4 Documentation Flubs That Could Cost You

Good, comprehensive documentation practices are an afterthought in many Project Teams. If your project office still hasn’t set up an efficient program, check out these 4 ways that your current methods could be sucking up your team’s time, money, or worse.

1 – Your documentation is scattered all over the place. Some is stored within your Project Team, but other bits are tucked away in other departments. One risk is that someone will review your records and assume they’re complete. Not only could the missing information cost you time when you have to hunt down the record you need, there’s also the potential for compliance problems if an auditor reviews your files.

 

2 – Your records aren’t all in the same format. E-mails are stored in your inbox, invoices are kept in paper folders, and photos are archived within their respective presentation files. Something could become lost, but equally important is the risk your team will lose access to old records as new software versions come out and old platforms are no longer supported.

 

3 – Everyone keeps what they think is important. You have multiple copies of the same information floating around, but nothing is exactly the same. When you come across one version, how do you know if it’s a master or an outdated draft? Not only does this flub take up more space (digital and physical) than necessary, you could also be referencing inaccurate data, setting your new project off to a bad start.

 

4 – No one keeps what they think is important. In this case, instead of having too many copies of something, you have no copies. Discarding critical information could be a regulatory or PR nightmare, and at the very least you might be losing out on the potential cost savings and improved efficiencies your team identified in earlier projects.

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