Writing for Colleagues: How-to Templates, Decision Records, and Writing Less
Getting team documents to look alike and make sense takes two templates and one principle. The principle is fewer but fresh: Google's documentation guide says a small set of fresh, accurate docs beats a large pile in disrepair, and if something exists elsewhere, link to it. The how-to template runs prerequisites, steps, how to confirm it worked, and whom to ask when it fails; in one study, installation instructions rewritten to a template scored better on eight of ten aspects readers rated. Architecture decision records (ADRs) note why a decision was made; when one is reversed, you don't delete it, you mark it superseded and link to the new decision. Research also finds ADRs are often tried and dropped, and that the "considered options" section is the most problematic, often missing or misplaced, so keep the template short and keep that section.