Are you documenting a process or a procedure?

In my last post, I mentioned how you can get yourself into trouble if you start documenting processes before you’re ready. And after I posted it, I realized I got careless with my language.

There’s actually a difference between “Processes” and “Procedures.” (Don’t worry… I used to think they were the same too!)

Here’s a very simple example of a Sales Process Map. Notice how this process doesn’t give a lot of details about how each step is done. It only lists the steps and how they fit together. Creating something like this can bring great clarity to a team who’s still figuring out how things should work or who has disagreements about who should do which steps. It may look fancy, but you can just get everyone in a room with a whiteboard and draw one of these babies to bring clarity to your team.

Now, let’s zoom in on just this one step in the process, “Conduct Initial Call”:

If I wanted to teach someone how to do this step, I would write out a Procedure or “Work Instructions.” It might go something like this.:

  • Step 1 - Google the lead to learn a bit about them, including viewing their LinkedIn and Facebook accounts, if applicable.

  • Step 2 - Create a new “Initial Call Template” form in Google Docs and add in the initial information from the interest form.

  • Step 3 - Call the lead at the exact scheduled time.

  • etc.

If you need to get everyone on your team on the same page about what steps are required, collaborate to map out a high-level PROCESS.

If you need to get clear on the details of how to do each step, document a PROCEDURE or WORK INSTRUCTIONS.

And one isn’t better than the other, since they both serve different purposes.

Chances are, you don’t need to get into the weeds of a procedure when you’re designing or fixing how your business does something… you’d just use map out the process to get agreement on the key steps.

As you get more streamlined in how you want all of your employees to do things, (typically when you’re ready to scale or hire a lot of new people) you can start to document to the procedure-level so they have handy reference and training materials.

And just to be clear, BOTH processes and procedures are super-useful in a training scenario, since mapping out a process will provide your new-hire with the context for how everything fits together.

Happy documenting!

This is why you can't seem to document your processes

We’ve helped a LOT of businesses get their processes out of their heads and into Trainual over the years and there’s one common pattern in the ones who’ve struggled to get it done…

They’re still figuring out their processes.

You 100% must DEFINE your processes before you can DOCUMENT them. And frankly, you may not even be ready to define them if you’re just getting started!

This means…

If it’s a new process and you’re still figuring out how everything should work…

If you have disagreement amongst team members about how things “should get done”…

If you just bought a new critical software system and haven’t fully implemented it yet…

If you’re about to restructure your team and change all your workflows…

It is NOT time to document your processes. You’re still in the middle of DEFINING your processes and trying to document things now will only frustrate you and your team.

You’ll see we have an affiliate link in this post, but we only promote things we love and use ourselves!

DON'T follow these 3 easy steps.

I’m the kind of person who loves a formula.

I want to use the tried-and-true path.

To follow the 3-step program.

To do it “the right way.”

But this week, I was reminded of the power of following your own instincts.

To see the need and respond.

To do the unconventional.

To move in flow.

Remember, there are a lot of experts out there with so much wisdom to share in their areas of expertise, but it can also be a whole lot of fun to just act naturally. (And aren’t we all building these businesses to have some fun?)

Document a Process with Me!

You know you need to document your processes so you can delegate and better train your new team members, but how do you even do it??

I get asked all the time for tips and tricks on how to document a process. People want to know things like…

  • Where do I start?

  • What should be included?

  • What shouldn’t be included?

  • How should I format it?

  • How fancy/formal does it need to be?

  • How do I know if it’s “good enough?”

So I’ve decided to host a FREE 45-minute workshop on Thursday, March 24, at 10am Pacific time to show you and your team exactly how to document a process and to answer these questions and more!

Come with one process you’d LOVE to get out of your head and into a written format and by the end of the session it’ll be DONE (and you’ll be feeling ready to tackle all of your processes!)

Or send one of your rock star team members to document one of their key processes so you can get them onto bigger and better things!

We’ll be capping registration at 20 participants, since I want to be able to answer questions and provide real-time support during the session, so get yourself registered quick!

Tips for Quick-and-Dirty Delegation

Some of you need to delegate tasks urgently and don’t have time to build out a proper Business Playbook or Employee Training (at least not yet). If that’s you, here’s my biggest advice for how to do that. (And here’s a free template you can use to make it happen!)

  1. Open up a spreadsheet and list all of the tasks you know you need to delegate in the left-most column.

  2. In the second column, write a quick description of the purpose of each task.

  3. Get yourself a Loom account and use it to create messy, imperfect videos explaining how to do each of the tasks on your list.

  4. Paste the video link for each of those tasks in the third column of your spreadsheet.

  5. Create a “Task Owner” column, and as you begin delegating your tasks, one-by-one, to your team, switch out your name for theirs once they can demonstrate that they’re able to do it.

  6. Once your team member has a handle on their new task, have them RE-record an EVEN BETTER training video and build it into a comprehensive training tool like Trainual.

It won’t be beautiful to start, but it will be a clear and fast way to delegate and train your employees so you can get to your most important work. Sometimes pretty just isn’t the point!

(This article has affiliate links, but we only promote stuff we love and use ourselves!)

Sure, you've documented your processes, but are you using them?

