what is process documentation

Directly speaking, a process document usually contains a detailed description and step by step instructions on how to complete a specific task. The learnings from process documentation can also be replicated to other processes, which can save a lot of time and money. If its a shorter process, its relatively easier to document a process as it involves a smaller number of people, stakeholders and the overall number of steps. Improving employee onboarding 5. The number of businesses – large and small – I see putting themselves at risk because of a lack of documented process amazes me. Expand your steps to ensure all necessary information is included, such as potential hazards, troubleshooting advice or examples. I want to make my own process map in Lucidchart. It sounds simple because it’s basically Standard Work in Lean and Control phase in DMAIC. It accelerates the learning curve exponentially and provides all the resources needed to understand the workflow in one place. However, it can be helpful to have someone not involved in the daily project work own the documentation so that they can focus on recording processes, organizing information, encouraging reflection and distributing information. Describe their roles and responsibility to establish clarity. Stakeholders behave differently when they know what they say is being included in process documentation. Bring collaboration, learning, and technology together. Write down the steps in a clear, concise way to be useful to your co-workers. Anyone can access the process document anytime as it acts as a central repository for knowledge and information for the whole organization. Make sure there is. By identifying current practices, you often unearth … Process documentation is a roadmap for your organization—it helps you identify the current state of a process to know how you can improve it. Process Documentation Knowing how to document business processes is an essential element for the implementation of BPM in a company. Diagram, share, and innovate faster with Lucidchart. Doing so provides consistency for your organization and allows you to monitor and revise processes as you go along. Business process documents clearly state: This documented methodology reduces a lot of confusion in the workplace. As you monitor processes, look for specific areas that may need quality overview to improve efficiency, such as when a process moves from one person or team to another. The term “process documentation” was first developed by the Philippines National Irrigation Agency at a conference in 1978. As a crucial part of business process management, process documentation is the internal, continuous method for capturing the necessary steps to complete a process or tasks. Brainstorm all the activities needed to complete the process. Poorly written and out-of-date documents can signal a lack of caring. Therefore, we need to have certain guidelines or roadmap in place to make sure that process documentation is carried out effectively, irrespective of process size and scope. This helps them analyze the steps taken in any process and give feedback or suggestions accordingly. Hold up, what’s a business process documentation tool? Visually representing the steps involved in a process provides an easy way for outsiders and people from other departments to understand how a process is carried out. Can someone somebody, with a reasonable knowledge of your company, find and read the documentation and successfully execute an instance of the process? Usually created to train employees, process documentation and training can sometimes take time away from other activities. 6. It also aids new employees to soak in information quickly and get up to speed with the work. Diagramming is quick and easy with Lucidchart. It includes all types of documents that support a process, like. Want to make a process map of your own? What is process documentation? For example, at the bottom of the Arranging the Newsletter document, direct readers to the Editing the Newsletter document. Ask colleagues to review your document and provide feedback. Be on the lookout for duplicate tasks, and decide if having both is useful or inefficient. Current and polished documents empowers teams and improves efficiency. This evolution resulted in task orientation, which is explaining information sequentially, such as how-to’s or tutorials. Here’s Intelivate’s step-by-step guide for documenting process, including lots of process templates. This saves a significant amount of time for managers who would otherwise need to explain detailed processes to new hires. The aim or goal of process documentation is to keep track of an ongoing process for the purpose of improving it in the future. Process documentation is a complete description of how to execute a given process. See more: Process modeling: 6 PDFs, videos, and 5 4 Slideshare. Remember your documentation is a living document and will need to be continually updated.​​. Creating a Complex Flowchart Use this for complex processes that involve … Process documentation is key for any organization. Process documentation is vital for efficient business operations. It helps management find whether their efforts are reaping the results they hoped for or should they try a different approach. Visualize, optimize, and understand your cloud architecture. Where and how are they using the product? When it comes down to creating new processes or refining existing ones, there’s no better way to do it than to document the processes. In this way, the project team does not have to interrupt their flow from time to time to document each and every step- the specialist can take care of that from a distance. Podio. Documentation definition is - the act or an instance of furnishing or authenticating with documents. A good document should encourage the use of the program in the workplace by making it understandable to the user. Documenting helps the organization gain long term primary and secondary benefits which have been … Software