Multi-Chapter Meeting | The New Culture of Documentation

Topic Summary:

How a Refreshed Approach to Documentation Transforms Team Effectiveness and Problem-Solving. All of us “do” documentation from emailing, to reports, to project plans, to to-dos, to files, and to spreadsheets. Documentation is a fundamental underpinning practice in our work as project managers. But do we – and our organizations – really “get” it? Experience tells us, no. We often have little understanding of how we can apply the everyday skills of documentation—which we already know—to turbocharge our effectiveness. Documentation has traditionally been viewed as “static.” That is lifeless piles of paper, dusty binders on a shelf, and records in your database. But when applied properly, documentation is “dynamic” – it actively moves you forward and changes outcomes. No matter what your situation—your files are a mess; you can’t get your team to follow up; you’re stuck in a vortex of meetings; no one reads your processes; your fancy system was a bust; your expensive, “best-in-class” consultants failed to deliver real change— Dynamic Documentation is about solving your business problems through 6 distinct steps: Capturing, Structuring, Presenting, Communicating, Storing and Leveraging, Leading and Innovating. This session shares leading best practices from Adrienne Bellehumeur’s new book "The 24-Hour Rule and Other Secrets for Smarter Organizations" (Benbella/PenguinRandomHouse 2023) which you can think of as the world’s first “mass market” book on documentation best practices.

Speaker: Adrienne Bellehumeur

Speaker Bio:

"Adrienne Bellehumeur is the Owner of Risk Oversight, a leading firm specializing in internal audit, internal control, governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) programs in Calgary, Alberta.

Adrienne is the author of THE 24-HOUR RULE—and Other Secrets for Smarter Organizations (released in 2023), which you can think of as the first “mass market” book on documentation best practices. She regularly speaks about documentation best practices to professional groups and organizations of all sizes and industries.

In her 20 years of experience as a consultant and business owner, she has developed a documentation approach she calls “Dynamic Documentation” through tackling business analyst assignments, SOX programs, audits and review engagements, information management projects, technical and proposal writing, communications and change management advising, and much more. She believes that everyone can work smarter, faster, and better through understanding effective documentation practices."