If you’re going to spend all that time writing down how you should be doing all the things in your business, isn’t it worth spending at least a few hours to make sure all that hard work actually gets used?

Yes, make a plan for documenting.

But also make a plan for implementing said documentation.

At the very least, you need…

  • Comprehensive training for all managers on how to use your SOP or training software.

  • One person assigned to make sure ALL processes and training get updated every 6 months (minimum)

  • One person assigned as the “Owner” for each department’s processes who should update things anytime they change

  • One person assigned to make sure all new employees go through their required training when they come on board.

  • A deadline by which all managers will ensure their team has reviewed and/or completed their assigned training.

If you’re not going to create ownership and systems for keeping your documentation up-to-date, the whole endeavor is kind of a waste.

Sometimes Important Tasks Need to Wait

There is so much to do right now...

  • Preparing for our first full-time employee in just 2 weeks (eep!)

  • Onboarding new clients

  • Supporting existing clients

  • Sending proposals

  • Creating new content

And yet, I'm about to spend the next TEN FREAKING HOURS doing none of it. (gasp!) Instead, I'll be attending my very first quarterly session for EO Accelerator Arizona.

Instead of doing, I’ll be…

Learning

Networking

Growing as an entrepreneur

My list of urgent things will still be here when I return tomorrow, but the woman who shows up to my desk to do them will be wiser, better-connected, and better-equipped to lead this business.

I have invested a LOT of time and money in my own professional development, and I’ve never regretted a dime, because I know that if I want my business to grow, it’s essential to grow ME.

Wish me luck!

How to Define Roles in Your Company

When you’re getting clear on your processes to build a Business Playbook, one of the most critical steps is to define the roles in your company (Also known as “positions”). Each human being in your company may fulfill multiple “roles” as part of their job, and once you’ve identified each of them, it’s time to dig deeper to define each role so everyone knows what they’re accountable for.

Our friends at Trainual have built a great tool for doing this and I wanted to share a quick example (90 seconds, to be exact) to show you how we define roles for our clients.

The three main components to make sure you’ve included are:

  1. Clear statement of what RESULTS the person in this role is accountable for getting. (Different from #2 below) - I love asking “What problem does this person solve for our company?” to figure this out.

  2. List of TASKS/RESPONSIBILITIES the person in this role is responsible for completing daily, weekly, monthly, or as-needed.

  3. Links to WORK INSTRUCTIONS or TRAINING for each TASK/RESPONSIBILITY listed so they know how to do it.

Have fun building out your company’s roles!

(The link included in this article are affiliate links, but we only share products and services we love!)

The 6th Love Language: Clear Processes & Training

Love through better processes and training? You better believe it.

Perhaps when you think of building your employee training or operations manual, you think of all the problems it will solve for your business...

  • Fewer mistakes

  • More rapid employee training

  • Better employee alignment

  • More consistent client experience

What if you also considered it as an act of LOVE.

When you provide thoughtfully curated employee training, you love your new-hires enough to make sure they can be successful as quickly as possible. (What a gift!)

When you invest the time and money to document your processes, you love your clients enough to ensure they have an exceptional experience every time, no matter who they encounter in your business.

When you invest the energy to finally get those administrative tasks out of your head and delegated to someone else, you love yourself enough to spend more of your time in your zone of genius.

Remember, clear processes and training are a better gift than chocolate, this Valentine’s Day. (But only just barely.)

The 3 Tools You Need to Document Your Business

Feeling overwhelmed about choosing the "right tools" for documenting your business processes or building your employee training? I got you.

(Warning: A whole lotta affiliate links are about to come your way, but we only recommend tools we actively use ourselves and LOVE!)

Here are the essential tools we recommend and use with our clients every day:

1. Learning Management System: Trainual

We love it so much, we’re Trainual Certified!

This is where all of your content will live and be accessed by your team, so it's important to choose one that is simple to use and can grow with you for the long-haul.

Traditional learning management systems are full of cool features that instructional designers geek out about, but that's not what you need. Trainual was built for businesses and they're constantly fine-tuning their feature set to continue to help businesses get clear on how their business works. Ok, enough gushing. It's great.

2. Video Capture Tool: Loom

Old binders-full of Standard Operating Procedures are OUT. (Because no one used them anyway.) Video is IN. I am obsessed with using Loom to document business processes and training. You can hit record on your desktop or phone, explain your process while recording video or sharing your screen and get an auto-generated URL you can embed right in Trainual! (And did I mention it's integrated into Trainual too!)

Remember, the successful process documentation is the one that gets used and updated regularly. Loom videos make it friendly to learn and create a frictionless method for updating processes quickly. Do it.

3. Project Management Tool: Monday.com

Having a tool to manage the project of building your operations manual or employee training is essential. This will be used to break down what content needs to be created, assign content creators, and set (and track) due dates.

We love Monday.com because it's friendly-looking for non-technical users and infinitely flexible. You're really only limited by your imagination as to what you can create with it, but they also have a ton of great templates you can use right out of the box.

If you're not quite ready to invest in a project management tool, you can always start with a simple Google Sheet.

You’ve Got This!

Armed with these three tools, your team has everything it needs to start documenting your business!