Transitioning to ongoing support - the icing on the project management cake part 2

Sufficient Reference Documentation

Documentation is always the last thing to do in any project's list. No one really likes doing documentation so this is one of the lowest priority in anyone's list. We will do it later is the usual thought but unfortunately later usually never comes.

Project Managers should always ensure that this is part and parcel of any activities in their plan and a gradual documentation along the way will ensure that there is no large pile of paper work to be done at the end of the project.


This will ensure that there can be a proper transition for ongoing support as well as a reference point for current and future support team members as well future projects. Come end of the project and everyone moves on to other projects and tasks, the memories of the project team will diminish and who know even if they are engaged for future enhancements for the current project, their memory of what was done my not be as fresh so will involve another learning curve.

Documentation should also not only be by volume but be also in quality and content as a lot of documentation which does not help a reader find the solution easily defeats the purpose.

Storage of the documentation is also important as it needs to be readily accessible by the team members and also adequate backups need to be in place.

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