest process changes, further promoting alignment and consistency across the team.
Impacts on Team Collaboration
When challenges arise, it is natural for us to seek someone to blame. However, when we have clear documentation of our processes it opens the door for a constructive discussion about what went wrong and how we can make improvements.
From a psychological standpoint, it is easier to view the issue as a flaw in the process rather than a personal failure. This mindset promotes a collaborative environment, leading to enhanced teamwork, a reduction of fear and more successful outcomes.
Tools for Lean Documentation
In lean documentation, the right tools can make all the difference. They can help teams locate documents, collaborate effectively, and avoid unnecessary complexity.
Slite is an example of a tool that I have found helpful for documentation. It enables collaborating on documents and communicating asynchronously. One of the strengths of Slite is its simplicity. Unlike traditional tools like Word, or Google Docs, Slite maintains a consistent style and focuses on critical features. This simplicity encourages users to keep documentation simple.
Slite offers better search capabilities, making it easy for team members to find the necessary information. Unlike traditional tools, documents are easier to organise and find based on keywords in the content.
Its real-time collaboration features help ensure team members can easily contribute to the documentation process, promoting a culture of shared knowledge and continuous improvement.
Whatever tool you choose, by making documentation easy to access, update, and collaborate on, tools encourage all team members to participate in the process. This can help break down knowledge silos, reduce the reliance on 'heroes', and ensure everyone has the information they need to do their jobs effectively.
Conclusion
Lean documentation is about reducing the volume of documents and creating valuable, user-friendly, and up-to-date documentation. It's about understanding the user's needs and delivering information in a way that is easy to understand and apply. By adopting a lean approach to documentation, businesses can improve their processes, enhance customer satisfaction, and save valuable resources.
In a world where change is the only constant, lean documentation provides a pathway for businesses to stay agile, informed, and ready for whatever comes next. It fosters a culture of continuous improvement, where everyone is encouraged to contribute to refining processes, leading to better outcomes for all.
So how does your organisation think about documentation? And are your documents referenced daily, or do they sit in a folder gathering dust? Is your organisation ready to take the next step in effective management?
