Tips to Improve Communication within Organizations Using Documentation

Effective communication within organizations is crucial.

To improve documentation, start with a simple outline and designate a point of contact.

Organize the information into top-level categories and schedule weekly progress review meetings. To address the issue of documentation within our Engineering organization, start with small, achievable goals.

Define a structure for internal project documentation, operations documentation, playbooks, monitoring information, best practices, and style guides.

Keeping sources close to the corresponding code is essential when documenting code.

Prioritize content to cover necessary concepts and address all potential user questions.

Ensure that correct processes are captured in the documentation. A wiki can serve as a central hub for documentation.

At the same time, a document repository can store diagrams, documents, and other relevant information. Including examples in the content can also be helpful.

Use ADRs (Architectural Decision Records) to capture the forces at play and the single decision that responds to them.