Most IT teams know they should document things. Fewer actually do. And almost none do it well.

But the cost of bad (or missing) documentation adds up fast—especially when staff turnover hits, an audit rolls in, or you’re stuck reverse-engineering someone’s “temporary fix” from 18 months ago.

If your documentation lives in someone’s head, buried in old emails, or scattered across four SharePoint folders… it’s time to clean it up.

The Hidden Costs Of Bad Documentation

You already know the big ones: lost time, inconsistent fixes, and onboarding that drags on for weeks. But here are a few more that creep in over time:

• Ticket volume creeps up because users don’t have basic how-to steps.
• Senior staff get bogged down answering the same questions repeatedly.
• Onboarding takes longer and burns time from your best people.
• Compliance becomes harder when no one can prove what’s in place.
• Downtime recovery drags because key system steps aren’t written anywhere.

What “Good Enough” Looks Like

You don’t need a full-blown ITIL framework or documentation wiki the size of Wikipedia. But you do need clear, consistent records of:

• Network diagrams (with straightforward descriptions anyone on your team can understand)
• Server & application credentials (securely stored, shared appropriately)
• Onboarding & offboarding checklists
• Common fixes and SOPs (think: VPN setup, printer resets, account unlocks)
• Vendor contacts & licensing details
• Backup & Disaster Recovery steps
• Change logs—so you know who did what, and when

Who Owns It?

This trips up a lot of teams: documentation isn’t a one-person job—but it does need a clear owner.

Here’s what works:

• Assign a primary owner. Usually the IT manager, team lead, or sysadmin—not to do all the documenting, but to keep it moving.
• Make it part of the process. If someone fixes or installs something, they document it. Period.
• Bite-sized ownership. Rotate a monthly doc check across the team—one person audits, the rest update.
• Project closeouts = doc time. Build documentation into your wrap-up process, just like post-mortems.
• Vendors don’t get a pass. If they touch your environment, they update your docs. That’s non-negotiable.

Good documentation doesn’t need to be perfect—it just needs to exist, stay findable, and reflect what’s actually running.

The Tools Don’t Matter As Much As The Habit

Use whatever your team will actually open and update—OneNote, Google Docs, SharePoint, a shared drive with folders. Doesn’t matter.

What does matter is this:

• Can your team find it fast?
• Is it current?
• Could someone else follow it if you were out sick?

If the answer’s no, it’s not documentation—it’s just digital clutter.

Start Small. Standardize. Share.

Here’s the fix: Don’t try to boil the ocean. Start with your most painful or most-used systems and build from there.

• Choose a single format and location
• Keep docs short and skimmable
• Add screenshots, commands, links—anything that speeds up troubleshooting
• Review it quarterly like you would your backups

It’s not exciting work, but it’s what separates reactive teams from resilient ones.

In Short

Good documentation doesn’t make headlines—but it does make your life easier. It shortens downtime, improves onboarding, reduces burnout, and helps your team scale without chaos.

Think of it this way: Documentation isn’t overhead. It’s insurance.