The Value of Proper Documentation

Good documentation saves more than it costs. But only if you start early. Documentation isn't just about code comments or technical specs. It's your company's institutional memory and operational backbone. But, left unaddressed it can cause problems. Every undocumented decision creates hidden costs that compound as you grow. It’s an easy trap to fall into. Early-stage teams understandably prioritize speed over documentation. The costs are often invisible: 🔍 Knowledge walks out the door if someone leaves 🕐 New hires take much longer to become productive ⌛ Senior engineers spend hours answering basic questions ⚠️ Development slows while technical debt soars It doesn’t stop there. Lack of documentation can impact the entire business: 🤝 Implementation partners require clear system documentation. 🕵️ Enterprise clients evaluate documentation during vendor selection. 💸 Investors scrutinize documentation quality during due diligence. The solution requires commitment, not complexity: 1️⃣ Start documenting key decisions and system design. 2️⃣ Build documentation reviews into your development cycle. Over time, your high-quality documentation becomes a strategic advantage. It might not be the most exciting part of building a business, but documentation can be the difference between scaling successfully and remaining dependent on tribal knowledge. 💬 What hidden costs of poor documentation have you experienced? Share your experience. ♻️ Know a founder or CTO who needs to see this? Share it to help them out!. 🔔 Follow me Daniel Bukowski for daily insights about delivering value with connected data.

We’ve all been there... growth is accelerating and you’re wondering what’s going to break first. The answer isn’t your product or your funding. It’s the people who are your jack-of-all-trades superstars. You know the ones... they’re handling 5 different roles, duct-taping processes together, and somehow making it all work. As your organization scales, they’re literally like Elastigirl from The Incredibles— stretching themselves to the breaking point. But they’re not specializing in one specific thing. And it’s not sustainable. Then the processes break. Or more specifically... the complete lack of processes breaks everything else. We sometimes assume early employees will just figure it out and know how to do things. But that’s definitely not the case. Everyone is capable, it’s just a matter of having the full context and consistent documentation. Documentation isn’t a “nice to have,” it’s essential. Because when you’re missing that key piece: → new team members spend weeks guessing how things work → mistakes multiply because there’s no clear process → your best people become bottlenecks because they’re the only ones who “know” → quality becomes inconsistent across the team The fix isn’t rocket science, but it requires intentionality. Document everything. Yes, it may feel tedious but do it anyway. Train on the documentation. Don’t just hand someone a google doc and pray. Be explicit about what TO do and what NOT to do. Update processes as your org grows. It may seem like overhead when you’re moving fast, but I promise you—the alternative is watching your best people burn out while your processes crumble. As the organization gets bigger, there’s just so much more intentionality required. The companies that scale successfully don’t just hire great people. They create systems that help great people thrive.

Good technical documentation isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s the backbone of scalable, efficient operations. Without it, teams waste time reinventing the wheel, fixing the same issues repeatedly, and relying on tribal knowledge that disappears when key employees leave. Clear, concise, and well-structured documentation turns complex processes into repeatable playbooks, empowering teams to work smarter, not harder. It bridges the gap between technical experts and business stakeholders, ensuring that knowledge is accessible, actionable, and aligned with company goals. Great documentation isn’t just about capturing “how” something works—it should also explain “why” decisions were made, preventing future teams from making the same mistakes. If your documentation isn’t easy to find, well-organized, and frequently updated, it’s almost as bad as not having any at all. The best documentation is written with the user in mind: Can a new hire follow it without asking for help? Can a non-technical person understand the key takeaways? Investing in documentation today saves countless hours tomorrow. It’s one of the highest ROI activities a RevOps team can prioritize.

I've learned the hard way... When documentation and production code aren't best friends, your project (and your sanity) are in for a rough ride. I've seen brilliant projects fail for one simple reason: the code and documentation lived in separate universes. The consequences are predictable but devastating: • The "Why" Gets Lost: Code tells you how, but documentation tells you WHY. Without knowing why specific algorithms were chosen or what hardware assumptions were made, you're debugging in the dark. 🔦 • Onboarding Becomes a Nightmare: New team members take 3x longer to become productive when documentation is poor or missing. 📈 • Maintenance Costs Explode: Fixing bugs years later without understanding the original intent is like navigating a maze blindfolded. I once saw a team spend 6 weeks on a fix that should have taken 2 days. ⏱️ • Knowledge Walks Out the Door: When the "why" only lives in one person's head, what happens when they leave? I've witnessed entire projects restart because the documentation couldn't fill the knowledge gap. 🚶♂️ • Certification Becomes Impossible: For medical, automotive, or aerospace applications, documentation isn't optional—it's regulatory. ⚠️ Documentation isn't a chore to be done "later." It's the difference between projects that scale and projects that fail. Make your documentation: ✅ Living: Updated as code evolves ✅ Clear & Concise: Actually readable ✅ Accessible: Easy to find ✅ Accurate: Reflecting reality What's your team's best practice for keeping documentation and code synchronized? Has poor documentation ever derailed your project? #EmbeddedSystems #SoftwareEngineering #Documentation #TechDebt #CodeQuality #Firmware #ProjectManagement #DeveloperLife #BestPractices

