In this Series…

I’m covering the 25 best ways to start documenting your systems and processes in a way that your team will love so your business can grow and scale.

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Step 4: Prioritize

As my previous business grew, I knew it was time to document my processes.

So, I sat down and started writing a massive “bible of everything you’d need to know” for the company.

Surprise, surprise… This was never completed. It turned out that I was making too many mistakes.

In particular, it was these mistakes that kept me from achieving my goal:

1. I was trying to write it all myself instead of empowering the team members doing the work to help. (I’ll be covering this more in Step 7)
2. I didn’t keep things simple and minimal (Step 1 and Step 3). I was trying to account for every scenario before they even existed.
3. And my biggest issue of all, I didn’t prioritize. I wanted to write a document for every process, big or small, without caring about whether it’d be used once a year or every hour.

How to Prioritize the Process Docs You Create

Fortunately, it turns out that prioritization is relatively simple. At the basic level, only worry about documenting the processes and workflows that are causing you the most pain.

Look for indicators, such as:

• Repeat questions
• Constant errors
• Dramatic inconsistencies

Once one to three workflows, processes, or procedures are identified, that’s all you need. Don’t worry about making a longer list or trying to capture all the processes your business might need to be documented.

Why this Works

Each process doc you make will eliminate a burden from you or your leaders. When built correctly, with the right tools, the document will:

• Answer questions so they no longer need to be asked.
• Provide the necessary context to help your team make better decisions autonomously.
• Create a simple step-by-step process to follow to improve output consistency.

And the results of each of these are exponential time savings for you, your leaders, and your customers.

The same question doesn’t need to be answered over and over.

The errors that previously required a team to catch a fix are no longer happening.

The experience is consistent and clear, leading to fewer customer questions.

These benefits can be immediately achieved with a single process doc.

Summary

Create at least one and ensure it gets used, then reap the immediate benefits.

If you try to build out every single process doc, you’re never getting any of the benefits, and the same problems will be bogging you down while you spend hours, days, and weeks writing out your “company bible” that will never see the light of day.

Thank you for reading!