Project documentation is the process of creating, organizing, and maintaining the written information that describes the processes, plans, and activities involved in a project. Project documentation includes documents such as the project charter, the project management plan, the work breakdown structure, the risk register, the issue log, and the status reports. Project documentation serves several purposes, such as project planning, communication, monitoring, control, and evaluation. According to the Professional in Business Analysis Reference Materials1, project documentation should be:
Accurate: The project documents should reflect the true and current state of the project, and avoid any errors, inconsistencies, or ambiguities.
Complete: The project documents should cover all the relevant and necessary aspects of the project, and avoid any gaps, omissions, or redundancies.
Consistent: The project documents should follow the same format, style, terminology, and standards, and avoid any conflicts, contradictions, or variations.
Up to date: The project documents should be updated regularly and timely, and avoid any outdated, obsolete, or irrelevant information.
In this scenario, the project schedule is falling behind and the project manager observes that the project team seems to be spending the majority of their time writing documentation instead of performing project tasks. This indicates that the project documentation process is not efficient, effective, or aligned with the project goals and priorities. The project team may be creating unnecessary, excessive, or irrelevant documents, or may be struggling to keep up with the changes and updates in the project. This could affect the project performance, quality, and stakeholder satisfaction.
Therefore, the best option for the project manager is to review and adapt the appropriate project artifacts. This means that the project manager should:
Review the existing project documents and assess their accuracy, completeness, consistency, and currency.
Identify and eliminate any project documents that are not required, useful, or valuable for the project.
Simplify and streamline the project documentation process and reduce the complexity and volume of the project documents.
Adapt the project documentation process and the project documents to the changing needs and expectations of the project and the stakeholders.
Communicate and collaborate with the project team and the stakeholders on the project documentation process and the project documents.
By reviewing and adapting the appropriate project artifacts, the project manager can ensure that the project documentation process and the project documents are fit for purpose, and that they support and facilitate the project tasks, rather than hinder or distract them.
The other options are not the best choices, because:
Assign a team member to handle the documentation activities: This option implies that the project manager is delegating the responsibility and accountability of the project documentation process and the project documents to a single team member, rather than involving and engaging the whole project team and the stakeholders. This could create a bottleneck, a dependency, or a risk in the project documentation process, and reduce the quality and reliability of the project documents.
Coach the project team to complete the project documentation activities: This option implies that the project manager is providing guidance and support to the project team on how to perform the project documentation activities, rather than addressing the root cause of the problem, which is the inefficiency, ineffectiveness, or misalignment of the project documentation process and the project documents. This could create a false sense of security, a complacency, or a resistance in the project team, and prevent them from improving and adapting the project documentation process and the project documents.
Save all documentation activities until the end of the project: This option implies that the project manager is postponing or ignoring the project documentation activities, rather than recognizing and fulfilling their importance and value for the project. This could create a backlog, a chaos, or a disaster in the project documentation process, and compromise the project performance, quality, and stakeholder satisfaction.
