7 Process Documentation Tips for Your IT Team

Process documentation ensures that important business functions are performed efficiently and consistently across your company. By closely observing the process, making comprehensive notes of every step, and collating those notes into a step-by-step guide, businesses reduce errors while boosting efficiency and productivity.

When processes are comprehensively documented and available to employees, you can eliminate guesswork and significantly reduce human error.

Why Do IT Companies Need Process Documentation?

Preserving information: No matter what size your company is, it's unlikely that one person knows every process by heart. If you have such a person on staff, you'll be in big trouble if they ever take a day off or leave the company. By documenting business processes documented and making them easy to access, you can rest assured that that information will be available whenever it’s needed. 

Improving processes: Regularly reviewing procedures can reveal insights that might not be apparent. Going through the process step-by-step cues you into problem areas and pain points that inhibit efficiency, like redundant or unnecessary steps. You can use these insights to refine a process and make sure it supports your productivity goals.

Alleviating confusion: Process documentation solidifies the procedures for completing a task. It provides a clear and complete play-by-play for completing a process that employees can (and should!) refer to anytime. This both standardizes new employee training and offers existing employees helpful reminders about company policies and procedures.

Simplifying process analysis: Business processes are always changing in response to new technologies and best practices. When a process changes, it's useful to have a record of the old process so that you can compare the two and ensure that the new way is more efficient than the old. If it isn't, having access to the old way of doing things makes reverting much easier.

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What is Process Documentation?

Process documentation is the practice of capturing all the steps involved in a task or process and preserving them for future reference. To be effective, it is usually a very detailed document and includes a step-by-step description of the process, the goals of each task, who is involved, and more. 

Once you've solidified a process, documenting it is essential to ensure that the process can be replicated. Even more importantly, solid process documentation ensures that no information is lost if an employee leaves or takes on a new role. To begin effective documentation, ask yourself:

• What is the scope of the process? Here, "scope" refers to how the process works — the inputs and outputs, the completion timeframe, and the stakeholders involved. If the process involves any legal or regulatory requirements, consider those as well.
• Which employee roles are involved? Some processes require multiple employees from one or several departments, while others are performed by a single individual. Before beginning documentation, identify the key players and their specific responsibilities.
• What process documentation tool will you use? Although you can perform process documentation by hand, process documentation software can streamline the process and improve efficiency. Popular options include Scribe, Lucidchart, and Heflo.

This will inform what needs to be included in your process document. The more assets, such as images, flowcharts, and videos, that you can provide, the more effective your documentation can be. 

What Should Be Included in Your Process Document?

• Standard operating procedures
• Training manuals
• Customer support guides
• Equipment inspection procedures
• Employee assessment procedures

Whether you're gearing up to document processes for the first time or just updating the existing documentation, it can be useful to follow a few best practices. 

7 Process Documentation Tips 

After choosing a process, defining the scope, identifying the individuals involved, and choosing a documentation tool, you're ready to begin. These seven tips can help you generate process documents that keep your business consistent, efficient, and productive. 

Process Documentation Tips 

1. Templatize your documentation process
2. Include visuals
3. Link to related documents
4. Involve all stakeholders
5. Train your team on proper documentation methods
6. Test your process
7. Store your documents for future reference

1. Templatize your documentation process 

Templates provide a standardized framework for capturing a process and ensure that each stage is documented consistently, using these same terms, keywords, and relevant shorthand. When a process includes steps that are completed by multiple individuals, templates are even more necessary.

"Clients often come to us by referral, so meeting consistent quality standards is crucial," said Sergii Grushai, CEO of Peeklogic. Solid process documentation ensures that their team consistently delivers a high-quality product.

"For example, our estimations are structured according to a standardized template, yet customized to fit each client’s needs,” Grushai said. “Every estimate undergoes four levels of review (mid-level developers, project managers, senior leads, and architects) to ensure accuracy and quality at each stage." Through clear documentation and easily reproducible systems, Peeklogic is able to consistently meet client expectations. 

