"If it isn't in writing, it didn't happen." It's an old saying that engineers and everyone in your organization, private-sector or public, should be aware of. More important, everyone should know how to put the concept—documentation —into practice. Does that mean writing careful notes about any information conveyed orally? No, it means a lot more than that.
"A good scientist is a person with original ideas. A good engineer is a
person who makes a design that works with as few original ideas as
possible" - Freeman Dyson