Don’t be that startup that doesn’t create training and enablement documentation until something blows up in their face. Getting proper training and enablement documentation is one of those “eat your vegetable” tasks that no one really wants to do — yet it’s absolutely critical for scaling. And you’d be surprised how few Series A companies have it. Early on, when teams are small, you can get away with it. You can tell people to “just go ask Jennifer.” But as you move from startup to scaleup, this stops working… One, because Jennifer doesn’t scale. Two, even scarier, if Jennifer ever leaves your company, she’ll end up taking all of that know-how with her — leaving you to re-engineer or just stop following many of your processes. At some point, you have to stop relying on a handful of people with institutional knowledge and start documenting critical processes. This means clear, up-to-date guides on the critical processes people are doing every day. For sales reps, that might look like: - How to follow up with leads - How to turn leads into opportunities - How to ensure attribution data flows correctly For marketing, that might look like: - How to import leads after an event - How to ensure duplicates aren’t being created - How to set up campaigns properly and add them to reporting Just handing people documents isn’t enough. You need to train, re-train, and ideally certify your team on processes so that you can confirm they know what’s going on. This is something we’re packaging into our Operations Foundation program at Iceberg RevOps, where we build everything for you all at once, enable, and train your team. Startups that get this right scale faster, smoother, and without the headaches of constantly putting out fires.

Design Decisions Without Documentation? Think Again! Documenting your design decisions is like leaving breadcrumbs for your future self and team. Not only does it foster better products, but it also cultivates a growth mindset, making you a more thoughtful, strategic designer. It is key to the success of any product because it provides clarity to the entire team. As far as I’ve seen, design processes are rarely linear. Multiple stakeholders are involved, each with their own perspective. Keeping track of these decisions helps avoid confusion, ensures consistency, and minimises the risk of reworking designs later. It also serves as a bridge between the present and future iterations, allowing future designers to understand the rationale behind each decision, which can be a huge time-saver. [Tips for Documenting Design Decisions] 1] Start Early and Keep It Simple: Begin documenting from the very first discussions and keep it lightweight. You don’t need to write essays, bullet points or a short paragraph explaining each major decision will suffice. 2] Use Visuals: Where possible, supplement text with visuals. Screenshots, wireframes, and prototypes make it easier to communicate your thoughts. 3] Centralise Documentation: Make sure everyone has access to this documentation by using tools like Notion, Confluence, or even Figma’s comment features. 4] Keep It Organised: Organise documentation chronologically or by feature. It’s easier to reference when things are categorised properly. 5] Review and Update Regularly: Don’t treat documentation as a “set it and forget it” task. Revisit it periodically, especially during major project milestones or product updates. I’ve found that the more transparent you are about your design choices, the stronger your credibility becomes not only as a designer but as a problem-solver. At the end of the day, a well-documented process is your safety net, it ensures you’re making deliberate, informed choices rather than just gut decisions. #uxdesign #uxdocumentation #productdesign #ux

