Safety Moment
Effective Documentation for Effective
Communication
Effective documentation refers to the collection, storage, dissemination, and efficient use of information
with the aim of helping teams and individuals conduct business effectively and safely.
How to Write Effective Documents
Consider the Six C’s of communication
● Clear: choose words that will have the intended
meaning for the reader;
● Correct: check facts carefully, include all relevant
information, and proof-read your writing;
● Concise: get to the point quickly and make sure
that your message is easy to understand and that
your key points stand out;
● Complete: make sure you include all the
information the audience will need and anticipate
the background information the receiver will need
along with the questions they will ask;
● Concrete: use concrete terms wherever possible
(for instance, “computer training” instead of
“upgrading of skills”); and
● Coherent: arrange words and ideas so that they
flow logically and naturally.
Documents should be segregated for different
purposes (Standard for mandatory requirements,
Procedure for detailing tasks, Guideline for best
practice and examples, etc.)
Diagrams and flowcharts should be used
whenever possible, as it improves the reader’s
understanding of the described processes.
Documents should be periodically reviewed
to ensure that their content is in-line with the
organization’s requirements and is reflective of
the advancements/updates in the corresponding
processes.
SAFETY MOMENT AND SAFETY ALERT EXCELLENCE COMMITTEE
The Responsible Management Representative
(RMR) should be familiarized and engaged at all
stages of document drafting in order to ensure
adherence to the requirements of the organization’s
management system controls and facilitate the
collaboration of authors and stakeholders involved
in the writing of the document.
Make use of the available platforms to improve
document writing within your teams, such as the
Technical Writing E-Learning module, available in
Employee Central.
Benefits of Effective Documentation
Establishment of Requirements
Effective documentation streamlines the requirements
of various protocols and processes so employees
aren't left guessing how to perform their job duties
adequately and safely.
Alignment of Employees and Management with
QatarEnergy’s Core Values and Goals
Effective documentation ensures that the
organization’s values and goals are communicated
and aligned across the organization, thus enabling
managers and employees to efficiently deliver against
them.
Improvement of Operational Efficiency
Effective documentation improves the efficiency of
operations by removing unnecessary or duplicate
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steps in a procedure or process. Moreover, companies
that use effective documentation to catalog past
projects, collect research, and share decisions are
able to limit re-work, thus saving time that could be
better used elsewhere.
Separation of Duties and Improvement of
Accountability
Effective documentation ensures the separation of
duties to avoid conflicts of interest and the risk of
mismanagement. With documents that designate
clear roles and responsibilities, accountability can be
easily defined.
Organization of Information
Effective documentation allows for the proper
organization of data in the event of litigation or
external audit. Effective documentation systems
protect both the organization and its clients by filing
client data and documents in a secure yet accessible
manner.
Continuous Improvement
Effective documentation enables the proper
identification of opportunities and activities that
continually enhance the organization’s internal
controls and improve processes, products, and
services.
SAFETY MOMENT AND SAFETY ALERT EXCELLENCE COMMITTEE
Knowledge Sharing and Collaboration
Effective documentation facilitates knowledge
sharing between different stakeholders. Managers
will spend less time answering questions that could
be answered by referring to a database of well written
documents.
Effective Documentation at
QatarEnergy
QatarEnergy is currently implementing a corporate-
wide initiative to promote effective documentation
across the organization, called the Quality
Management Refresh (QMR). It is one of the critical
transformation journey initiatives by the Corporate
HSE & Quality department (BC), and has the following
objectives:
● Promote quality of QatarEnergy’s documents, by
the production of well written documents with a
clear intent;
● Update the core corporate-level documents’
management system;
● Create standardized templates to help draft clear
and consistent documents; and
● Enhance capability to effectively and adequately
re-engineer QatarEnergy’s processes.
For questions or queries regarding this important
initiative please e-mail QMR@qatarenergy.qa