Don't document? You may be less efficient than you think. 

Community of Practice aims to improve processes, transparency, and attitudes around IT documentation

No one in my family has managed to re-create my late grandmother’s butterscotch pie. We’ve come close to approximating its taste and texture but never both. Why? My grandmother never wrote down a single recipe.

Incomplete, hard to find, or altogether missing documentation is consequential, potentially resulting in knowledge gaps, poor decision-making, faulty conclusions, and lost productivity. A 2022 study by Coveo, a search and personalization service company, found that IT employees spend half their day (4.2 hours) looking for trustworthy information. In a company of 5,000 employees, Coveo speculates, this equates to more than 4.7 million unproductive hours every year. It’s easy to see why, in a bid to find answers quickly, that software developers often turn to online communities like Stack Overflow or Reddit rather than lengthy or poorly organized documentation.

“Time is obviously a major part of documentation. It takes time and attention to write it, review it, and make sure it is accessible,” said Michael Madsen, IT Service Management (ITSM) Process Support & Disaster Recovery manager. Though time-consuming, he said “the long-term benefits of documentation are considerable.”

“Comprehensive documentation enhances an organization’s effectiveness by bridging gaps among teams, facilitating collaboration, and breaking down silos,” Madsen said.

To this end, a cross-functional team of University Information Technology (UIT) and Information Technology Services (ITS) staff members meets biweekly as a Documentation Community of Practice (CoP). CoPs are organized groups of people who share a common interest in a specific technical or business discipline. The  UIT/ITS Documentation CoP, established in January 2022 and chaired by Madsen, confers about strategies, policies, and procedures related to IT documentation. As document-related best practices, methodologies, and templates are developed, they’re advanced to UIT and ITS leadership for consideration.

Previous agenda items include developing a responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed (RACI) framework around UIT and  ITS documentation; compiling a referential glossary for key terms; identifying touchpoints for documentation use and production related to ITSM practices and processes; improving CoP engagement; cross-training opportunities; information security; storage locations; and creating a survey of UIT and ITS managers on the current state of IT documentation within their units.

Madsen said that in an IT organization, concise and readily accessible documentation:

• Outlines the requirements for a service or deliverable
• Provides a basis for service level agreements (SLAs)
• Supports project proposals
• Details each step involved in a process
• Helps users self-diagnose and solve IT-related problems
• Establishes information for troubleshooting a problem
• Captures institutional knowledge
• Enhances personal training, new hire training, and cross-training
• Assists in disaster recovery planning
• Reduces duplication of effort

“User manuals, process documents, and self-service knowledge articles help everyone with a similar IT role get on the same page,” Madsen said. “At its core, organizing and managing this information helps teams be more efficient and subsequently, more productive.”

Patrick Harris, a technical writer for UIT Strategic Communication, said any investment in documentation is time well spent.

“A common theme I’m noticing is that everyone wants documentation, but we’re so busy keeping things running that we often forget that documentation is essential to IT operations,” Harris said. “Among other things, documentation serves as a review of current practices and allows teams to improve efficacy and response times. Fundamentally, the Community of Practice is all about capturing actionable data and communicating it effectively.”

Joel Black, a business systems analyst for the Service Management Platform Services Team who primarily uses ServiceNow, NotePad, and Microsoft Word for documentation, said he enjoys being part of a group of people who share a common goal.

“Through previous corporate training, I was pretty good at thinking through what people want and need for documentation, but it’s always nice to get fresh ideas outside of my personal experiences,” Black said. “I think it’s important to spread the word that this community exists and that there’s help for creating better documentation.”

If you’re an ITS or UIT employee and interested in joining the ITS-UIT Documentation CoP, please email Madsen at michael.madsen@hsc.utah.edu or contact him via Teams. UIT or ITS staff members with documentation needs should contact Harris at patrick.harris@utah.edu or via Teams.

 

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