documentation is a type of process documentation that helps with efficient and appropriate use of software. While it may be time-consuming, process documentation provides numerous benefits to your organization that make it well worth the effort. When it comes down to creating new processes or refining existing ones, there’s no better way to do it than to document the processes. Tools for capturing the process, such as interviews, group discussions, videos, photographs, observations of users, field diaries, etc. If you don’t know who your audience is and what their expectations are from the process documentation, you are wasting your time. Process Documentation is the way of gathering, sorting, using, storing, and retrieving information about a specific process. Identify gaps, pinpoint inefficiencies, and mitigate risk in your workflows. Collaborate as a team anytime, anywhere to improve productivity. Make the process documents easy to read by using bullets, headings, tables, charts, etc. The person recording a process may not fully understand it themselves. When you hire new employees, you need a documented process to help them understand their role and how it fits within the overall organization. There are several key goals or motivations for implementing current state analysis, including: 1. One often overlooked benefit of process documentation is its ability to preserve vital information and knowledge. Process documentation also allows you to know what people are doing and gain insight into the inner workings of the company. Ask them to freely provide their valuable suggestions and feedback. Documenting the process while performing it makes sure that the project team is conscious of their efforts and are constantly learning. Be flexible—be willing to adjust a process as needed to ensure steps come naturally. Documentation is an integral part of the cycle of inquiry - observing, reflecting, documenting, sharing and responding. Read more: What is a Software Requirements Document. Keep a local backup of the files on your desktop or in a private cloud-based system. A business is essentially a group of interrelated processes, and if these processes aren’t in writing, breakdowns can occur. It helps them understand their role and how it fits into the overall organization. Create powerful visuals to improve your ideas, projects, and processes. Gain visibility into your existing technology. that helps teams share knowledge by connecting any type of digital content. International compliance, privacy, and security standards you can trust. Think about the things that … I'm new to process maps and want to learn more. Another key reason for documenting processes is to remove any sort of ambiguity of role and responsibility in the workplace. They want to make use of minimum resources and at the same time, maintain top-notch quality. While originally designed to aid experienced users, it has evolved to include teaching new users. Information is often collected through a brainstorming session about the steps required to complete an activity amongst the team members involved. Process documentation helps in creation of systematic storage of information for easy access in times of need. 11. Try Lucidchart. Limit the number of steps—use subheadings for longer tasks and restart numbering under each subheading. Create individual documents for different processes and procedures rather than one massive document. The key process indicators defined on the process can be used to track the performance of the business in various areas and an action plan can be put in place to address any issues. How to use documentation in a sentence. Determine the scope of the document and identify your process. A process document outlines the steps necessary to complete a task or process. Make use of bullets, tables, headings, etc. However, you can also hire or put a specialist on the team just for the purpose of documenting the processes. Commonly mapped in a flowchart, it provides a clear, top-down perspective for employees and … You also need to describe the outputs or what is, If you don’t know who your audience is and what their expectations are from the process documentation, you are wasting your time.  Share the process documentation with fellow colleagues and stakeholders and have them try to perform the process on their own. You need to work on your business rather than in it to to be able to identify key processes and improve them. Podio is another project management tool, but it’s not quite like Trello. Only when you are. Outsiders: Outsiders provide a new and unbiased perspective to help improve processes. That person must stay close to project objectives in order to allow for learning and adaptation as the project progresses. Describe the team members involved in a process. Use layers—give users additional information in less prominent text underneath the main step.Â. This reduces the effort of the team in duplicating already done work. Tools for organizing information. They eliminate confusion among employees and put all members of a company on the same page. Make documents public and visible to reach all employees and readers. Process documentation helps in: 1. 