Documenting a Process

Documenting a process or creating a procedure helps people or staff to remember how to do a task either they havn’t done before or havn’t done for a while. Why reinvent the wheel everytime you do something eg: End of Financial Year processes. Did you document how you did them or when you did them so next year this process is easier and faster?

What is a process?: (according to Google …)

“a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end”

Synonym:procedure, operation, action, activity, exercise, affair, business, job, task

Why?

Streamlining your business as it grows. If you are looking at documenting your processes it probably means your business is growing and you need to Streamline. Look at the reasons why:

Define roles within your organisation
Improve communication
Training purposes
Compliance: your process may be a checklist of things to do

Who?

Think about…

Who is the process for?
Who is your audience?

How?

Before you start write some notes. Write some basics about what the goal is and some clear points about the process. What should the process or procedure look like? Does it need a process management tool? Do you need to include an org chart or graph?

Then…Start from the beginning.

You may want to put in a short What for paragraph at the beginning.

“Login” is always a good start if it requires some computer software
- For security purposes you may store the login and password separately
Add in a screen shot
- Every step can have a screen shot if it is a very short process
- Every 3^rd step for a longer process
- Put in an arrow or 2 to be very specific in the screen shot
Think about your wording. Try to be simple and concise and not too long winded. Think about your audience.
Look at how you might need to report on this process

What next?

Test it out! Ask someone you work with to try this process. They can give you some feedback as to how to make it just a little better!

Review this process every 6 to 12 months. If you make a process more efficient you can save time in your business. Time equals money.

Ask an expert…

Streamlined Organising are expert in Administration. Processes and Procedures are just one of the areas we excel in and we want to help create more efficient processes in your business.

Documenting a Process