Avoid communicating on paper

It’s tempting to think if we write something down that nobody will be confused.

That assumes 

  • People read it
  • What you write is complete (contains what matters)
  • What other people know is enough to understand what you mean  
  • Nothing will change 
  • Or, if things change you’ll update things 100% to account for what changed (and that you have the time to do that) and that people will read what you changed without missing anything
  • That you can recall everything that  matters 
  • That people won’t have questions 
  • That enough documentation means people will simultaneously not have m/any questions and also not need to clarify m/anything.
  • It’s cheaper than one off conversations

I can go on…

I think this is enough of a list to conclude that merely communicating on paper is not a good idea and to plan for other modes.