<aside> <img src="/icons/info-alternate_yellow.svg" alt="/icons/info-alternate_yellow.svg" width="40px" /> This page is part of The Toolbox by Danny Smith.
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One of the principles in Asynchronous Working is Document Everything.
<aside> 1️⃣ Document everything
When working synchronously – either in an office or remote – it's very easy to ask other people for information. In a globally distributed team this isn't always possible. So we need to ensure that other people have access to the information they need if you're not around.
The solution to this is documentation.
It's really important that we clearly document our work, processes, decisions etc in a way that makes them accessible to other people without the need to speak to us.
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Let’s dive a little deeper into that…
If you're like most people, you probably asked someone in person or picked up the phone. This works fine in synchronous teams, but in an async team there might not be anyone around to ask.
This is why it's really important for async teams to write and maintain good internal documentation.
The internet is full of articles on how to write well. Much of the advice out there is good, but for our purposes we'll stick to three properties of good internal documentation:
Keep docs short and to-the-point. They are not meant to show your editorial skills – they're there to convey information fast and clear.
Avoid superfluous words that don't add anything, and strive to make your meaning clear in as few words as possible. Keeping something clear and short can be quite hard, but you should try.