Question of the week: You've been tasked with systemising the business and making it more simple & scaleable. Where do you start? Here's where I'd start as a Chief of Staff: ✍🏻 Documentation, documentation, documentation, of *all* common processes in the business. ‼️ This is *the* most underrated task when you're moving fast and breaking things, esp. in growth-stage startups. Why is this so important? 3 reasons: 1. Onboarding new employees --- When you're scaling quickly, hiring + onboarding can take a significant amount of time. You're not scaleable, but your processes are. A 10 minute Loom played 6-7x is already an hour saved. 2. When 💩 hits the fan --- The website is down for 8 hours. You hear from hundreds of angry clients threatening to cancel. Everyone in the company suddenly needs to learn how to respond to support tickets and refund/discount payments. 3. When investors start sniffin' around for due diligence for funding rounds + exits --- Having solid documentation is one of the easiest ways to de-risk the investment from an operations side. Here's how I'd do it off the bat: 1️⃣ Quick Loom outlining every process that isn't documented or current 2️⃣ Then I'd have AI write a quick outline / article 3️⃣ I'd put both of these (links to Loom AND the text article) in the company's existing project management / documentation system. 4️⃣ Announce where it can be found, added and edited. Make it easily accessible to everyone and low-lift. 5️⃣ This can mean anything from submitting expense reports to pulling a marketing analytics dashboard to responding to support tickets. I typically do this as I'm onboarding myself to avoid double work. 💃🏻 Hope this helps! What other questions do y'all want answered? Feel free to ask in the comments or DM me 😊 -- Found this content helpful? Repost ♻️ or follow Elise Kennedy for more Chief of Staff content!

🔍 Unlocking the Power of RCM 👀 RCM isn’t just about processing claims—it’s about optimizing every step of the journey to ensure practices thrive. One area that often gets overlooked? Documentation, and documentation is everything. It’s the foundation that supports accurate billing, compliance, and financial stability for practices. Without thorough documentation, even the best processes can fail. Did you know that incomplete or unclear documentation is one of the leading causes of claim denials? 💸 yep have you seen these Denial Codes : 16: Claim/service lacks information or has submission/billing error(s). 17: Requested information was not provided or was insufficient/incomplete. 252: An attachment/other documentation is required to adjudicate this claim/service 50: These are non-covered services because this is not deemed a ‘medical necessity’ by the payer. 57: Payment denied/reduced because the payer deems the information submitted does not support this level of service N115: This decision was based on a Local Coverage Determination (LCD). This is just a few, if you are seeing these codes you have a documentation root cause issue, no amount of appeals will get you paid! Here’s why proper documentation matters: 1️⃣ Accuracy in Coding: Comprehensive notes ensure that coders select the right codes, reducing the risk of rejections. 2️⃣ Detailed documentation protects your practice during audits or appeals, providing the evidence needed to justify claims. 3️⃣ Faster Reimbursement: Clear and precise records eliminate back-and-forth communication with payers, speeding up payment cycles. 🔑 Pro Tip: Train your providers and staff to view documentation as a communication tool—not just a task. 🔑 The clearer the picture they paint, the smoother the revenue cycle operates. Investing in strong documentation practices today paves the way for fewer denials, better cash flow, and long-term success. What strategies do you use to improve documentation in your practice? #RCMExcellence #HealthcareDocumentation #RevenueCycleManagement #PracticeSuccess #MaximizeRCM

Being a data analyst, one of the least fun, least rewarding, but incredibly important part of the job is documentation. It's incredible how far just a little documentation can go as a data analyst. Over 12 years of experience, I've come across organizations with variable levels of documentation from fully documented to nothing at all. Here are some reasons why it is important: 1) You know that task you need to do just 1x a year? We both know it should take 1 hour but it really takes 2 hours because you are sifting through last year's work trying to remind yourself what to do in what order. Write documentation! 2) New team member starting next week? Do you really want to sit with them all day trying to get them up to speed on processes? Send them documentation to shrink the learning curve. 3) Remember that mistake you made on the last analysis? It was small, but the team found it. Imagine you had documentation and checklists to walk you through the steps avoiding that pesky middle step you forgot last time?! It's often forgotten, but often needed. So take some time and write up that process you have to do today. Take it a step further and build a small template so the next time you need to write documentation, you aren't starting from level 0. What are some ways documentation, or the lack there of, impacted your work?

Working with a poorly documented design system feels like trying to solve a puzzle with half the pieces missing. In my experience and such situations, every new design was a struggle, and the frustration was palpable across the team. But that experience taught me a valuable lesson: the importance of clear, professional documentation. When documentation is done right, it’s like having a roadmap that guides you through the design process. It transforms confusion into clarity and chaos into cohesion. Here’s what I’ve learned: 1. Clear documentation empowers teams. 2. It ensures that everyone is on the same page. 3. It makes it easier and faster to implement new designs. Involving experienced designers in the documentation process can make a world of difference. They know the ins and outs of the system and can provide the insights needed to keep everything clear and concise. So, to all the designers out there, don’t underestimate the power of good documentation. #designsystem #uxdesign #designdocumentation #ux