Javier Cervantes

Making sure everyone on the team can contribute to a project is fundamental for success. Unfortunately, documentation is usually obsolete or even non-existent in most of the projects.

The broken window theory explains how negative feedback loops can lead to an unsutainable environment in the long run. Teams that need to reverse engineer the code to understand it will have a longer learning curve. Having an updated documentation enables everyone to go faster.

The agile manifesto values “working software over comprehensive documentation”. But a robust documentation will ensure the software can be mantained a year later too.

By leading engineering teams over the last decade I've seen teams thrive by making documentation a first class citizen. I created a Confluence template with the most relevant sections. To keep it updated, documentation can be included as a deliverable for every feature.

Below are the tempate sections, reach out if you would like to get a copy for your personal use:

• Access
• Engineering
  
  • Architecture Diagram
  • Branching Strategy
  • Coding Standards / Styleguide
  • Data Mapping
  • Deployment Process
  • Most Frequent Error Logs
  • Glossary
  • Go-Live Readiness Checklist
  • Infrastructure Diagram
  • Local Environment Setup
  • Resources library
  • Tech Stack
  • Technical Debt / Improvements
  • Test Plan
• Decisions
  
  • [Decision template]
• Features
  
  • [Feature template]
• Guides
  
  • [Guide template]
• Integrations
  
  • [Integration template]
• Project Management
  
  • Discovery / Project Description
  • Onboarding checklist
  • Team
• Meetings
  
  • [Date] - [Meeting Template]
• Releases
  
  • [Version] - [Release Notes]
• Retrospectives
  
  • [Date] - [Retrospective template]