How to Document Processes and Procedures

Several policies and procedures include a documentation of tasks by different people in an organization so they can use them as a reference when training new team members. Others document processes so they can improve their outcomes and overall results. The motivation behind your policies and procedures often defines the outcome of the document. Changing outcomes begins with changing your thought process.

Procedures instead of Processes

Procedures that document your tasks on a daily basis serve as good training documents for new employees while also helping your provide evidence for ISO 9001 compliance and other compliance bodies. However, the process is not really documentation but production of ‘ballistic’, where employees blindly follow procedures to complete a checklist to merely complete tasks and fill their working hours.

This approach is quite common in unions that start with a detailed and specific job description, with rules that strictly prohibit activities outside the specified checklist. Instead of focusing on productivity, the emphasis is on a list of tasks individuals must accomplish. If you are looking for a different outcome, you need a fresh mindset.

Procedures and Processes

A different approach allows you to focus on the process, which gives you better control over each process, allowing you to focus on the outcomes of each process. You need to take control of the chaotic process, which then allows you to introduce improvement measures easily. One tool you can use is the process map, which allows you to document and gradually control the process.

Process maps are graphical tools that allow you to relay different steps, the outcome of a process and the decision points. They help you improve understanding while focusing on steps that remove you from ballistic procedures.

Documenting Processes and procedures

The documentation of processes and procedures is not an event; initial stages may include ballistic procedures that follow checklists; however, you can employ process maps to improve the process.