2. It is an internal, ongoing documentation of the process while it is occurring—documentation cares more about the “how” of implementation than the “what” of process impact. The new approach of process documentation gives businesses a definite edge in process adherence and maintenance. Generally, if a step includes more than one verb or the word “and,” it should likely be broken into two steps. So, to make it easier, you can look at the … Improving workflows analytically Process documentation is an ongoingdocumentation of a process while a project or task is being carried out and in no way, is the final report… There are a number of areas t… The following are some key steps your team should incorporate while preparing for a business process documentation. They are not sufficient in themselves. The following are primary benefits that an organization seeks to achieve by documenting their processes: Most companies use repeatable business processes to get work done. It helps analyze every step of a process and provide context to improve the process. They don’t just rely on memory, and no step is considered too minute. Tools for distributing information, such as email, newspapers, internet, etc. Define, map out, and optimize your processes. Organize the items from your listing into sequential steps. Creating workplace efficiencies 6. With this process documentation template, you do not have to worry about any of the do’s and don’ts, just a few simple clicks and Boom! After you have made sure that all the steps required to perform a process from start to finish are noted, it’s time to organize them in a sequential list format. Today’s world consists of users who just want to get things done. creation of materials that show the steps and tools used to complete a task or project 5. Read more: 20 Best Online Collaboration Tools For Teams. Process documentation, thus, provides the eagle-eye view to a process and helps businesses figure out new strategies and tactics to create efficiencies in the workplace. The process document outlines the exact steps needed to complete a task or process from start to finish.Â. The Business Process Document is a document which provides a detailed description of a business process which is designed to meet an identified business need. Process documentation is the recording of processes that a company carries out on a regular basis. What are their demographics? You also need to describe the outputs or what is being produced at the end of process documentation. Be that a process for arranging a foreign sales trip, hiring a new CTO or managing booze funds in the staff Christmas party account. 3. Process documentation is written content with screenshots, illustrations, diagrams, or other imagery (though it can be in the form of a video, too) which conveys each step throughout a process necessary to successfully complete a particular task. Read more : How To Create A Smarter Employee Handbook. You can even involve outsiders a part of your process documentation. So when a “high profile” or a critical employee leave, he/she doesn’t take the process knowledge with them. This helps in getting an unbiased and fair judgment of the business practices and provides a new perspective. The typical process discovery questions are things like “What is your role?” and “How do you perform this task?” We have all at least answered questions like this if we haven’t actually asked them ourselves. What Is a Process Document? Helpful insights to get the most out of Lucidchart. Any stakeholders involved in a specific project should be involved in process documentation. There is nothing wrong with them. Every organization aspires to be successful and grow with time. Process Name. Create a template to help standardize documents and facilitate the process. It's quick, easy, and completely free. 8. 16. flowchart with the exact steps needed to carry out a process Any task that is done more than once or completed by multiple people needs to be documented. This pre-writing strategy is called “listing.”, 9. Clearly point out how processes connect to each other. A visual workspace for diagramming, data visualization, and collaboration. Format your information so that it is easy to scan, read and understand. Determine the outputs of the process, or what is being produced. They have so many things competing for their attention—they demand intuitive and task-based information, which is where process documentation becomes key. policies; checklists; tutorials; forms; screenshots; links to other applications; process maps It is used at times of problem resolution to develop flow chart and analysis strategy based on previous experience. Creating standardization 4. It is best to have each document cover as small a process as possible. Process documentation thus becomes a key factor in the success of any department or an organization as a whole. Describe the resources that the team needs in order to complete the process you want to describe (inputs required). Process documentation’s complexity depends upon the scale of the process being documented. Consider the audience for whom you are writing. Companies have repeatable processes fundamental to their successful operation, thus process documentation serves as a crucial guide for employees and managers to reference. To get the ball rolling, decide on the process name and jot down … And that’s it, folks! This is a critical step in your documentation process as it helps to determine, The process document should be stored in a, Feedback plays a crucial role in improving the process. 10. The best techniques to be used in documentation processes include the use of process modeling using BPMN notation. 14. Plan, understand, and build your network architecture. A poorly written procedure can result in failure. Not explaining purpose or motivation for the task, Including unnecessary and distracting information. Common causes of poorly-written procedures include: Process documents reveal a great deal about your business philosophy. Process documentation is about keeping track of a process during the execution of a project. Connect to the apps your team uses daily. Try to minimize unnecessary movement between departments during a process. People often downplay writing down steps to a process and rely on their “memory” or “guesswork” to perform tasks.  