From: [email protected]
Date: 2017-09-17
Subject: Information Gathering and Management

Gathering and managing information is one of the most important re-
sponsibilities of an analyst. Without the  collection  of  informa-
tion,  there can be no analysis. Collecting documentation and other
artifacts is important, but existing documentation  may  be  incom-
plete, inaccurate, or simply outdated. Generating new documentation
can be critical to our understanding of a project and  our  ability
to  support  our team. Using a process for gathering and organizing
information will help you to be consistent,  thorough,  and  effec-
tive.

Notes  form  the foundation of the documentation that project teams
use to guide their work. Taking notes is also important because  it
helps  us  process  information.  Putting  our  thoughts into words
forces us to apply a certain level of  logical  scrutiny  that  our
ideas might otherwise escape. Writing things down not only helps us
solidify what we know, it helps us identify  what  we  don't  know.
The  following is largely inspired by David Allen's *Getting Things
Done* and Michael Descy's Plaintext Productivity[1]. Establishing a
workflow  involves some trial-and-error; expect to change it to fit
your circumstances and working style. This process requires  little
more  than a basic text editor, and could even be implemented using
paper if needed. Your habitual use of the process is far  more  im-
portant than the tools you use.

To-Do List

The cornerstone of any productivity system is a to-do list. I think
it's important to have one place for all your tasks. This makes  it
easy  to  review  and prioritize. To-do items should be actionable,
but don't let that prevent you from capturing a  to-do  item;  just
make  it a goal to develop vague to-dos into more specific, action-
able tasks as you refine the list. The Todo.txt[2] method  provides
a  simple  set  of rules[3] that allow you to prioritize tasks, add
due dates, associate items to projects, and add other metadata. Ar-
chiving  completed  to-dos  can help you track what you've done and
build a sense of forward motion.

Journal

The oft-overlooked complement to the to-do list  is  a  journal.  I
frequently find myself working on something that never hit my to-do
list. I find that keeping a journal helps me quickly  answer  ques-
tions  about what I've been working on. This is very handy, for ex-
ample, at daily stand-up meetings. When giving status updates, it's
easier  to  summarize  your  journal than to recall from memory.  A
journal can also help you stay on task by reminding you of what you
were _just working on_ before you were interrupted. Reviewing jour-
nal entries can help you see if your  activities  align  with  your
priorities.  A  journal  is  not necessarily a timesheet; it should
record significant events such as setting up a meeting  or  sending
out  a  document.  You  will  have to select a level of detail that
works in your circumstances.

Information Capture (aka Taking Notes)

Capturing information can be very demanding. Taking notes during  a
meeting  can feel like drinking from a fire hose, especially if you
don't type very fast. (I don't type very fast.) Using some form  of
shorthand  can help. Most of the people I talk to develop their own
abbreviations. Capturing audio can be helpful, but be sure to alert
attendees  that  the meeting will be recorded. It can also be chal-
lenging to filter out unimportant information.  Revise  your  notes
immediately  and send requests for clarification if needed.  Set an
organizational scheme for your notes, such as one topic  per  file,
and keep it up to date. Keep a list of sources -- like a bibliogra-
phy. This will help you answer questions about  the  origin  of  an
idea.  Your  sources could be emails, documents, even conversations
in the hallway.

Create and Maintain Documentation

As an analyst, you gather information on complex and, often,  time-
sensitive  topics.  The end product of your work is, in part, docu-
mentation that helps other people quickly understand  these  topics
in  a  way that is useful to them. I try to keep a high-level docu-
ment for each project I'm working on. This is basically  a  project
charter[4] with some additions. I find it helpful to review and re-
fine this information on a regular basis.  It  helps  me  keep  the
project  goals in mind over the long term, track important develop-
ments and milestones, and provides a nice resource  for  newcomers.
Suggested sections include:

 * Overview - What is this and why is it important?
 * Goals/Objectives - What are specific things we want to achieve?
 *  Open Questions - What do we need to know and how might we find
out?
 * Next Steps - What do we need to do next and who is responsible?
 * Who is involved - Team Members, SMEs, Sponsors
 * Resources - Project or topic-specific references and bookmarks

I use markdown[5] to format my notes. This helps to keep them read-
able  and  organized.  It can also help you out if you ever need to
convert your notes to another format. A utility like pandoc[6]  can
turn  markdown-formatted  documents into HTML or a dozen other for-
mats. There are a number of other lightweight markup  formats  like
AsciiDoc[7]  and  reStructuredText[8].  Also,  I  use  git to track
changes to my notes and to keep them backed up. Keeping  a  history
helps  me, personally, to feel safe keeping my notes up to date be-
cause I'm not "losing" content that I remove.

[1]: http://plaintext-productivity.net
[2]: http://todotxt.org/
[3]: https://github.com/todotxt/todotxt/#todotxt-format-rules
[4]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_charter
[5]: https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/
[6]: https://pandoc.org
[7]: http://asciidoc.org
[8]: http://docutils.sourceforge.net/rst.html