What is Process Documentation (And How to Do it)

When it comes to introducing a new process or refining and improving an existing one, there is no better way to begin than to create process documentation. It is a common part of Business Process Management – you can’t really optimize your processes without having a clear, top-down view.

What Is Process Documentation?

business process documentation flowchart example

Process documentation is a flowchart with the exact steps needed to carry out a process. The term was first used in the late 1970s in the Philippines by the National Irrigation Agency as part of a project that saw social scientists document the processes used by rural farmers. Since then, it has spread worldwide and become an important business process optimization tool.

A business process document works as a guide for employees at all levels of the business (or potentially also outside contractors or consultants) can utilize to see how the process should be undertaken.

This allows you to use it as a reference for training new employees as part of their on-boarding induction, but even seasoned workers can benefit from having the process documented and available for them to access.

It’s more than an instruction manual, of course, as process documentation can be extremely helpful in determining how the process itself can be refined or improved.

What is Tallyfy?

Tallyfy helps you document and automate tasks between co-workers and clients

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There are three ways in which you can produce process documentation:

  1. Pen & Paper – Down to the very basics, you can always use pen and paper to graph out your processes. While this is probably the easiest way out, it’s far from being the best.
  2. Graphing Software – There’s dime a dozen graphing software out there, most of which do exactly that – allow you to create any kind of graph with ease.
  3. Workflow SoftwareWorkflow software, on one hand, allows you to document your processes to help with business process improvement (BPI). On the other hand, it also keeps track of them – you can see in real-time at which step each process is, and whether or not there are any delays.

Other than acting as a guide for your employees & as a tool for BPM, process documentation has several other benefits…

How To Create Process Documentation

Depending on the scale of the process, this might either be extremely complicated or simple. If it’s small-scale, you can probably create the entire documentation yourself.  If on the other hand, it involves work between a number of different departments, then you’d have to create yourself a small team of different experts.

They should, of course, come from across the business with a range of responsibilities, to ensure that all perspectives are being taken into account. This will also help with changing the process sometime down the line, if it comes to that, as you’ll have the input of the people working on the process themselves, which helps with employee buy-in.

The Stages Of Process Documentation

Conclusion

As we’ve already covered, process documentation is something that any business or corporation can benefit from. At the very least, it makes sure that the know-how of the process isn’t lost due to an employee quitting. At best, it can be essential in carrying out a business process improvement initiative.

If you’re looking for the right tool to help document your processes, you might want to give Tallyfy a try. In addition to simply laying out the processes, it can help keep track & manage them, ensuring the efficiency of your team.


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