Once you are satisfied with the results, make the documentation available to relevant employees and stakeholders of the company. Test the process. Only then the business will be able to run at its full capacity and grow faster. Stakeholders: Any stakeholders involved in a specific project need to be involved in process documentation so that they can learn about others’ opinions and perspectives to help them learn and reflect. Store them in a central location—restricting access makes people think it is only relevant to a certain group. Construct a process flowchart to visually represent the steps. Visually representing the steps involved in a process provides an easy way for outsiders and people from other departments to understand how a process is carried out. Rinse and repeat until your process is completely optimized and efficient. Write a title and introduction describing what the process is, why or when users need to do it and how it fits into the big picture of the organization. Process documentation is an ongoing documentation of a process while a project or task is being carried out and in no way, is the final report. Not only do you need to document your processes, but you need to document them well. Most consultants will document both the “As-Is Process” as well as the “To-Be Process”. The goal is to learn from the implementation so you can adjust the strategy and improve the procedure. Saving money 2. Describe the individuals who will be involved in the process and define their roles. It was then passed on to other sectors and regions. Process documentation also acts as an essential training guide for new employees. 4. Start a free trial today to start creating and collaborating. Everybody wants to get ahead of the curve by doing work quickly, efficiently, with reduced costs. Speed up security reviews and troubleshoot issues quickly. Process documentation also helps easily automate processes when needed. It can be very helpful to interview those who are experts on the process to ensure you cover all information. Think about it this way—even highly skilled pilots who spend thousands of hours training and flying rely on preflight checklists. The area of process documentation triggers on how employee members perform the process, and not what the process is. A virtual whiteboard that helps you and your team collaborate to bring the best ideas to light. Current state analysis can focus on an entire business organization or on one or more specific processes within a department or team. Be concise—provide only what is necessary. First and foremost, determine the scope of the process document. The next step in creating a solid process is to write it out … Business process documentation – represented in the ALM process “solution documentation” – is embedded as an integral part of the lifecycle management concept. 13. What do they already know about the subject? Documented processes facilitate formal training that allows for smooth onboarding. While many think about it as customary and do it for the same reasons, there are other important reasons to document the process. Watch someone else use it. Describing Your Process: Break down the process. 1. Plan projects, build road maps, and launch products successfully. When an employee leaves, any process knowledge leaves with them unless it has been properly recorded. Capture screen shots for anything difficult to explain. Process Street doesn’t have those problems. A process document defines what the current processes in a company are. It also aids new employees to soak in information quickly and get up to speed with the work. … Increase customer and employee satisfaction, Allows for continual and timely changes in processes to increase productivity, Prevents procedures from going unused due to lack of understanding, Preserves knowledge even when those involved in the process leave the company, Helps determine if processes are efficient or if certain steps need to be eliminated/revised, Assists all members of an organization in understanding processes and knowing who to contact with problems, Makes it easier to maintain standards and consistency, follow external rules and regulations and support due diligence efforts, Serves as on-hand teaching tools for new hires, Encourages debate about current processes, Allows for outsourcing because you can easily transfer knowledge. Learn what it is, why you need it, how to do it using our .css-rbcqbk-linkBase-linkBaseHover{color:#635DFF;display:inline-block;border:none;font-size:inherit;text-align:left;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;cursor:pointer;}.css-rbcqbk-linkBase-linkBaseHover:visited{color:#635DFF;}.css-rbcqbk-linkBase-linkBaseHover:hover,.css-rbcqbk-linkBase-linkBaseHover:focus{color:#635DFF;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;}.css-rbcqbk-linkBase-linkBaseHover:hover:visited,.css-rbcqbk-linkBase-linkBaseHover:focus:visited{color:#635DFF;}process documentation software and more in this comprehensive guide.Â. It should become a part of the team activity so that learning becomes integral. Entrepreneurs need to avoid business myopia—being too close to your processes can keep you from advancing on the business process procedures journey. Documentation acts as a “syllabus” for new hires and gets them up to speed with their new roles. Any task that is done more than once or completed by multiple people needs to be documented. ©2020 Bit Tech Labs Inc.  All Rights reserved. 7. You can summarize knowledge in articles, case studies, video bites, etc. Special interest groups can use process documentation to start trouble. Provide context as to why the process is important. Process name. Processes are easy to document, checklists can be run with a single click, and everything is automatically saved and organized on our site – you never have to download a single file. Process documentation is a roadmap for your organization—it helps you identify the current state of a process to know how you can improve it. It was used to refer to a project in which social scientists stayed in villages and documented the processes of farmers. This is a critical step in your documentation process as it helps to determine potential loopholes or corrections in the documentation by allowing outsider’s perspective to the document. The Best Online Software Documentation Tools, How To Create An Incredible Training Manual (Template Included), How To Create A Smarter Employee Handbook, 20 Best Online Collaboration Tools For Teams, Best Project Planning Software For Businesses, What Are Smart Documents And Why They Will Make Your Work-life Easy, Finding additional ways to further improve processes. What are your thoughts on process documentation? Thus, documentation is a process, used to link the educator's knowledge and learning of the child/children with the families, other collaborators, and even to the children themselves. As-is process analysis or current state analysis is a process management strategy that identifies and evaluates a business’s current processes.  