Lessons from the trenches: How to write profitable and pleasure-inducing documents

Lessons from the trenches: How to write profitable and pleasure-inducing documents

My work as a documentation specialist requires me to travel to places beyond my comfort zone and meet people I’d have avoided in my second life. Yet, in those moments of anxiety and vulnerability, I have reaped belly laughter-worthy memories, a Rolodex of colourful acquaintances, odd survival skills and clients who became besties. This is how to do it:

1. Case studies: Imagine trying to jump over barbed wire in a mid-length fitting dress so you can land safely in a puddle of mud on the other side; I was documenting case studies of refugee farmers whose lives have been transformed through skilling, seed loans and host communities generously donating land. Simple acts that are improving food security and creating micro-businesses for a people forced to abandon their entire lives and start over. Best tip: Do not go in wise; go in to listen and learn then you will be able to ask the right questions that demonstrate project significance, adaptation and the exciting change that is bringing fresh hope. Definitely wear baggy trousers and did I mention that my ballet flats lost their soles and I learned the art of treading softly for 1km? 
2.  Process documents: Have you yet entered a negotiation meeting and met stony faces ready to remind you that you’re lucky your bid won? Best tip: Be fearless, prepare to become an expert by reading up simple FAQs on that process; don’t skim over the technical literature provided. Dive deep and take copious notes to aid your learning and information retention. Write 1,000 technical questions that you plan to answer, then eliminate duplicates. Visualize the process in one simple infographic and develop it as a beautiful bonus. Clients need to like you, so at first interaction, step in their work-overwhelmed shoes and smile genuinely; take the upper ground and break the ice through an honest compliment, a nice detail observed or a ‘thank you so much for choosing us’. 
3.  Conference rapporteuring: How do you deal with information overload from five event session days and knowledge cafes in breakout rooms spewing critical ideas and research that must be whittled down to 10 pages? All this as everyone rushes off to the luxury hotel gym, sauna and spa for fireside chats daily. Best tip: Set up templates in advance and rehearse them with your team of note takers including the expected notes format. Review and consolidate all session notes every evening and develop a Power Point for the next day’s recap. In order to avoid a 50-pages rapporteur report, think high-level, unique bullet information and actionable points. Break up dense content reading fatigue with great conference photos, key quotes and info-visuals. Oh, a well-designed report cover is always a good salesman. And for your R&R -reward yourself with your favourite full-course meal. Good food speaks to the brain.
4. Success story books: Can you write great stories when you don’t understand the language, the culture or the people? Surprisingly, not knowing makes you a porous sponge able to absorb new information. Best tip: Drop your preconceived stereotypes about communities different from yours. Approach story-writing as a listener; keep your questions in your head. Take mental notes and avoid interrogating; there are no right or wrong answers. Instead, have a conversation and listen to what’s not being said, show keen interest, watch expressions, probe their happy statements and do not minimise other people’s success because it doesn’t look like your ideal. Always ask the translator to elaborate so that beautiful details are not lost in translation. You don’t need to blend in to build rapport with communities; it’s ok to have gold hair and blue shoes -it’s your warmth and interest in people that will encourage them to share their powerful stories of change.
5.  Project knowledge toolkits: Once upon a time I had James Bond, Shakespeare, and the Queen of Sheba feeding into a critical project document. If they say “Too many cooks spoil the broth”, how do you document projects that have multiple decision-makers from multiple organisations with multiple personalities? Best tip: The onus is on you to provide a brutal documentation framework that does not allow scope creep and work spillovers that would result in prolonged reviews and headachy delays. Do not re-invent the wheel; work with their strategic objectives or result areas -any category that they aligned their work to, will help you gather information efficiently. Write towards condensing content by focusing less on activities, and more on impact. Use visuals cleverly to further reduce copy and hire the most contemporary graphics designer to package it in style. Knowledge toolkits include lessons learned publications, impact documents, best practices handbooks, project timelines. The volatile decision-makers? Make a contractual request for a focal person who handles them internally and gives you feedback.
6. Innovative models and approaches: I’d always been fascinated by motorbikes and it was a trip to Northern Uganda where I finally got the opportunity to navigate one through dusty tree-lined streets where, surprisingly, women generally ride motorbikes. This lifetime ride came at the tailend of a visit to a community pioneering clever models to tackle violence against children. Best tip: Many models sound like deja-vu; however, look for unique adaptations, new features, study the distinctiveness of the users, look for unexpected outcomes and insights into optimal use of the model and recommendations for scalability. 

Lesson learned, the best experiences will often find you out of your comfort zone and without your preferred crew: learning to greet in multiple languages, eating healthy stews, enjoying a hot shower, being gifted a basket of tomatoes and the happy smiles of clients who feel validated.