SmallBizResource Blog -- Productivity

The Documentation Cure-All

Posted by Gayle Kesten Monday, May 5, 2008, 03:04 PM ET

I rarely delete my Sent mail, and here's why.

On occasion, saved messages have saved my butt, transforming "I could have sworn I told you" and "This is what you asked of me" conversations to politely presented "See, I told you so" exchanges without ever having to utter the words.

Not counting the bird, I promise I'm not a finger-pointer. And make no mistake -- plenty of saved messages have proved me wrong as well. Expletives aside, each and every one was followed by a sincere apology.

Therein lies the beauty of documentation, "the boring but true secret that will deliver you the freedom and wealth you have been dreaming about," writes Sam Carpenter on Startup Nation.

Perhaps he exaggerates the benefits. Or maybe he's being a bit tongue-and-cheek. (I better cover my bases should this blog come back to haunt me.) Despite his article's infomercial-like opener (I stand by those words), Sam's premise is solid: Thorough documentation is a must if you want to minimize the chaos that is the life of a small-business owner.

He offers these 10 valid reasons why:

1. It keeps you on track.
2. Your employees won't have to be mind-readers.
3. Your employees won't have to be fortune-tellers.
4. Everyone in your organization will be pointed in the same direction.
5. You will find yourself working on the causes of problems, not in fixing problems that occur.
6. Training time is reduced.
7. Your workweek will be shortened.
8. Your income will rise dramatically.
9. Doing so signals that you're a professional.
10. You will have an entity that will be easy to sell someday.

"Documentation takes some initial hard work," Sam concedes. But now Sam works only two hours a week, not 100, and what he used to make in a year he now makes in a month.

While I don't expect your results to be nearly as dramatic, I'd love to know how documentation has helped keep your business on track. What tools do you use for doing so?

Productivity