Start getting control
My first article in this series I outlined twelve points that I generally find to be true in respects to a start-up company. While moving from start-up mode to corporate mode there will be some pain points. So let’s talk about things you can do to start making an immediate impact.
There are two things that will have immediate impacts on your business during the transition. The first is attrition. Folks who started working for the start-up from day one will begin to feel like the power they once had is being taken away. These folks could make decisions on a whim. They know where everything is, because they put it there! At the time this was appropriate. Everything was about getting the business going. Now, that you’re moving to a corporate or enterprise mentality these decisions can have dire impacts on the companies operations.
The second major impact is the inevitable lack of documentation. So what type of documentation are we talking about? I mean everything. How many people in your organization know what server has what software installed? How about dependencies? License agreements? What about all of the small applications that were built to bridge the gap? Who built those? Chances are there are only a select few people in your organization that can answer these question. And I bet there are some surprises.
So here’s the dilemma. You have a lot of information in the hands of a few folks that are beginning to feel disenfranchised. No matter what you do these folks will eventually leave. Your first plan of action is to try to harness this mind share as soon as possible.
The Tool
A cheap and very effective way of doing this is to setup a Wiki. I’m not kidding. I have found this to be very effective tool for documentation. It’s what Wiki’s were made for! IT folks have a tendency to want to brag through documentation. It’s natural that they will run with this. To help the process along appoint a Wiki admin. Setup some templates for people to follow. I’ve seen templates for Server documentation, applications (including release notes), Product roadmaps, IM accounts, people, etc. Believe me, consistent presentation of information will go a long way towards adoption. Have your Wiki admin setup a front page to highlight ‘good and new documentation’ as well as a ‘most wanted’ list. Finally give it a name. At the company I currently work for we call it ‘TWIKI’ as in Tech Wiki. We even branded it with its own logo. Interesting enough some of our largest user base is not in IT. The business and sales teams use it on a regular basis to get the most up-to-date information.
This strategy will solve a few issues: Attrition and the loss of organization knowledge, documentation issues, as well as a great communication platform between your engineering department and the rest of the business.
During Part 3 I’ll be discussing the importance of asset management and how not doing so can really cost you.