Process documentation often feels like a burden. Who has time to write down all the steps, detailed instructions, with screenshots, no less. In reality, we often spend more time communicating and fixing process issues because of a lack of documentation. Sharing information verbally makes it hard to remember and leaves no path for future reference. When you document your processes, you open the door for greater autonomy and improved productivity. 

Today’s guest is Owen McGab Enaohwo. Owen is the CEO and Co-Founder of SweetProcess; an easy-to-use and intuitive business process management software founded in 2013. The software makes it possible for company executives and their employees to collaborate together to quickly document standard operating procedures, processes, and policies.

Owen and I talk about the importance of documenting your processes and procedures, how to do that documentation effectively and efficiently so it doesn’t feel like a burden, and why using a process specific software like SweetProcess is useful.  

For an extended free trial and reduced price for SweetProcess go to www.sweetprocess.com/modernmanager. Members of the Modern Manager community get a 30-minute session with me to facilitate process documentation or answer questions / provide feedback on your documentation. Learn more and become a member at www.themodernmanager.com/join.

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Read the related blog article: How And Why To Document Your Processes Collaboratively

Key Takeaways:

• While documenting processes can feel time consuming, it saves time in the long run.
• When we do effective, collaborative documentation, we give our team members time to focus on improving their game rather than on understanding basic operating information.
• When critical information is documented, you can provide greater freedom and autonomy for your team members to do their jobs creatively.
• There are three main areas of documentation. A procedure is a checklist of steps to accomplish a certain task, like directions from how to get from point A to point B.  A policy is information - such as a dress code policy or vacation policy - that provides general guidelines. A Process is a longer, complicated set of tasks that involve many steps. For each step in a process, there are often procedures or policies. 
• To begin documentation, start with either the most common workflow / task-related questions that come up, the tasks that will most help your team achieve its goals, or the tasks where accuracy is most critical. 
• Start small by documenting the title of the procedure and the main steps. Get your whole team involved to fill in additional detail and provide enhancements as time goes on. 
• While performing documented tasks, employees have the opportunity to update missing or inaccurate information in the documentation. 
• Documenting work processes is a constant work in process; as you learn, you can improve the procedures. 
• Mistakes are opportunities to figure out the real problem. If a documented task is still not done properly, consider if the issue is with the process, the documentation, a lack of skill or motivation, or capacity. 

Additional Resources:

• www.sweetprocess.com/modernmanager
• Sweet Process webinar: https://my.demio.com/recording/OuosUYm6
• https://www.themodernmanager.com/courses/effective-delegation

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