Thread by @joshuamschultz

Procedures are enormously important if you want to

- scale the size of your business
- reduce mistakes and fires
- find operational leverage points
- outsource work
- reduce training time
- and create a streamlined operation.

But what should they contain?

1. Name

Every Procedure should have a name. Since these will be stored and referenced, I like to use the name of the task someone would be asked to do.

"Can you send invoices" -> Send Invoices
"Please ship this UPS" -> Ship UPS

This makes it searchable by those who are new.

2. Date Written

You should keep a date written and date updated on the procedure at all times.

This helps people know how current it is.

It gives you a way to identify and update (ex. all procedures over 12 months old need to be reviewed for accuracy).

3. Revision

Its good to revision procedures.

This goes back to older industrial standards, but if its printed or shared outside the knowledgebase system, you want a way to check if its current or not.

(This implies a master revision table as well with all current revs).

With systems such as mediawiki, you don't need to manually track revisions as all changes are saved and accounted for with possibility to revert if you want.

4. Role

Put the role responsible.

Procedures can and should be more than just How-Tos.

They should help manage responsibility and enforce org structure.

Putting who is responsible for a certain procedure is important.

5. Trigger

Something I do, that is not in most Procedures, is add a Trigger.

Why is someone doing this procedure?

1. It helps readers understand when this is to be done
2. It gives a searchable method to find when someone doesn't know what to do.

i.e. Receive an invoice in the mail.

You can search "receive invoice", or "mailed invoice", and find the procedure "Enter Invoices" with a trigger "Receive in invoice [via mail or email]

6. Process

Every Procedure is part of a higher-level flow... a process.

I like to link to the process from within the procedure (and to the procedures from the process). This allows you to
- quickly navigate through the manual
- see next steps
- understand the whole picture

7. Description

This is just a one-sentence, layman explanation of what the procedure is.

This helps those that land on it make sure it is what they are looking for before they dive in.

8. Outcome

What is created, submitted, and or evident at the end of the procedure?

Make it clear what the outcome of performing is.

- A report to submit to management?
- An invoice in the system ready to be paid?
- Printed Payroll Checks?
- An FAI xls file completed and saved?

9. Requirements

List all resources that the role will need in order to complete the Procedure.

- access to ERP?
- access to filesharing?
- a printer?

Make it evident upfront.

10. Document Owner

Every procedure should have an owner.

This is the person who is responsible for updating, maintaining, and keeping accuracy for a procedure.

11. Procedure

The procedure itself is a step by step.

It is not overly detailed.

It is what you would say to someone that worked there, if they asked how to do something.

On definitions:

Many used to put definitions bulleted in procedures.

I find it distracting and useless without context.

I create a glossary and then link to those definitions from the actual steps when mentioned.

On data location:

All of this information does not need to be under headings that drag on for pages.

Much of it can be in the header and footer.

On tables:

The information that is in the beginning of the procedure, is useful in separate tables for searching and reference.

- master revision list
- triggers
- roles
- procedure owners

Want to learn more about

- smb operations
- systems and process
- automation
- code & nocode builds for smb

Then follow @joshuamschultz

Summary:

- Procedures are incredibly important to scale an operation
- Consider what the person search/reading does and does not know
- Use links to add context rather than overcomplicating the procedure
- Use titles and names that people would be searching for