If you're using documentation software, there's a good chance it offers readymade templates. It may also offer guidance on how best to create process documents. If not, you can search online for templates or create your own. Just be sure that the template you use offers:

• Logical structure
• Customization options
• Options for collaboration
• Visual integration
• Version history logs 

These features ensure that you create a process document that can be regularly updated and viewed by multiple stakeholders. 

2. Create visuals

Most process documents incorporate some kind of visual element, and many contain multiple visual elements. Why? Because visual aids can be extremely useful for conveying information, ideas, and step-by-step procedures. Plus, we tend to do a better job of retaining information when it's presented visually. Be sure to include:

• Flowcharts
• Diagrams
• Chart and graphs
• Illustrations
• Lists

Depending on the documentation software you use, you may be able to add digital visuals, like videos, GIFs, and screenshots. 

3. Link to related documents 

Another benefit of using process documentation software is that it allows you to seamlessly integrate links to related documents. IT processes are rarely siloed endeavors. When one process triggers another, having the ability to pull up the documentation for the second process in a matter of seconds makes the entire process much more efficient.

4. Involve all stakeholders 

After determining the stakeholders of a given process — that is, anyone whose work role requires them to perform or oversee the task in question — be sure to involve them in your documentation efforts. 

"In our company, processes are well-defined and distributed among team members with clear roles,” said Grushai. “Our project managers collaborate on each project to develop comprehensive technical requirements, while the project team under PM supervision documents every stage of the project." 

In other words, collaboration is key to effect process documentation and may require input from multiple people, from project managers to those under their supervision. Their insights can help you draft process documents that are comprehensive and that all steps are practical and realistic. It has the bonus of improving stakeholder adoption of the process, too.

5. Train your team on proper documentation methods

Often, the person best suited to documenting a process is the one responsible for performing the task in real work situations. However, that means various processes aren't likely to be documented by the same individual. 

According to Grushai, implementing a thorough documentation protocol and briefing your team on its guidelines will help keep things consistent. 

“[W]e adhere to clear outcome expectations and host a variety of internal training sessions to ensure consistent standards,” Grushai noted. “This approach allows each team member to contribute toward a reliable result, creating a cohesive documentation style across teams." Consistency is key, not just to ensure that each document meets specific standards, but also so processes can be replicated.

In addition to training sessions, you can distribute tutorials or have employees perform mock process documentation to help get the whole team up to speed.

6. Test your process

The primary point of process documentation is to make your business processes more efficient. That means it's critical to test your process as you go.
Not only does testing allow you to verify that a process works holistically, but it also allows you to determine if any individual steps need to be revised or eliminated. Moreover, testing is crucial for ensuring that a process is maximally efficient and that resources are allocated appropriately throughout every step.

7. Store documentation for future reference 

Finally, be sure you have a plan in place for storing your process documents. Popular options include:

• Document management systems: These are digital storage solutions that enable process capturing, documenting, and more, in addition to storage. Digital options allow you to store process documents in a central location, keeping them easily accessible to your entire team.
• Cloud storage: Cloud storage is especially useful for teams who may need to access process documents offsite. If your company already uses a cloud storage solution, storing your process documents there may make the most sense, as everyone already has access and you won't have to devote time to training staff on a new system. 

Whichever solution you choose, you should prioritize accessibility so that everyone who needs to access process documents can do so quickly and easily. Likewise, be sure to have a method in place for backing up your process documents so they're always available when you need them.

Enhance productivity with process documentation

Process documentation can streamline tasks, ensure consistency, and help you achieve optimal productivity. These tips can help you get started quickly and easily, while getting the whole team on board with the process. 

Even more importantly, thorough process documents ensure that the team has everything they need to continue operating efficiently if an employee leaves, you need to review the process, or are training new team members. 

About the Author

Hannah Hicklen Content Marketing Manager at Clutch

Hannah Hicklen is a content marketing manager who focuses on creating newsworthy content around tech services, such as software and web development, AI, and cybersecurity. With a background in SEO and editorial content, she now specializes in creating multi-channel marketing strategies that drive engagement, build brand authority, and generate high-quality leads. Hannah leverages data-driven insights and industry trends to craft compelling narratives that resonate with technical and non-technical audiences alike. 

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