How to create a screencast free how to#

Including screenshots in your documentation is one of the fastest, most effective ways to show colleagues how to do something. Research shows that 67% of people understand information better when it’s communicated visually. Below are a few things to keep in mind as you plan, create, and maintain process documentation. Best practices for effective process documentationīefore diving into creation, let’s cover some best practices for process documentation. Awareness of sticking points in a process may be all that it takes to get resources allocated to make incremental improvements. It can also highlight pain points, which can result in action items. In turn, this can lead to workflow improvements, such as eliminating duplicate steps or tasks. It allows employees who aren’t close to a particular area of the business some insight into tasks outside their immediate team and/or department. Of course, you can still create process documentation when you have an immediate need to train a colleague, too! Provide process transparencyĪdditionally, documenting processes helps maintain transparency within an organization. Your employees might not like missed paychecks simply because no one else knows how to use the payroll software.ĭocumenting processes before it becomes absolutely necessary means less stress and pressure when staff members may already be stretched thin. Imagine a scenario where your payroll person is out for a week, month, or even longer. If the processes for completing that work haven’t been documented, that can lead to confusion, missed deadlines, and decreased productivity - not to mention lower team morale. As noted above, having a vacancy can mean that other team members have to pick up work. Often, when a new employee joins the team, they are filling a vacancy. Your new employee can start their job with confidence, and you don’t have to spend precious time away from other duties. Having documented processes available can help alleviate that problem.

Offering clear instructions to your new teammates enables them to help themselves through their onboarding process rather than being completely dependent on their trainer.Īdditionally, team vacancies often mean other members may have to pick up the slack and might not have the time to train someone new. Process documentation helps train new hires.

Process documentation isn’t exclusively used for directions or helping coworkers. This is an example of a screenshot that could be used within process documentation, illustrating how to record your screen using TechSmith Camtasia.