HAYLOWHow to Document Program Sessions So the Work Isn't Lost
The session went well. Three months later the report is due, and all you have is a warm memory and a guess.
Documentation is the record layer of a proof system — the bridge between what happened in the room and what you can show later. When it is missing, even great work evaporates. The gap between the session you ran and the record anyone can verify is the proof gap, and it opens one un-noted session at a time.
Capture the few things that matter, skip the rest
Good documentation is short. The goal is a record you can trust, not a transcript. Capture against your rubric so the notes mean something later.
| Worth capturing | Safe to skip |
|---|---|
| Who was there, and whether the plan was met | A minute-by-minute play-by-play |
| The one moment that mattered — a breakthrough, a setback | Your private opinion of the participant |
| A score or flag against the rubric | Anything you would not want a funder to read |
Make it a two-minute habit, not a chore
- Same time, every time — the five minutes right after the session, before the next thing pulls you away.
- One place — a single form or field per session, not scattered notebooks and texts.
- Structured, not blank — prompts tied to the rubric so coaches fill in, not free-write.
Where to go next. Run Signal to see whether documentation is your weakest layer. The Proof Is In The Work builds the full record system, and CALIBR captures and scores each session so the record keeps itself.
The work you cannot recall is work you cannot prove. Write it down while it is still warm.