The Underrated Power of Good Documentation

If you want to become someone your team relies on, start by being the one who writes things down.

After almost four years working at a remote-first company, I’ve learned that documentation is the backbone of a successful remote organization. Documentation isn’t glamorous, but it’s a hidden skill that will quietly make you indispensable. Good documentation makes you easier to work with, easier to trust, and way more effective, especially on remote teams.

What people get wrong about documentation

You’d think that with most communication happening in writing and every meeting recorded, there’d be more clarity, not less. But I’ve found the opposite: recordings don’t create clarity. People do.

Too often, teams assume that documentation is happening just because a meeting was recorded or someone took quick notes. But neither guarantees shared understanding. Recordings help with detail, notes help with recall, and clarity comes from someone taking ownership and making the messy stuff understandable.

Without that, you get the usual pain points:

• The same conversation rehashed three times
• Follow-ups that never happen
• Features built wrong, or never used
• Decisions no one remembers making

It’s super frustrating, but with good documentation, it’s all preventable.

My documentation process

This isn’t a perfect system, but it’s helped me stay on top of things, build trust, and reduce mental overhead. I document more than I “need to,” and it pays off almost every time.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

1. Prep before the meeting

Before any sync or decision-making convo, I try to write a little context: maybe a quick outline in a doc, a Loom explaining the problem, or a diagram if needed. All of this context gets sent to each meeting participant, and attached to the meeting invite with (ideally) at least a day’s notice so they can digest the information. Thinking through the topic solo first and writing it all down helps me run a tighter meeting and come in with clarity.

2. Take live notes

During the meeting, I’m usually typing notes in real time. I take notes almost like a transcript - it keeps me engaged (not checking Slack), and helps others catch miscommunications in real time. If something’s unclear, I’ll ask on the spot. At the end of the meeting, I aim for each follow-up to have a single owner. This ensures one person is accountable, there’s no confusion on who’s doing what, and everyone leaves knowing who to follow up with on each item.

3. Share the summary after

Right after, I’ll post the notes and the meeting recording in Slack. This way everyone can find the relevant documentation from the meeting through a quick search and review what was discussed if there is any confusion. If the meeting warrants it, I’ll also type up a summary of what happened and who is responsible for what.

4. Follow up post-launch

When a feature ships, I treat internal communication like a mini product launch. I’ll share what changed, why it matters, and who needs to know - usually with screenshots, a quick message, or a Loom. Lately, I’ve been thinking about these internal launches from more of a sales perspective: why should the accounts team share this update with their clients during limited office hours time? And why should the sales team pitch this to prospects? This thinking has helped me to zoom out from the nitty gritty of product management and view the features in a more holistic sense. Finally, I update our internal docs, because if the knowledge lives only in my head, it’s a liability and a bottleneck, and it makes handoffs way harder later.

More work upfront for high reward

Yes, documenting things well takes effort. You’re preparing before meetings, writing during, cleaning up after. But skipping it just creates more work later: more questions, more uncertainty, more back-and-forth. Writing things down helps me think more clearly, move faster, and reduce mental drag. It keeps projects on track and makes me easier to work with. And when someone asks, “What was that thing we did six months ago?” or “What did we decide last week?”, I don’t have to dig through messages or guess. I already wrote it down.

Conclusion

Documentation is about more than good habits. It’s a way to create clarity in chaos, build trust through being dependable, and free up your brain to focus on the actual work. If you want to become the team member that people trust, become the person who takes great notes, runs effective meetings, and follows up.