Documentation is always vitally important during a time of transition. Right now, businesses are being given the opportunity to open their doors or move from online-only back to more in-person interactions. With this and other societal changes occurring in cities around the nation, it’s essential to consider the things you can control within your business.
As a business owner, you can control how things get done within your company. You can track metrics and make informed decisions about how to move forward. You can form new processes and procedures to create consistency within each department. You can delegate tasks to employees and empower them to do their jobs better each and every day.
This is why documentation of your processes and procedures is vital right now.
How to Start Documenting Processes
Many company CEOs become overwhelmed when thinking about documenting the processes and procedures for their entire company. This makes complete sense - your company has many moving parts, and there is a lot to document.
The first step we always take with any business owner during documentation is to ask a question. That is: What department or area of your company needs the most improvement?
This may be sales, production, marketing, accounting, HR - any area that is in need of the most attention.
Once you make this determination, you will be able to talk with the leadership of the area. You will need to enlist their help in both the documentation of existing processes and the creation of new processes that will function to get the department back on track.
Preserve Company Knowledge Through Documentation
As you expand out from documenting departmental processes and procedures, it’s also vital to understand the way specific hats within your companies get things done. For example, you need to know the “secret sauce” behind your lead salesman’s success.
Get key players within your company to write down how they perform their jobs. Not only will this documentation preserve vital knowledge within your company, but it will also be a valuable training tool for existing and future employees in the department.
Create Documentation to Proof Against Future Upheaval
These last few months have been a trying time for many businesses across the U.S., and there is an uncertain future ahead. Right now, some businesses are moving forward from shelter-in-place orders, while others continue to pivot. No matter what your company is, this moment in history has changed something about your business.
These changes need to be documented. How you handled shelter-in-place orders or protests in your area needs to be documented. How your company weathered recent hurricanes or tornadoes needs to be documented.
Businesses carry on through all kinds of external pressures, and there will be other things that happen in our world that you cannot control. Documenting how you handled this moment will allow you to look back at these strategies in the future, as something new occurs in our world. This documentation will provide you and your team with vital data to inform how your company moves forward during some other incident. In this way, you can be your own inspiration through documentation.
Are you ready to begin documentation? Contact Business Success Consulting Group to utilize our team of process experts.
