Where to Start Your Documentation Journey
BY IT GLUE | September 11, 2018
You know developing a documentation rhythm will benefit you, but with so much to document, where do you start? We get it. You’re swamped with information and data, and it’s all important for different reasons. That’s why we’ve developed 6 steps to get you started, and mastering, your documentation.
MSP Information Hierarchy
A while back we wrote a blog post on the MSP information hierarchy, in other words, a fundamental way of organizing your documentation in order to be successful. Essentially, your documentation is either internal documentation, external, or customer-specific. So when you start documenting, you need to focus on these different categories, and not mix them together. Keep in mind, there isn’t simply one way to document, but this hierarchy provides an easy to understand model for how you can organize documentation, and it works.
Largest Clients
When you start your documentation, you’re going to want to focus first on your largest clients, before moving towards your smaller ones. Why? Because documenting their information and data will bring you the most ROI. As your larger clients, you’re bound to have a lot of information that you’ve been trying to keep track of with them. The sooner that’s documented, the better for both parties.
PSA information, then RMM
Why would you want to document your PSA information first? Think about it this way. Your PSA tool contains all the information regarding organizations, locations, and contacts. When that’s documented, you’re going to want to match your RMM information with some of the data from your PSA.
With IT Glue, you can easily sync information from your PSA, and then your RMM into our app. When doing so, IT Glue will try to discover data in your RMM, and then match it to any existing IT Glue data, including the data from your PSA.
SOPs and other documents
Documenting SOPs provides huge and immediate value to the rest of your team. Once they’re documented and in IT Glue, any team member can tap into that knowledge in order to do their job. Processes become more streamlined, and team efficiency reaches new heights.
One prime example surrounds training a new tech. Our recent 2018 Global MSP Benchmark Report reveals that it takes up to 3 months to get new techs to 80% efficiency. That’s a lot of time spent training, and working below an optimal efficiency level. By documenting your SOPs, your staff can find the information they need to do their job effectively, without needing the consistent guidance of other team members. This frees up everyone’s time.
Automated documentation first, then manual
Let’s address the elephant in the room. Maybe, you’re just not a huge fan of documentation. You’re not alone. But guess what? The more you leverage automation, the less manual documentation you’ll have to do. At IT Glue, our open API makes automating your documentation a whole lot easier. All you have to do is take advantage of it.
Repeat processes; high value stuff
Consider the processes you do on a frequent basis. Are all team members completing them as efficiently as possible? Can they be streamlined? Can they simply, be better? The answer is, probably yes. So document these processes in order to ensure that your entire team is on track with how to complete frequent tasks, and that they’re doing them in the most effective way. When your repeatable processes are streamlined and documented, your team is going to save time that they can then use elsewhere. Always have ROI in the back of your mind when deciding what processes are the most important to document.
If you’d like to learn more about how IT Glue can help you on your documentation journey, sign up for a demo.
Documentation is a source of competitive advantage. When your processes are well-documented, they move from being individual knowledge to team knowledge. You execute consistently, and do not waste time looking for information, because it’s always at your fingertips. Companies with a high level of documentation maturity enjoy higher revenue growth, increased cost savings and superior valuations. IT Glue can help you get there.
