I’ve been thinking about documents lately—those dusty files and piles that seem to grow like bacteria in nearby offices. They are shrines to inaction, drivers of apathy and often explain why many an executive is found staring with bewilderment at their monthly results.
Ideally a document should be a call to action and, in my mind no document should be produced without an expectation that someone is expected to do something with it. Essentially a document should call people to:
1) Discuss. A document, whether electronic or paper, should focus a group’s attention around information that requires a discussion or dialogue that results in alignment, cohesion, clarity or change.
2) Decide. Information is documented to provide direction for decision making or to identify areas of consideration before making a decision.
3) Disseminate. Documents are often produced by one person for a specific audience yet at some point the document must serve to communicate information, ideas, concepts or decisions to others. A document guarantees consistency in communication and it is generally designed with an audience in mind. Savvy communicators recognize the power of a document to influence others.
4) Display. In many instances, a document is a trigger, a reminder of something that is important, that should be kept top of mind. A document displayed says to others, there is an important message here. Think about it!
5) Deliberate. Documents call us to reflect on facts in light of new circumstances, to transfer knowledge from one group to another, to focus our attention on lessons learned and accountability. If we don’t plan to deliberate on the document then the document has passed its shelf life and can easily be dumped.
Alas, documents seem to pose problems for many. Some folks fail to see the value of documenting anything and are routinely bewildered by poor communication, alignment, consensus or commitment.
Another crew revel in creating documents but fail to create an expectation that anything needs to be done at all or they develop documents that are incomprehensible to the audience that must act.
A final group, the collectors, store their documents with laser precision and without the slightest notion that the document was meant to come alive, to inspire, to galvanize, to orient, to align, enable or involve!
It seems simple really—a document is a commitment to something. At its best it communicates the values of the originator and gets people to think together, be together, reflect together, and decide together. It gets people doing! So when you mean to get something done, document it!
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