At all the places I've worked, I've put my own time to document how things work. These are often HTML pages, with links to the source code, pointing at the exact point where the action happens. I strive to offer a narration of what happens from startup to shutdown. I do this as and when I discover things. Over time, the documentation grow in size, inadvertently forming a 'what I'd like to have found when I started' document--an unofficial refrence manual. I put even more time in organizing the information presented. I draw block and sequence diagrams. I then share the links with my teams and managers at the time.
Guess what? Other than the multiple emoji reactions, appreciative and thanking comments I get at the time of sharing, nobody bookmarks them or even refer back to them. People completely forget such a document even exists. Then, in team chat, someone asks 'does someone know does X works?'. I roll my eyes and share a link to my document. Rinse and repeat.
I say this not to say that I deserve more recognizition, but to lament that people don't care as much I think they should. By extension, they don't care whether someone wrote things down, either.
Guess what? Other than the multiple emoji reactions, appreciative and thanking comments I get at the time of sharing, nobody bookmarks them or even refer back to them. People completely forget such a document even exists. Then, in team chat, someone asks 'does someone know does X works?'. I roll my eyes and share a link to my document. Rinse and repeat.
I say this not to say that I deserve more recognizition, but to lament that people don't care as much I think they should. By extension, they don't care whether someone wrote things down, either.