Defer a decision to the last responsible moment is also a risk-reducing technique for writing documentation.

Projects are typically in a flow where not all required information is available right from the start. Furthermore the world changes and what was correct in the past may not be correct today.

How can we deal with the problem of out-dated documents?

Structure

Documents should be written as close to the moment the information is required by stakeholders as possible. This reduces the risk of documents being out-of-date and to create documents nobody really needs.

To determine the right moment to start writing the document is typically determined by the stakeholders who demand the document being written. Use charters to track down all relevant information to write the document just-in time.

Advantages

Reduces the amount of documents nobody needs.
Reduces the amount of documents that are out-of-date before the first stakeholder reads it.

Disadvantages

To always have the information delivered in-time the team needs to be prepared:
- Modular documentation with reusable content
- Automation to derive information from external information repositories
Teams need to have the appropriate infrastructure to deliver in short time. his includes style guides, templates, modules, and a lot of practice.

Related Practices

The following practices are related to this practice.

Focus on Content: Make it easy for knowledge workers to focus on content and remove the need to define the document structure and formatting on a ad-hoc basis.
Use Templates: Define a basic structure for all artifacts of a given type. Readers will have an easier job on finding and learning about the information in your documentation.
Single Sourcing: Reduce redundancy by having one source of truth for each information. This way the written information is more easily reusable in other documents and - which is even more important - it is referenceable. Single sourcing demands automation.
Know your Mission: Use charters to define the purpose and benefit of each document. State the expectation of the stakeholders involved.

Resources

For more information regarding this practice please refer to:

Charter: Describes an information need and use this description as a basis to create and maintain a document.
Iteration Macro: Selects an iteration phase from a fixed set of stages.

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