It’s now time to visualize the list of activities for your team in terms of a flowchart. Will it cover one task in a chain of operations or the entire procedure for a manufacturing plant? Documentation should help people 1) see if significant deviations from the Standard Work occurred in the process and 2) if yes, what to do to correct it and/or update the Standard (SOP). Document when the process was most recently updated. Project Team: The project team holds responsibility for process documentation. Make them easy to edit and search—processes undergo continual change, and new feedback should always be incorporated to improve effectiveness. Process documentation makes it easier for management teams to analyze and compare previous versions of a process with new ones and calculate efficiency, reduced costs, and analyze other important metrics. Ideally, your staff performs process documentation as … Word can create highly formal documents, but for documented processes Process Street … It’s the important work of recording, mapping and explaining the ongoing processes occurring in an organisation. Align your revenue teams to close bigger deals, faster. Get feedback from employees—frontline employees can provide insight on each step’s importance, shortcuts, etc. Lucidchart is a collaborative workspace that brings remote teams together in real time. Process documentation is essentially a collection of documents that provides information about how specific processes work within a business. Saving time & money 2. In today’s fast-paced digital world, productivity is the norm. Process documentation provides a detailed description of how to carry out a business process. To get started, write the name and a description of the process … For example, the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) in Qujarat documented their project activities in social forestry and joint forest management. This is often the recipe for disaster. 15. To make this procedure as easy as a breeze, we have got a well-equipped template for you! The smartest online Google Docs and Word alternative, Bit.ai is used in over 100 countries by professionals everywhere, from IT teams creating internal documentation and knowledge bases, to sales and marketing teams sharing client materials and client portals. Actions that logically go together should be kept together. Process documentation helps others to realize the changes in behavior and attitudes needed to produce desirable results, and it provides context for processes so that others can see how a project fits into the big picture and what its overall impact is. The term process documentation sounds intimidating, but it doesn't have to be. Work smarter to save time and solve problems. Process documentation can slow a project down. The scope answers questions like which process will be covered, what are the goals of the project, what changes are to be made (if any), etc. Read more: How To Create An Incredible Training Manual (Template Included). You … Write it out on paper. You need to know the basics. Top 10 Digital Whiteboard Software for Team Collaboration. With this intuitive, cloud-based solution, anyone can work visually and collaborate in real-time while creating internal notes, team projects, knowledge bases, client-facing content, and more. This document will ensure that your organization will execute all the necessary business processes to attain its primary goal. Do you consider it an essential part of a business process? Make sure the steps are organized in the actual manner in which they work (process) is done. The only way of knowing whether the business process you are employing is good enough is to keep tabs on each and every step and analyze, get feedback and suggest changes to improve. It can be viewed as the foundation for ALM, and, like a foundation or groundwork of a house, its value consists in building a strong and … It also makes sure that none of the steps in a process goes unnoticed and is recorded properly. Read more: The Best Online Software Documentation Tools. A business process comprises all the tasks that lead to the delivery of a specific product or service. Lucidchart helps you easily create process maps and flowcharts to visualize any process. I want to make a process map from a Lucidchart template. A stakeholder is any person, organization, social group, or society at large. Keep adding changes to the document when you find a new strategy technique or tactic to improve your process. The idea is to learn from the documentation, analyze the steps taken, and suggest changes and improvements. Process documentation becomes especially crucial when dealing with projects working towards social change, as it focuses on recording the perceptions and changes in perceptions of involved stakeholders. Identify the process boundaries, or start and end points. However, if it’s a broad-scope process, involving internal as well as external stakeholders from different departments and specialties, process documentation can turn out to be fairly complex. Finding additional ways to further improve processes 7. Reducing errors 3. BAIF worked on process documentation of its Community Health Programme for tribal families from Vansda Taluka. So, putting it more bluntly…A process is a series of related tasks or methods that together turn inputs into outputs.A procedure is a prescribed way of undertaking a process or part of a process.At a glance, the two might seem confusing, as they both refer to the same activities being carried out.

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