The Document Written for the Archive
Reports and analyses often get written for the record rather than for use. The author knows the document will be filed and forgotten, and writes to satisfy the requirement rather than to inform a decision. The result satisfies compliance and serves no one.
The cost is not merely the author's time. Documents written for the archive consume review capacity, produce false assurance that matters were examined, and displace documents that might have informed action. Volume substitutes for usefulness.
Writing for use requires knowing what decision the document serves. For those improving organizational communication through their professional development strategies, purpose specification precedes drafting. Our document framework provides purpose approaches.
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