Making a business case for documentation, post 9 - Present and defend your case

Team management

Performance

Operational efficiency

Clearly identify the challenges caused by insufficient documentation.

Outline the specific advantages that investing in improved documentation can bring to the team and organization.

Identify the impact: Define the issues caused by inadequate documentation and explain how they directly impact the efficiency, productivity, and bottom line in their area of responsibility.

Highlight the benefits: Detail the potential benefits of investing in documentation. You can refer to the ones listed here or you can also refer to those potential benefits in a previous post from this series: Learn how documentation drives revenue and traffic.

Align with goals: Show how improved documentation practices can resolve these issues and align with broader department goals, whether that’s speeding up product development, improving customer satisfaction, or reducing operational costs.

Increase in team productivity: Measure the reduction in time spent searching for information or clarifications.

Improved team collaboration: Track the increase in cross-functional collaboration and the reduction in communication breakdowns.

Reduction in support tickets: Monitor a decrease in the number of internal or external support requests due to clearer documentation.

Decreased onboarding time: Measure how much faster new employees can get up to speed with comprehensive documentation.

Improved employee satisfaction: Monitor employee feedback on the usefulness and accessibility of documentation for their daily tasks.

Reduction in meetings: Measure how much time is saved by reducing the number of clarification meetings or emails due to unclear information.

Product development cycles

Time-to-market

Quality

Emphasize how clear documentation accelerates development.

Highlight that the documentation is an integral part of the product in its own right.

Reduced development time: Clear documentation speeds up onboarding and reduces time spent answering repetitive questions.

Fewer bugs: Well-documented code and processes lead to fewer misunderstandings and errors.

Faster feature iteration: Good documentation enables quicker updates and modifications to existing features.

Decrease in time spent on bug fixes: Track how much faster bugs are identified and resolved due to clear and comprehensive documentation.

Increase in successful feature releases per quarter: Measure the percentage of feature releases that meet their deadlines and quality standards, aided by well-documented processes and requirements.

Reduction in onboarding time for new developers: Monitor how quickly new developers can get up to speed with the product code and workflows thanks to detailed technical documentation.

Faster product iterations: Track how better documentation accelerates the time from concept to release for new features or products.

Customer satisfaction

Product discoverability

Brand reputation

Highlight how clear documentation strengthens the product’s brand and reputation by enhancing the user experience.

Emphasize that good documentation content drives SEO and web traffic.

Improved user experience: Clear product documentation leads to higher customer satisfaction and retention.

Enhanced product positioning: Well-documented features make it easier to communicate product value.

Reduced support burden: Comprehensive documentation empowers users to solve issues independently.

Drive revenue and traffic: Documentation is a key driver of web traffic and important part of the customer’s journey through the marketing funnal. See the previous post from this series: Learn how documentation drives revenue and traffic.

Increase in customer satisfaction scores: Track the improvement in customer satisfaction through surveys or feedback, as clearer product documentation reduces frustration and enhances user experience.

Decrease in support tickets for basic product questions: Measure the reduction in support tickets, particularly for common or easily addressed questions, due to well-crafted self-service documentation.

Improved product adoption rates: Monitor how better documentation supports faster and smoother onboarding for new users, leading to higher adoption rates and more successful product use.

System reliability

Support efficiency

Technical debt

Focus on how well-organized documentation accelerates issue resolution and decreases reliance on live support.

Show how documentation simplifies system updates and migrations, leading to more efficient infrastructure management.

Reduced downtime: Clear troubleshooting guides enable faster issue resolution.

Lower support costs: Comprehensive documentation reduces the need for live support.

Improved system maintenance: Well-documented infrastructure makes updates and migrations smoother.

Decrease in average time to resolve incidents: Track how clear and accessible documentation reduces the time required to troubleshoot and resolve incidents, speeding up incident response.

Reduction in repeat support tickets: Measure how comprehensive documentation helps prevent recurring issues, reducing the frequency of repeat support tickets.

Improved system uptime percentages: Monitor how well-documented procedures for maintenance, monitoring, and issue resolution contribute to higher system uptime and reliability.

Cross-team collaboration

Knowledge sharing

Operational alignment

When presenting to another manager on the same level as you, your goal is to seek their support and collaboration.

Explain to them that this is a company-wide problem, not just one team, and as such we are looking for co-sponsorship from other teams.

Identify common pain points: Discuss how documentation issues affect both teams.

Propose joint initiatives: Suggest collaborative documentation efforts that benefit multiple departments.

Share success stories: Provide examples of how improved documentation solved issues in your team.

Cross-team efficiency gains: Track how improved documentation streamlines collaboration between teams, leading to faster and more effective cross-functional work.

Potential for innovative solutions through better knowledge sharing: Measure how clear, accessible documentation fosters a culture of knowledge sharing, sparking creative solutions and problem-solving across teams.

Opportunity to position both teams as efficiency champions within the organization: Highlight how improved documentation positions teams as leaders in driving operational efficiency, setting a standard for best practices throughout the organization.

Strategic vision and growth

Financial performance and profitability

Organizational alignment and culture

Formal report with executive summary

Problem statement: Concise overview of documentation challenges and their business impact.

Return on investment analysis: Clear breakdown of costs vs. expected benefits.

Strategic alignment: How improved documentation supports overall business goals.

Implementation roadmap: High-level plan with key milestones and resource requirements.

Financial implications: Track cost savings and revenue potential driven by more efficient processes and better resource utilization.

Competitive advantage: Measure how faster time-to-market and improved customer satisfaction position the company ahead of competitors.

Risk mitigation: Monitor the reduction in knowledge loss and enhanced compliance through well-documented processes and systems.

Community engagement

Content moderation and quality control

Fostering a positive and inclusive environment

Engage in dialogue and seek validation

Initiate conversation: Present your case as a starting point for discussion.

Propose community involvement: Suggest surveys or forums to gather wider input.

Highlight community benefits: Emphasize how improved documentation can grow and strengthen the community.

Enhanced contributor experience: Track improvements in community satisfaction and engagement as a result of clear guidelines and active moderation.

Improved project sustainability: Measure how effective moderation fosters a healthy, active community that contributes to long-term project growth.

Potential for increased adoption and contributions: Monitor how a positive and inclusive environment leads to higher participation and adoption of the project.