How to document processes without slowing the team down
Write down the few routines that cause problems, let the people who do the work write them, and keep each one to a page. Documentation should save time within a month.
To document processes without slowing the team down, start with the five or six routines that cause the most mistakes or questions, and let the person who does the work write each one on a single page. Do not try to write the whole business down at once.
Start where it hurts
Ask the team which tasks lead to the most repeated questions, rework or errors. Those are the first candidates. A routine that always runs smoothly can wait.
Let the person who does it write it
A manual written from the office rarely matches what happens on the floor. Ask the person doing the task to write the steps, then ask someone else to follow them. Wherever the second person gets stuck, the page needs work.
Keep each routine to one page
- What starts the task and what finishes it.
- The steps, in the order they happen.
- Who decides when something is unusual.
- A photo, screenshot or example where words are not enough.
If it runs past a page, it is probably two routines.
Fit it into the work
Set aside a short, fixed slot each week, for example twenty minutes. Write a routine the first time a new hire asks how something is done, rather than as a separate project. Keep all pages in one place that everyone can open from a phone.
Review, then retire
Check each page every few months and change what no longer matches reality. Delete pages nobody uses. A short set of current pages beats a long set nobody trusts. Documented routines also make it easier to see which tasks are worth automating.