Document Everything

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Early in my career, I worked as a web producer at a startup, an experience I have written about before. It was a formative role that required wearing multiple hats and operating with a high degree of ownership. One of my primary responsibilities was receiving content from publishers and converting it into a format compatible with our online reader. The inputs varied widely. Investment newsletters arrived as emails, Word documents, PDFs, and in one case even by postal mail. Each format required a different workflow, and transforming them into publish-ready content demanded both technical adaptability and careful attention to detail.

Although I could have managed most of the process from memory with minimal notes, I made a deliberate decision to fully document my work. I created step by step guides, including screenshots, and stored everything in Confluence. I also made sure my colleagues knew where to find it. My thinking was simple: if something unexpected happened, the business should not stall because critical knowledge lived only in my head.

That scenario arrived sooner than expected. One morning, my wife woke up in severe pain and was unable to speak. I called an ambulance, and we spent most of the morning at the hospital, where she was treated for kidney stones. I notified my manager, and he told me not to worry. He would follow my documentation and handle that day’s upload.

When I returned to work the next day, he first asked how my wife was doing. After I assured him she was fine, he said, half joking, that he hoped he would never have to upload the content again. What struck me was not frustration, but recognition. By stepping into the process, he gained a clearer appreciation for its complexity and the value of the role.

There is a persistent fear that documenting your work makes you easier to replace. In my experience, that concern is misplaced. Having been through layoffs, I can say that documentation does not determine workforce decisions. Those are broader business judgments. What documentation does provide is operational resilience. It enables continuity during emergencies and reduces key person risk. I would rather leave behind clear instructions and current status if it helps the team succeed. In the long run, professionalism and transparency strengthen both the organization and your credibility within it.

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