Best Practices in Document Management

Name: Best Practices in Document Management
Rating: 4.4 (6627 reviews)

Develop your cost-effective and future-proof documentation strategy

Created byTish Chungoora

Last updated 5/2026

English

What you'll learn

Identify the causes of inefficient documentation
Apply a set of best practices to roll out a cost-effective and future-proof corporate strategy for documentation
Champion change management processes related to documentation, from an enterprise analysis perspective
Speak the lingo of technical publications at a conceptual level

Course content

4 sections • 29 lectures • 1h 18m total length

Welcome to the course!2:02
This is the very first lecture in this series, where we'll go through introductions and an overview of the course structure.
Audience and learning outcomes2:42
Here, we'll be looking at who the target audience is for the course as well as the key learning objectives.
Checkpoint: Will this course meet my needs?0:35
Here, you will find a decision tree diagram that will help you decide whether this course is really what you are after.
Causes of inefficient documentation: Part 12:42
In this lecture, we'll first find out how almost any documentation issue could be due to three distinct factors or a combination of these factors. We'll also discuss some of the common causes of inefficient documentation.
Causes of inefficient documentation: Part 23:48
This is a continuation of the previous lecture on the causes of inefficient documentation.
Causes of inefficient documentation: Part 33:55
This is a continuation of the previous lecture on the causes of inefficient documentation.
Summary of Section 10:32
In this short lesson, we'll summarize the main points discussed in this section of the course.
Causes of inefficient documentation

Best practice framework5:06
In this lecture, we'll visit an important best practice that looks at the arrangement of a high level framework to address what you need to manage during the documentation cycle.
Single source publishing2:26
In this lecture, we'll talk about the concept of "single source publishing" and why it's so important to avoid duplication and encourage reuse.
Modular documentation4:21
Modular documentation works hand in hand with single source publishing. In this lesson, we'll look at what modular documentation exactly is about at a conceptual level.
[Activity] DITA and modular writing basics6:00
This activity will test your understanding of the basics of modular documentation.
[Solution] DITA and modular writing basics1:00
This is the solution for the modular writing exercise.
Roles and responsibilities4:10
The appropriate implementation of roles and responsibilities in document management is another crucial best practice. This lecture elaborates on this best practice.
Workflows3:36
This lecture discusses the need to have clearly defined workflows to ensure the smooth running of the documentation cycle.
Style guides6:16
It's all about looking good! To ensure consistency across document sets, there is the very important best practice for creating, using and maintaining style guides. This lecture elaborates on this best practice.
Naming conventions3:02
This lecture talks about the necessity for defining appropriate file naming and title conventions.
Document metadata3:37
Metadata is data about data. Your documentation may carry lots of metadata which can be applied, at an implementation level, to drive workflows, search and a whole host of other automated processes. This lecture identifies the importance of understanding which document metadata work best for your document sets.
Shared glossary3:41
In this lesson, we'll discuss the best practice for keeping a shared glossary of common terms. It might sound trivial, but this best practice is often taken for granted.
Location3:26
"Content at the right place" - this is what this best practice is all about. In this lecture, we'll tackle this consideration in more detail.
User analysis5:17
Writers often have to generate documents with little or no knowledge of the target audience. In order to ensure that the target audience is addressed, there is the crucial best practice for incorporating user analysis as part of your documentation cycle.
Knowledge management3:12
It is always a good idea to reflect on the performance of your documentation. Incorporating knowledge management principles in the documentation cycle allows you to move a step closer towards a seamless documentation strategy.
Summary of Section 20:44
In this short lesson, we'll summarize the main points discussed in this section of the course.
The best practices

Overview2:40
This lecture provides the context for how to apply the best practices we covered in the previous section.
Vendor selection3:24
When rolling out a content or document management system, a very important activity is to perform an objective evaluation of possible technology vendors. This lecture looks at how we're able to consult our best practices to perform the vendor selection activity efficiently.
Document management architecture3:29
Planning an architecture for document management at enterprise level can be a daunting activity. However, with our checklist of best practices we're able to get good insights on what to consider to make it happen.
Summary of Section 30:25
In this short lesson, we'll summarize the main points discussed in this section of the course.
Applying the best practices

Description

Great documentation doesn't happen by accident. It's the result of the right practices, applied consistently.

Most organisations invest heavily in the tools and technologies for creating and publishing content — but without the right practices underpinning how documentation is planned, managed and delivered across its life cycle, even the best tools will underperform. The result is documentation that costs more than it should, takes longer than it needs to and fails to scale as the organisation grows.

This course addresses that directly. It covers the fundamental best practices for document management — giving you a framework that brings rigour to how documentation is planned and delivered, greater visibility of your processes, better management of your human and technological resources, and meaningful cost savings along the way. Crucially, the framework is designed to be future-proof and reconfigurable — built to adapt as your organisation's needs evolve, rather than becoming a constraint on them.

While the focus is document management, the principles apply wherever a coherent content delivery strategy is needed — whether that's in engineering, software development, finance, legal or any other content-intensive environment. This is as useful at a personal and team level as it is for organisations looking to establish documentation as a properly managed corporate function.

What you will be able to do after this course:

Apply a structured, best-practice framework for planning and managing documentation across its full life cycle
Identify and eliminate inefficiencies in your current documentation processes
Make smarter decisions about human and technological resources in a documentation context
Build a documentation strategy that is cost-effective, scalable and future-proof
Adapt the principles covered to any environment where content delivery strategy matters

Who this course is for:

This course is aimed at documentation managers, technical writers, content strategists and anyone responsible for the planning, delivery or governance of documentation — whether at a personal, team or organisational level. No specialist background is required. If documentation is part of your professional life and you want to manage it more effectively, this course gives you the framework to do that well.

Who this course is for:

Anyone who is directly or indirectly impacted by documentation
Individuals wishing to gain knowledge of how to plan and manage the documentation cycle
This course is not intended for those who already have extensive knowledge of document management

Best Practices in Document Management

What you'll learn

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Course content

Introduction7 lectures • 16min

The best practices15 lectures • 56min

Applying the best practices4 lectures • 10min

Course wrap-up3 lectures • 3min

Description

Who this course is for: