Imagine a new team member struggling to find onboarding instructions buried in email threads. Or a seasoned employee spending half an hour digging through shared drives for the latest policy update. It’s more common than most organizations admit—and it’s costly.
Research shows that employees spend 19% of their average workweek simply searching for the information they need to do their jobs. Worse still, one in three employees say unclear processes hurt their performance and morale.
In this article, we’ll revisit what internal documentation truly is, look at why it’s so easy for it to get lost, and explore how to store it in the most accessible way possible.
What is Internal Documentation?
At its core, internal documentation is the written guidebook for how your business runs behind the scenes. It’s the collection of resources that explains what gets done, how it happens, and who’s responsible for making it work.
Great internal documentation doesn’t just record facts—it captures your team’s collective knowledge and experience. It helps everyone stay aligned, avoid reinventing the wheel, and scale your business smoothly.
Types of Internal Documentation That’s Easy to Lose
Of course, not all documentation is equally safe from getting buried or forgotten. Some types are especially prone to slipping through the cracks, including:
- Tribal knowledge – those “here’s how we really do it” tips that live only in someone’s head
- One-off process notes – instructions saved in personal folders for a single project and never shared;
- Policy updates – revised rules that get stuck in email threads but never reach the official docs
- Meeting outcomes – important decisions and next steps trapped in scattered notes;
- Troubleshooting steps – clever workarounds hiding in chat messages or personal notebooks;
- Onboarding materials – documents customized for specific roles but scattered in multiple places.
Individually, these might seem minor, but over time, losing them leads to confusion, wasted time, and duplicated work. And that’s a cost no growing business can afford.
What Should Internal Documentation Be Like?
Creating solid internal documentation is about much more than just jotting down information. It should become a tool your team can actually lean on. For documentation to be truly effective, it needs a few essential qualities:
- Easy to Find: People shouldn’t have to play detective to track down the information they need. Great documentation is organized and searchable so answers are just a few clicks away.
- Up-to-Date: Information loses its value the moment it goes stale. Effective documentation stays current, so your team doesn’t waste time or make mistakes following old instructions.
- Practical and Clear: The best documentation doesn’t just describe things—it shows people how to get things done. It’s written in plain, straightforward language and focused on helping someone solve a problem or complete a task right away.
The ultimate goal is to build documentation that’s not just a reference, but a trusted everyday tool—something your team uses confidently to work faster, smarter, and with fewer headaches.
What’s the Best Place to Store Internal Documentation?
So, where should all this valuable information live? The best answer is a knowledge base.
What is a knowledge base?
A knowledge base is like a digital library for your company. It’s a central place where you store all your internal documents, processes, and policies. Using a knowledge base offers some big advantages:
- Find Answers Faster: People can search for what they need instead of wasting time digging through folders.
- Keep Information Consistent: Everyone uses the same up-to-date documents, so there’s less confusion or mistakes from old info.
- Grow Smoothly: As your business expands, new hires can learn the ropes quickly, and teams can work more independently without constantly asking for help.
- Protect Knowledge: Important know-how stays in the company, even when employees leave.
In short, a knowledge base transforms internal documentation from a scattered collection of files into a powerful resource that helps your team work smarter every day. Whether you build your own system or use dedicated tools like Sereda Base, having a well-organized knowledge hub can make all the difference in keeping your business running smoothly.
Read: Scaling Without Chaos: What a Knowledge Base Is and Why It Matters
Practical Tips for Managing Internal Documentation
Creating a solid knowledge base isn’t just about picking software—it’s about building habits that make documentation part of how your team works every day. Here’s how to make it happen:
Assign ownership
Give every part of your documentation a clear owner. When someone knows a document is “theirs,” they’re far more likely to keep it accurate and up-to-date. Ownership avoids the problem of old, forgotten pages that no one feels responsible for fixing—and ensures someone’s always looking out for gaps or outdated info.
Make it searchable
People won’t always remember a document’s exact title, so use names and keywords that reflect how people actually talk and search. A good test: if someone typed a question into Google, would your document show up? That’s the level of clarity you’re aiming for.
Keep it short and scannable
Long paragraphs are the enemy of useful documentation. Short sentences, bullet points, and clear headings make it easy for someone to find exactly what they need without wading through a wall of text. Think of your docs like instructions on the back of a box—they should get people to the answer fast.
Review and update regularly
Don’t let your documentation become a static archive. Schedule time—maybe every quarter—to review and refresh it. Even small updates, like swapping out screenshots or clarifying confusing steps, keep your knowledge base trustworthy and relevant.
Encourage team contributions
Some of the best knowledge lives in people’s heads. Encourage everyone to suggest updates, point out missing info, or share solutions they’ve discovered. The more your team contributes, the richer and more accurate your knowledge base becomes—and the more people feel invested in keeping it useful.
Integrate it into everyday work
Link your documentation right into the tools people use daily— Telegram threads, project management comments, onboarding checklists—so it’s always at their fingertips. That’s how you turn documentation from a dusty folder into a living, practical resource people rely on without even thinking about it.
When you combine ownership, clarity, regular updates, and team involvement, documentation stops being a chore and becomes a trusted tool that helps your business run smoother every day.
Read: How to Make Employees Use the Knowledge Base Regularly
Conclusion
Internal documentation is one of the most valuable—and vulnerable—assets your business has. When knowledge gets lost, so does time, productivity, and sometimes even revenue.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. By understanding what internal documentation truly encompasses, recognizing what’s easiest to lose, and committing to store it in a well-managed knowledge base, you can turn scattered information into a strategic advantage.
Curious how a knowledge base like Sereda Base can help you keep your team aligned and your knowledge safe? Book a short demo to see it in action.