Improving the Quality Process - Improving Documentation Techniques(2)

Improving the Way Documents Are Created, Reviewed, and Maintained

We can greatly improve the creation, review, and approval process for documents if they are (1) kept in a single-source repository and (2) reviewed by the entire team with all comments being collected and merged automatically into a single document. Thousands of hours of quality assurance process time can be saved by using a collaborative environment with these capabilities.

In a project managed using a traditional process of distributing the design documents via email and paper, collecting comments and then rolling all the comments back into a single new version takes a lot more time than doing that through a collaborative Web site, which takes a couple of hours to create and another 1-2 days to write the instructions to the reviewers and train the team to use the site. One document specialist can be assigned as the permanent support role on the site to answer questions and reset passwords.

The whole concept of having to call in old documents and redistribute new copies in a project of any size is so wasteful that an automated Web-based system can usually pay for itself in the first revision cycle.