Yesterday, I delivered the final report to the school district outlining all the steps the volunteer advocacy committee took in support of the bond referendum. We’ve been working on this report for quite some time as it ended up being 25+ pages of text. Many hours went into documenting our actions during the six-month project and adding our recommendations for future efforts.
It would have been easy (actually, far easier) to conclude our work when the election results were in and not exert the effort to capture the details. But whether we are involved again, or it serves as a resource to those who are, not doing a final report was never an option for me. I believe it’s an essential step in any process. Already, we had to rely on notes and each other to capture the nuances and tasks that we would have clearly forgotten if we tried to recreate them in the next round.
More than serving as a future playbook, a final report allows me to reflect on the project, consider what I learned from it, and create tangible evidence that our efforts existed. It is the opportunity to appreciate the enormity of what we accomplished and to give the gift of hindsight to those who come after us.
Yes, doing documentation after the conclusion of a project is anticlimactic and frankly the last thing you feel like doing. Trust me, it’s still the right thing to do.
